Page 94 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
“Which leaves my mother still on the board,” I sigh deeply. “But as a minority stakeholder. No decision-making power whatsoever. The executive board demanded her resignation, but she’s not obliged to do that, right?”
Theo shakes his head. “No. But there are still a few legal avenues to consider that could get her bumped off the board, leaving her with just the honorary title of a stakeholder and nothing else.”
“Already on it,” Penny mutters as she takes copious notes on her phone. “I’ll discuss this with our partners later today.”
“Enough of that, at least for now,” Dominic declares as he helps me out of my chair. “We need to celebrate.”
“Oh, that sounds nice,” I reply as I relax in his embrace. “What were you thinking?”
He looks at me. “Well, you said you were hungry. We should take care of that. How about Balducci’s? Table for five. A good bottle of wine or three and all the authentic carbonara you can eat.”
“I’m afraid that will have to be a table for four. I need to head back to the office,” Penny says.
“What? No. Why?” I protest.
“As much as I would love to join you, I still need to stay ahead of the legal proceedings. But don’t worry, the weekend is coming up, and we’ll have a celebration of our own then. Just stay hydrated in the meantime, because I’m ordering the good champagne for this!” She laughs wholeheartedly. “We’ve earned it.”
My cheeks burn as I gather the courage to give them the news. “Actually, ix-nay on the wine and the champagne altogether,” I blurt out. “I shouldn’t be drinking any alcohol for a while.”
“Why the hell not?” Penny gives me a troubled frown. “You loved that French blue label champagne I got you for the wedding. I can have a whole case delivered to your place by Friday.”
I smile and look at my guys. They’re quiet. They already know what’s coming, I can see it written all over their faces, and it’s the sweetest thing I have ever seen—to witness them so disarmed, raw and stunned.
“I’m pregnant.”
Penny lets a sharp breath out, her eyes as round as saucers. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“You’re pregnant,” Dominic whispers, his gaze dropping to my belly.
“You’re pregnant,” August echoes his twin brother.
“Holy smokes,” Theo laughs, lighting up like the sun.
The three of them sweep me into their arms, and we huddle and laugh as tears of joy stream down my cheeks. Tears of joy and relief, because I’ve never seen these men so happy, so thrilled, so excited. And it’s all because of the prospect of fatherhood we’d never discussed.
“It wasn’t planned, obviously,” I say as we come down from the revelation. “I can’t tell you who is the father yet.”
“It doesn’t even matter,” Dominic says, laughing. “We’re all going to be fathers, babe.”
Penny wipes another round of tears as she comes in for a hug. “Damn, Phoebe. You sure know how to flip the script, huh?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m going to be an aunt! Can you believe that?”
“I suppose you are going to be an aunt, yes,” I reply, tearing up again. “Penny, you’re more family to me than my own flesh and blood. You’re going to be a wonderful aunt, I just know it.”
“And I’m gonna spoil the little one rotten, you know that, right?” She points a finger at my belly as if the baby can hear her.
“We’ll celebrate with apple juice, then,” Theo concludes with a huge grin.
“And carbonara,” I reiterate. “Balducci’s makes the best carbonara in New York City. I’m not even going to entertain any other suggestion at this point.”
“You heard the lady, gentlemen,” Dominic says. “Balducci’s it is.”
Penny and I will have our own celebration over the weekend. She’ll have more updates about Mom and Crystal by then. We’llneed a few days to recover and recharge, but it feels as if we have all the time in the world now.
