Page 83 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“So she's not moving in with us?”
“She won't, but I will,” I spoke up. “If you can live with that.”
Nathan's features brightened. “That's much better!”
“I'm glad you think so. You'll have to put up with the baby, though,” I told him. “They tend to be loud.”
At my side, Ethan laughed. “That's not going to be a problem. Nathan loves babies so much I thought he was an omega for a while.”
In his bed, Nathan blushed quickly and furiously. Yeah, he looked definitely more alive now than he had last night. He also looked like this wasn't something he wanted Ethan to talk about. “I don't love babies!”
“Are you sure about that?” Ethan leaned back in his chair, visibly enjoying this new turn of conversation. “Because I remember you being all over Mrs. Henderson's baby when she was born and there was no stopping you when Caleb came along. You'd try to wheel off with his stroller and parade your baby around the neighborhood every chance you got. It was too cute.”
Nathan grabbed his pillow from behind himself and buried his face in it. I almost felt bad for him, but I was too busy laughing at the image Ethan painted in my mind of a younger Nathan playing house with his baby brother.
“You can help me with this baby, if you want to,” I offered. “But maybe don't run off with the stroller.”
Speaking of, I was going to need a stroller. I put it on my mental list of things to buy or borrow, right under the crib.
My due date was less than ten weeks away now. There wasn't a lot of time left to do all the things I needed to do.
At least I'd crossed the most important item off my list, though—I'd found my baby a new daddy.
I'd found him thebestdaddy.
3 0
R H Y S
Easter Sunday and Nathan's birthday fell on the same day that year and Ethan had great fun referring to him as 'bunny-boy' all morning while the boys hunted for eggs in the yard. Nathan had gotten pretty good at getting around on his crutches by now, but the eggs that lay in the grass were still tricky for him to get. Fortunately, he had his little brother to help him. Nathan pointed where he wanted Caleb to search and Caleb went digging. The dog helped by running around the yard excitedly. They made a good team.
I sat in a lawn chair while I watched, because my ankles hurt more often than not these days.
Honestly, I was starting to feel almost as immobilized as Nathan in his crutches. My belly was huge, my back ached, my ankles swelled, my bladder was tiny... I heard some people loved being pregnant, but I did not. I couldn't wait for this to be over. Ethan and I had painted our new nursery almost as soon as Laura had moved her things out—and we hadn't heard fromhersince, thank God.
“We have eight eggs,” Nathan called out. “Is that all?”
“One more, bunny-boy,” Ethan responded from behind my chair. “Look harder.”
“You hid them well,” I said. “It looks like they're having fun.”
“I hope so. I want this to be a fun day after the disaster that Caleb's party was.”
I nodded, and then the doorbell rang. My eyes sought Ethan's. Were we expecting visitors so early?
Ethan looked just as confused as I was, but went to get the door. “Oh, hi, Grandma,” I heard him say.
“Didn't you hear that the party was at three?”
I tried not to sigh. Ethan's grandma was here. Yay. After the way she'd treated me at Caleb's party, I was in no rush to spend more time with her.
“I thought it was only polite to arrive a little earlier,” the old lady said.
“I'd agree with you if you were five minutes early,” Ethan responded with a hint of exasperation.
“You'refive hoursearly, Grandma.”
“Do you want me to leave then? It's not easy for me to make it all the way here, you know. I'll have to
