Page 120 of Double Daddies
“That’s good. When are you due?” He’s shifted into doctor mode, but this is good, too. Solid. Familiar.
“Mid-June.”
He nods. “That’s a good time for it. You’ll be warm for the winter and done before the worst heat of the summer.”
I relax further. He seems to be taking this all in stride. “Yes.”
“Mom and Dad don’t know.”
It’s not a question, but a statement. There’s no condemnation in it, either, but I feel my eyes prick with tears. I do my best to blink them back—already an emotional person by nature, I haven’t enjoyed how pregnancy has magnified this part of my personality. “I didn’t know how to…” I suck in a sharp breath and let it out in a whoosh. “I didn’t know what they would say.”
Kingslay’s eyes flick between my men for the first time. Then his gaze rests on my face once more. “I just think they’ll be happy to hear they’re going to be grandparents. If you tell them that, I know they’ll hop on the first plane.”
Family acceptance of my strange situation wasn’t something I even knew I wanted until just this moment. I can feel my chesttighten with hope and fear I hadn’t even realized I was carrying around. “You think so?”
He scoffs. “Cami, come on. I know so, and so do you. It’s not even a question.” Without waiting for a reply, he turns to Ben. “So, you still rooting for the Celtics?”
“Boston forever, you know that, man.”
Kingslay gives him a lopsided grin. “You’ll get ‘em next year, huh?”
“You know it.”
“You must get tired of saying that every year,” my brother quips.
Ben chuckles. “It’ll happen. Just you wait.”
“Cami’s kid will be driving by then.”
“Then I’ll have two reasons to celebrate that year,” he rejoins good naturedly. He pushes his fist toward Kingslay, who bumps it with his own.
Then my brother turns his attention to Ryle. “What do you do for work? If I had to guess, I’d say business consultant, or funeral director.”
Even though I’m used to my brother, I’m pretty sure no one has ever said anything like this to Ryle, and my mouth drops open. “Kingslay?—”
“It’s okay, Cami. He’s your brother, he has every right be curious,” Ryle cuts off my objection. He faces Kingslay. “Funeral director would have been my first choice, but I inherited a business from my father.”
My brother’s eyebrow raises, but he nods.
“Either way, your sister and your future niece or nephew will be well taken care of.”
Kingslay sits back, looking back and forth between the three of us. His eyes finally settle on Ryle and he nods. “Oh, I have no doubt.”
At that moment, our server approaches with appetizers my brother must have ordered before we were at the table. She sets each plate down, asks who wants drink refills, and hurries away to her other tables.
I reach for the plate of sweet potato fries—my favorite. I bring one to my mouth and take a bite. “So, what about you? Are you seeing someone?”
To my surprise, my brother’s face tightens. It’s only there for a second, then it disappears so fast that if I didn’t know him as well as I do, I would assume I’d imagined it.
“Nothing serious.”
I munch thoughtfully on my fry and wash it down with water. Ben and Ryle keep insisting I’m not hydrating enough. “Why? Because she doesn’t want it, or because you have commitment issues?”
My brother scowls. This too is a surprise—he’s normally pretty easy-going.
“What? You can roast my boyfriends, but I don’t get to ask aboutyourlove life?” There. I’ve said it: boyfriends. And that’s what they are. Somehow, saying it aloud, saying it to one of the most important people in my life, makes me feel calm for the first time since I walked in.
Kingslay eyes me thoughtfully. “You know what, Cami? I’ve gone pretty easy on you here, why don’t you return the favor?”
