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“Really?” asked Alex, shocked, as if he was surprised he had missed that specific fact when all he’d been doing the last few weeks was reading up on everything and anything about raising twins.
Becks was just about to open her mouth to respond when Danny showed up as if he had manifested out of thin air. He clinked a teaspoon against a glass of bubbly and cleared his throat. “Can everyone come a little closer? I just want to say a few words to get the afternoon started.” People scuffled closer, including myself and Alex.
Alex had his palm pressed against my lower back. I shifted closer and leaned into him, and he wrapped his arm around my waist and held me close.
“First off, can we all agree that Becks and I did a fabulous job getting the venue set up? If I do say so, we really outdid ourselves.”
There was a round of applause to which Danny did a half bow before he raised his hand, silencing the crowd. “Thank you everyone for being here today. This is a very special day. As you all know, I’ve known Sophie my entire life, and I’ve never seen her happier than she is with Alex. Getting knocked up was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to—”
“Hey!” I shouted, not wanting my poor grandmother to hear that I had a one-night stand. Thankfully, the woman was hard of hearing, and judging by the big smile on her face, she either hadn’t heard or wasn’t bothered. Today, I chose to believe the latter.
A few laughs echoed across the deck, including those of my parents, who had gotten over the initial shock months ago.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” said Danny, obviously enjoying his five minutes of fame. “We’re all just glad it happened. We were starting to wonder if you’d ever meet someone who truly deserves you, Soph. It seems the universe agreed and brought you Alex.” Danny’s smile softened, and he raised his glass in the air once more. “So, whether it's two little boys or two little girls or one of each, I know these babies aregoing to be loved beyond measure . . . And, of course, they’re going to have the best uncle ever . . . ”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a head of strawberry blonde hair, a set of big blue eyes, and a short, soft body carrying a present. Vicki looked as out of place as a fragile white snowflake in the hottest desert, and when she caught my eye, she stepped back as if she wanted to run.
Instead, she blended in with the crowd.
Nudging Alex with my elbow, I whispered when he tilted his head toward mine. “Vicki’s here. I thought she wasn’t coming,” I muttered.
When Becks had sent out the invitations more than a month ago—one to Vicki just to be polite—, I hadn’t minded when Vicki had said she couldn’t come. We were no longer at war with each other, but we were also not friends—far from it. For the past couple of months or so, Vicki had been giving me a sort of silent treatment, avoiding me as if she were in a battle with herself, processing what I had said and what she had said.
I understood her absence and respected it. That was why seeing her here, at my baby shower, was such a shock.
“Where is she?” Alex whipped his head toward the place where Vicki had stood just a second ago. “Are you sure it’s—”
“To Sophie and Alex,” interrupted Danny, his voice loud and cheery, slicing through the new Vicki-related tension. “Now let’s cut those cakes.”
The deck erupted in cheers and applause, and Becks pressed her hand against my mid back and pushed both Alex and me forward, until we were standing in front of the two cakes— each was topped with a glittery question mark.
I shot Alex a glance, and he gave me that nervous grin that made my heart do a little flip.
Who knew finding out the gender of the babies growing in my belly would be this nervewracking?
“No matter what,” he said, “we’ll love them equally.”
I laughed and picked up the knife. Alex did the same. We both hovered them over the cakes for a few anticipating seconds while the chatter died down and everyone held their breaths.
“On a go of three,” said Becks, clapping us down. “One. Two. Three.”
Together, we sliced into the cakes, the knives gliding through the frosting like butter. When we lifted the slices for everyone to see, there was an eruption of applause, a few “I told you so,” some more, “Her stomach was sitting way too low,” and a few more, “I can’t believe it.”
The cake slices were both bright pink. We were having twin girls.
In that perfect moment, time seemed to stretch and yawn, the universe pausing to savor the revelation just like I was.
And then, just as suddenly, everything snapped back as laughter exploded, glasses clinked, and my mother exclaimed that she had always known I was pregnant with girls.
There were also some groans by those who had lost their bets—including Danny, who had wagered actual money.
Before I could turn to Alex to check his response, he'd given me a hug so lovely and tight and an electric buzz settled deep in my chest. "Twin girls!" he exclaimed, punching the air with a fist. "Can you believe it, Soph? We're having twin girls."
Alex kissed my cheek at the same time Danny swooped in and pulled him away to the food and drinks table, eager to get the future dad a celebratory drink. I was just about to follow when a voice spoke from behind me.
“Sophie,” said the voice—one I had heard almost every weekday for the last four years, and one I’d often had to duck and dive from whenever it screeched through the gym doors.
I spun around to see Vicki standing behind me.
