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Chapter Thirty
At exactly twelve completed weeks of pregnancy Billie was positively blooming. According to all the books she should have begun to feel her clothing growing tight. Not Billie, we’d already gone shopping for larger-sized dresses, pants and underwear, but fortunately with some clever choices of material and cut she had still managed to keep her bump discreetly hidden.
We both knew Colby had to be told, and I was nervous at how he’d react to the news. I had spent my childhood dealing with my brother’s jealousy of me so the similarities in circumstance hadn’t escaped me. I knew when the babies arrived Colby age wouldn’t be dissimilar to James’s when I was born, and I’d wanted to ensure Colby felt fully supported in our growing family. Plus there was the novelty of two babies, not just one.
For weeks we had discussed our plans for the day when we broke the news to Colby. We had decided to tell him first, then there was Logan to consider. Billie, although apprehensive about telling him, had wanted Logan to know before we left for the Hamptons to share our news with everyone else. I figured her ex would be pissed about this, but I knew my family at least would be delighted.
“Hey, bud,” I waved, as he came out of his class from school. My eyes ticked over his long lanky legs and I immediately reflected on the first time I’d met him. Back then he was as tall as my chest, now his head skimmed my shoulders, and I figured he was going to be tall.
“Hi, Sawyer, what are you doing here? Is my mom all right?” My chest tightened at his concern and my heart clenched that at such a young age he still worried about his mom. Carefully I kept my smile fixed to my face, as I knew the way kids received news made all the difference on how they dealt with the subsequent fallout.
“Sure, she’s in the car. It was raining when we arrived so I figured she should stay where she was, and I’d jump out to pick you up.”
“Cool,” he said, hitching his bag on his shoulder and then quickly leaning in for a hug. I loved that this wasn’t a boundary for him and I prayed our growing relationship continued to thrive after we’d broken the news about the babies to him.
“We thought we’d grab a bite to eat in town. Carlos’ place?” I asked, knowing this was his favorite restaurant.
“For sure,” he grinned and ducked his head shyly for a second. A lump caught in my throat at how like his mom he was in that moment. It was as if his personality was dying to burst out of his body but his mind held him back.
Once we got in the car, Billie drove us the short distance to the Italian restaurant. It was early, but I’d asked Carlos if he would open just for us, so that we could break the news to him about the babies and our growing family.
We’d made the decision not to give him the news at home because if he had taken the news badly he would always associate where he was when he received it, hence the trip to the restaurant. After we’d been seated, Colby looked a little high, his bright eyes shining from our attention, and it dawned on me that with his visitation arrangements and my tours, the time we’d done things together had been all too brief.
After he’d ordered his food, we all sat talking for a few minutes. I noted Billie had grown quiet, and when I looked toward her, she was fidgeting nervously with her clothes. The last thing we needed was to feel anxious when we’d already decided to tell him. I cleared my throat and prepared to support Colby no matter what his reaction.
“You may be wondering why we’ve brought you here so early and there’s no one else in the restaurant.” Looking startled he glanced around him as if he’d been so focused on us he hadn’t noticed. He nodded and his face grew serious. I saw immediately he associated my comment with something negative, so I placed my hand over his on the table to center him. His gaze immediately fell on them before he looked back up at me.
“Your mom and I have some huge news, which we hope you’ll be happy about.” I gave him a second to take that part in before I continued. “Remember how excited you were when you found out you had more relatives? The girls, Brock, aunties and uncles?” He beamed and it lit up his face.
“We’re still going for Thanksgiving, right?”
“Absolutely, but before we get there, your mom and I needed to talk to you. We have something huge to share with everyone and we wanted you to be the first person to know.”
Colby stood up, his chair scraping along the floor as he pushed it away with the back of his legs and he became almost breathless with excitement. For a moment I held mine, wondering what he thought was going on.
“Mom, are you having a baby?” he asked, his eyes were wide and there was a fair amount of shock in his tone. Billie glanced toward me, then back at him, then me again, her eyes widening as if she needed my help.
“Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked, tentatively.
“If I said I kinda like babies, would that make me a wuss?” he questioned and cringed a little, which made me chuckle as I looked back at Billie, who had visibly deflated in her chair, relieved by his positive reaction.
“Not at all, I’m not averse to them myself. I loved when Tammy’s kids were tiny, Brock too.”
“I love Bethany she’s ultra cute,” he stated then his cheeks pinked up.
“Good to know. In that case that thing you wanted to hear might just blow your socks off, because you called it before we had a chance to tell you, but yes, your mom is having a baby, but you know what else?”
“We’re getting a puppy too?” he asked, breathing in rapid shallow breaths and so highly excited I thought he might pass out.
I chuckled because that one was totally unexpected. We’d never discussed having pets and he’d never asked. “No, bud, no puppy, not right now because we’re going to be very busy.”
“With the new baby, you mean?”
“What I mean is your mom isn’t just having one baby, she’s having two.” Billie jumped, startled when Colby leaned forward and slapped both his palms on the table, rattling the cutlery then sank heavily back to his chair.
“Two babies,” he muttered almost to himself before he looked up at Billie again. He frowned and worry creased his brow as the enormity of his mom’s situation sank in. Reaching over the table, he grabbed her hand and took it in his.
“Is having two babies dangerous?” He swallowed, stared at her intently, and I noticed the glint he’d had in his eyes when I’d met him from school had gone.
