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“I have no doubt you’ll be the best big brother anyone can ask for,” Zara replies, wiping away the tears from her face.
“And now Dad won’t be sad anymore,” he states, and Zara gasps. “He was sad when you left, but he tried to pretend he wasn’t.” Colson spills my secret. “JB and Charlie called him mopey and grumpy.” Zara pushes my shoulder with hers.
“I was sad also,” Zara shares with him, “but not anymore.” She takes her hand out of mine to put it around my neck. “Now I’m happy.”
“Me too,” I tell her.
“Me too,” Colson adds, making us laugh. We both give a little sigh of relief when he gets up and walks to the fridge to get something to eat.
“One down,” Zara says softly, “fifty more to go.” She smiles. “I texted my cousin Zoey to call me when she got up. I should tell her before she finds out and holds it over my head for the rest of my life.”
“Wait, didn’t she elope or something? It’s not like she told you she was getting married,” I remind her, and she grins.
“Good point, thanks, Cowboy.” She leans in to kiss me and we sit back on the couch, her in the crook of my arm, my son asking me to turn on the television.
We get to the barbecue earlier than normal, hoping to catch my parents and grandparents before everyone else. But the cars are lined up down the street. “Wow, there are so many cars today,” Colson says from the back seat.
“Remember, it’s a secret until I talk to Grandpa Ethan,” I remind him, and he zips his lips shut and pretends to throw away the key.
I finally park on the side of the road and walk around to make sure Zara is okay. I put my hand in hers as we walk down the road, seeing all the strange cars. “I thought our family lunch was huge,” she says as we walk down the driveway and head around the side of the house.
“Usually, it’s a lot of people, but nothing like this since—” I start to say and then round the corner, and we both stop in our tracks. “Is that your father?” I ask her, looking at Viktor, who is standing there with Matthew and my Uncle Casey, talking about I don’t even know what. All three of them have a beer bottle in their hands.
“Is that my uncles?” she asks before scanning the whole area. “Oh my goodness.” She points at where my mother and her mother stand laughing at something.
“Well, there you are.” I turn around, seeing Sofia walking toward us with RC on her hip. “Nice of you to join us.”
“Sofia,” I say in shock as I look over and see that she is followed by her husband.
“Matty,” Zara greets, running to him and hugging him, “you’re here and Stefano.” She looks over his shoulder at another guy coming outside, holding a woman’s hand. “Addison.” She greets the woman with a hug and a kiss.
“There are so many people here today.” I turn around, seeing my cousin Grace walking into the barbecue holding Caine’s hand on one side, as Meadow runs past us toward the horses.
“I know,” I mumble, wanting to find a way to excuse us to go see my parents.
“Well, well, well,” someone says from behind me at the same time as Zara shrieks. “Look at who we have.”
“Zoey!” she yells and rushes over to her and the two of them share a hug, moving side to side. “You never called me back,” she says, smiling.
“What, why is everyone here?” Zara asks, looking around at the group of people standing with us.
“Something about a Bat chain,” Nash answers. “We picked up the phone, and boom, I’m woken up at six o’clock in the morning to go ride a horse.”
“It was eight,” Grace points out, “and you were the one who was like all ‘yeah, I can ride a horse without taking one lesson,’” she mocks him, making me laugh.
“You gave me a wild horse,” Nash defends himself. “I needed a calmer one.”
“You got on the horse and said giddy up.” His brother shakes his head, laughing at him.
“Excuse me, rodeo king.” He glares at his brother.
“So what is all this meeting of the minds for?” Matty looks at Zara and then turns to me. “Is there something we should know before everyone else?”
“No,” Zara denies, laughing nervously, and I raise my eyebrows at her. “We should get something to eat.” She motions with her head for me to come with her, but instead, she comes to me. “I mean, maybe it’s because Gabriel and I are dating.”
“Oh, wow,” Sofia says, “this is brand-new information.” She looks at Matty. “I had no idea.” He side-eyes her. “I may have had a little idea. But not this.” She points at us. “Maybe a little”—she bounces RC on her hip—“but your son is teething, so I forgot.”
“Okay, this is fun,” Zara says, “but I have to go see Mom and Dad.” She looks at me. “And we have to talk to your parents.” I just nod, about to walk away from them.
