Page 99 of Coastal Rewind

“How’s the gallery coming?” Keegan reached across me to grab a carrot stick from the vegetable platter.

“It’s good. The floors are being installed next week and then we can finally get some art on the walls.” I sighed.

Mason convinced me to buy the industrial space a few months ago. I worked as a freelance nature photographer and even did a short stint on the media team with Sparrows before I decided I wanted to do something a little more stable. A gallery where I could showcase not only my own art, but other struggling artists was the perfect solution…if we ever got the place up and running.

“Can you go get the others? I have something I want to talk to you all about,” I said to my sister, glancing over at Mason who was trying his best to keep his massive smile at bay.

“Sure thing,” she cooed as she floated away.

Mason approached and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Are you ready for this?” he whispered against my skin as he placed a kiss on my shoulder.

“I am,” I declared with more confidence than I was truly feeling. If I was being honest, I was nervous. A lot could still go wrong, but we had a team of doctors who were confident we were out of the danger zone and should be okay to make announcements.

My siblings all gathered around the island and all eyes were on me as I cleared my throat.

“Okay, so, MJ wants to show you all the new shirt he wants to wear for his birthday.”

They all looked a little confused but glanced to the side where MJ was standing ready to unzip his sweatshirt. He was buzzing with excitement. The kid was horrible at keeping secrets but he managed to understand this was a big one.

He unzipped his sweatshirt slowly and when he opened it up to reveal his shirt, screams sounded around the kitchen. MJ was standing in front of us wearing a shirt that said Big Brother in bold face font.

“Is this a joke?” Keegan turned to me with glassy eyes.

I shook my head and lifted my oversized tee to reveal my baby bump.

Mason and I started looking into options right after we got married. He promised me I could get my hysterectomy if it was what I wanted and he’d be perfectly happy, but I knew I wanted to try.

We went to a specialist and explained my situation. Everything from the endometriosis to the benign tumor that was removed to the family history of cancer to only having one ovary. She admitted it would be difficult, but was confident that if I was able to get pregnant, I could work with the cancer predisposition team at the hospital to try to catch anything alarming during and after the pregnancy.

We’d gone through three rounds of IVF. Mason held me through every negative test. He dried my tears at every doctor appointment. He held my hand through the genetic counseling appointments. He was the rock I needed to stay grounded and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him.

It was a long and hard journey, but now we were finally out of the first trimester.

Maeve, Keegan, Rori, Maggie, and Lottie erupted into screams and ran for me, tackling me in a hug. The boys walked over to Mason, who looked like he was on cloud nine, offering hugs and handshakes in their manly way. Owen walked up to me and wrapped me in a hug so tight I thought he might actually pop my stomach.

“I’m so happy for you, Ry.” A tear escaped his eye and I wiped it away.

“I’m glad.” I faced the room and revealed my last secret. “Oh yeah, it’s twins.”

“What?” Mason’s face went white as a sheet as Nolan clapped him on the shoulders.

“Welcome to the chaos, Saxley.”

Nolan

Guys, I think it’s finally time.

Keegan

Time for what?

Maeve

You make me nervous when you say those things.

Why do you need to make a different group chat every single time?

Lottie