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“She was just a little too . . . ” Maya seemed to be struggling to find the right words.
But she didn’t need to. Sam effortlessly filled in the gap. “Vicki was born thinking that she’s always right.Always. No matter what she does, or says, or how she acts, it’s as if she believes the universe and all its occupants will bend to her will. Including Alex, who could never truly get what he wanted, because it wasn’t whatshewanted.”
“So, basically,” Sophie started, “she’s what I’ve thought of her all along: a female version of my brother.”
Maya, whose golden eyes were wide and seemingly worried that her husband was overstepping—though I was used to Sam doing exactly that—, seemed to relax, her shoulders visibly softening.
“Yeah?” Sam asked. “Well then,ifyour brother is dating her, they’re going to kill each other.”
Everyone around the table laughed, and then, unexpectedly, Sophie let out a hiccup-like sound that drew everyone’s attention to her. She glanced down at her belly, a surprised grin on her lovely face. “The babies just kicked, and not those little wiggles they usually do, but proper little kicks.”
CHAPTER 25
Sophie
“This looks incredible,” I gasped, refusing to think about how much it all cost.
The custom pink-and-blue balloon arch couldn’t be cheap, neither could that personalized neon sign with Alex’s and my initials on it, or that dessert table that looked like it belonged in Queen Elizabeth’s tearoom. Even the scones looked far too fancy to eat.
Becks had outdone herself, and with Danny’s input—he had been more than eager to help with everything—, my baby shower was bound to be nothing less than over-the-top.
That reminded me. Wherewasmy brother?
Glancing around the deck—an expansive space that extended from the wine-tasting area of Silver Hill Vineyards and overlooked endless rows of grapevines—, I spotted my parents. They had flown out from Seattle last night, together with my nonna, who was sitting in a chair beneath a cream-colored umbrella chatting with my aunt Pearl. There was also my uncle Jimmy, who appeared to be boring Caleb with something or other, and Valerie, my cousin from Morro Bay, talking to Erica, another cousin who had flown out from Vancouver. Amongst them all were a few nearest and dearest friends—both mine andAlex's—with drinks in their hands. Sam and his wife Maya were scrambling after their littlest one, who kept trying to squeeze himself through the railings.
Danny, however, was nowhere to be seen.
“So, there are two cakes,” said Becks, oblivious to my search. She pointed to the big table set up beside a smaller one already stacked full of baby shower gifts. “Later, you and Alex will cut into each, and we’ll be able to see if the twins are boys or girls or one of each. Danny wanted a plane to fly over us dropping pink or blue powder, but I convinced him not to.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
“He thinks cakes are far too boring for a gender reveal.”
“Everyone loves cake,” I replied, relieved that Becks had been there to mitigate the day. Danny’s plans were always a little outrageous, a little illogical. “I’m shocked he didn’t convince you to hire those sumo wrestler suits that have been making the rounds on social media.”
“That’s still not off the table,” said Becks bitterly. “He did say he’s got a surprise for you.”
My stomach clenched. A Danny surprise was always more of a shock than anything else. I would’ve let those angsty nerves get to me, but Alex walked over, his lovely lips tugged into a smile, and all my worries just faded away.
“You look beautiful,” he said, kissing me on the temple. He then stepped back as if he had just noticed something and scrunched his nose. “Wait,” he said, pointing at my pink dress.
“Weren’t you wearing blue like a minute ago?”
“Iwas,” I said. “But Becks brought me a change of clothes.”
The surprise on his face was almost comical, and I would’ve reached over and smoothed the furrow between his brows if he didn’t look so damn cute.
“I thought we both agreed that our babies are going to be boys,” he said, frowning. “Didn’t you say you had a dream theother night of two little monkeys driving race cars? That was a sign, wasn’t it?”
I laughed, remembering how convinced I'd been after the dream. So certain that we were having boys I rushed to the store and bought two matching onesies with little blue dinosaurs on them. But then this morning, on the way to the venue, the feeling had changed suddenly, as if something deep within me had shifted, whispered that maybe, just maybe, we were expecting twin girls instead.
“This feels like a betrayal,” Alex said, his face a picture of deadpan seriousness. But then his eyes sparkled and his lips curved in that familiar crooked smile, sending the butterflies that had flapped in my stomach so many months ago, under that pergola at the joint replacement seminar, fluttering back to life.
Despite everything we had shared—moving in together, navigating the humdrum of everyday life—, I still experienced those lovely fluttery nerves whenever Alex looked at me with that smile or traced his finger along my cheek, or kissed me on the temple for no other reason than that he wanted to.
I secretly hoped that it would never change, and if it did—because that was life, wasn’t it—, I wished these feelings would only grow bigger and stronger, and my love for Alex would only get deeper. As deep as the ocean.
“Maybe you’rebothright,” said Becks. “Maybe the twins are a boy and a girl. You know, I never knew that could happen with identical twins, not until the other day when Caleb was reading a list of twin facts. Did you know that identical twins can be mirror images of each other? One might be left-handed and the other right-handed.”
