Page 82 of Retrograde
‘Well…’ Faith cleared her throat. ‘About that.’
‘No. Effing. Way.’ Jasmine’s jaw dropped along with everyone else’s. ‘Are you really?!’
‘Huh?’ Marco looked confused.
Faith and Julien shared a smile before he nodded his head and motioned for his wife to speak. ‘We’re having twins. Due in June.’
‘What?!’ Lucie rushed to give her best friend a hug, the pair of them squealing and swaying side to side while Jasmine joined in, then Marco, then finally Brett and Julien completed it. ‘The first Revolution Racing team babies!’
‘This is amazing news, guys! Congratulations. Ford, you’re going to be a big brother.’ Brett crouched down to cuddle Ford, but all Lucie could focus on was how he looked like he was trying not to cry.
‘Wait, what about work?’ Marco asked.
‘Jules is still going to race, and I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to get a nanny and I think my mum might come out for a bit to help. Life doesn’t have to stop.’ Faith shrugged like it was simple. ‘It’s happened a little earlier than expected and we obviously weren’t planning on twins, but you know, we have a lot of love to give.’
‘And a lot of money, thank God, nannies aresoexpensive!’
‘Rather you than me.’ Marco’s eyes went wide.
‘Ford!’ Brett yelled out as the dog started pulling on the zip of his suitcase. ‘Leave. No. Ford, stop. Bad boy.’ Ford was in a world of his own, the suitcase scooting around the floor on four wheels with him chasing it.
‘Oi!’ Julien shouted, and he stopped.
‘Seriously? That works?’ Lucie laughed.
‘I’m going to take my things upstairs and out of the way.’ Brett clung to his rescued case and carried it away.
‘Which one of you is going to come and make snow angels with me?’ Jasmine looked between Marco and her dad.
‘Both of us.’ Marco grabbed his coat from the banister and shoved Julien through the house. ‘Suck it up, Moretz. You’re going to spend the next eighteen years running round after two more of her, better start practising again.’
Lucie and Faith soaked in the silence for a moment once they were alone in the kitchen, but Lucie could feel her friend’s eyes on her. ‘Can I help you?’
‘Go up there, Luce. You don’t have to havethetalk, but at least smooth things over. If you don’t, you’re going to have a long couple of days. It seemed like things were going okay just now.’
‘Ugh, do I have to? I just… what do I say?’
‘You say, “Hey, Brett. Just want to check that you and I are good. Let’s have a nice Christmas with our friends.” And then you say, “I am deeply in love with you and it’s totally okay that you shoved your tongue down your ex’s throat.” Simple.’
‘I am not saying any of that. Well, maybe the first part. Wait, where is he sleeping? There’s only one guest room. Mine.’ Lucie frowned.
‘Yeah… about that. We put a blow-up mattress on the floor next to your bed. There’s only space for Mars on the sofa. Mars and Brett can always swap, but you know, we thought we should at least try to force you into a conversation. It’s our duty as friends and teammates.’ Faith shrugged, and then proceeded to hum as she put their flowers in vases, going full florist-mode and ignoring Lucie’s look of disgust.
‘Snakes, the lot of you,’ she sighed and all but stompedher way up the stairs, seeking out Brett. She entered her bedroom, where she found him gawking at the mattress on the floor. ‘I had the same reaction.’
‘I can sleep in my car. Put the seats down,’ he suggested, looking around like he hoped the ground would swallow him up any moment.
For some reason, that hurt. How had they got to this point? From sharing rooms and beds like it was nothing, to one of them preferring to sleep outside in the dead of winter. She wanted to undo everything. Erase the last two years, start again. But most importantly, she wanted to be in love with a man who was truly ready to give up the lifestyle he had been accustomed to for his entire adult life and choose her. ‘No, no need.’
‘Try not to snore.’ He gave her that soft, shy smile again.
Lucie laughed. ‘We both know it’s you who sounds like a freight train.’
‘Reckon we can sneak some pistachio cookies up here and have a midnight feast?’
‘Yeah, I think so,’ she agreed, letting the silence wash over them. ‘Um… Brett, are we good? Can we just… get through the next few days? I know it won’t be like before, but…’
Brett gave her his signature cheeky grin, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. ‘We can sure as shit try, Sunny.’
