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Oh, who was she fooling? This decade.
Robbie grinned. “We’re celebrating.”
“Damn right we are,” she said with a laugh as he walked away.
“What are you celebrating? You lost the costume contest, Merida,” Colm said, somehow managing to sneak up on her from behind, a pretty amazing feat considering he really wasn’t very quiet in those boots.
God only knew what the patrons of Pat’s Pub below thought was going on up here. Colm’s dad, Tris, had come up earlier to ask if they were using a jackhammer on the floor. He’d taken one look at Colm’s costume, rolled his eyes, muttered “competitive bastard” under his breath, and gone right back downstairs.
She’d been so sure she would take first prize this year. She had the hair, the dress, the bow and arrows, everything just perfect for her favorite Scottish Disney princess. She’d worn the costume to school yesterday, and her kids had gone out of their little minds. Of course, it helped that she had long red hair and they constantly told her she looked just like Merida.
Kelli narrowed her eyes at Lucas and Caitlyn, this year’s costume contest winners. “They had a very unfair advantage.”
Colm chuckled. “You’re not kidding. But you have to admit that costume was a pretty awesome way to tell the family she’s pregnant.”
Colm’s cousin and partner at the Collins and Collins law firm, Caitlyn, had shown up with her husband, the two of them dressed as Daddy and Mommy Shark, while Caitlyn had pinned a stuffed shark to the front of her shirt with a note attached that read “Baby Shark arriving in April.”
“You really didn’t know she was pregnant?” Kelli asked.
“No. And I fully intend to read her the riot act for that at work on Monday.”
Kelli could tell from Colm’s tone that he would do no such thing. He and Caitlyn were very close, and while she couldn’t see much of his face, she could tell he was beyond happy for his cousin.
He lifted one leg. “I’m just glad Sunnie awarded the prize early. I’m done with these boots. They’re killing my feet.”
Kelli lifted her dress to reveal her bare feet. “I kicked off my heels two seconds after she pronounced Caitlyn and Lucas the winners.” She pointed to where she’d shucked them into a corner. “Wanna add to my pile?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do that in a second. You didn’t tell me what you’re celebrating.”
Kelli’s smile widened as she rose up on tiptoe and leaned as close to Colm’s ear as she could manage. “Robbie said yes. We went to dinner before the party and talked some more. He’s in on the you know what.”
Colm nodded, but she couldn’t tell if he was smiling or not, thanks to the damn bushy beard. Something in his eyes made her think he wasn’t happy for her, which bothered her more than she cared to consider. He’d really seemed to get it the other night. So much so, she’d slept like a baby—granted, the wine had probably helped—for the first time in months.
She sure as hell hadn’t intended to confide her hope for a baby to Colm, but the fact he’d been supportive had gone a long way toward setting her mind at ease.
Mainly because she knew there were more than enough people in her life—her mother, primarily—who weren’t going to get it, and who were going to make damn sure she knew it.
Her concerns were washed away after his next question.
“So…when is he going to transfer the funds?” Colm asked.
The fact that Kelli laughed proved she’d had too much damn wine tonight. “Really, Colm? Transfer the funds?”
He chuckled. “You want me to come up with some other way to describe it? Because I’m sure if I put my mind to it, I could—”
“No. Please. Spare me. We going to do it over Christmas break, mid-December.”
“Damn. That’s soon.”
Kelli shook her head. “Not really. Now that he’s said yes, I’m sort of wondering if I should push it up. Don’t want him to change his mind, now that it’s decided.” She glanced over at Caitlyn and felt the strongest pang of…desire. It sounded cliché, but Caitlyn really did glow.
Kelli couldn’t wait to be pregnant.
“She’s really happy,” Colm observed, clearly looking at his cousin as well. “Not sure I’ve ever seen her that happy, and she’s been pretty obnoxiously in love with Lucas for nearly four years.”
“Obnoxiously in love. Yeah. That’s a great description. For pretty much everyone in this room right now,” Kelli said, looking around.
The apartment was packed with the Collins family and their friends. Sunnie, the party planner, was reloading the pigs-in-a-blanket platter with help from her husband, Landon. Finn was scrolling through the music selections with his partners, Layla and Miguel. Fergus and Aubrey were slow dancing in a corner to a song apparently only the two of them could hear, considering the upbeat, fast tune that was currently filling the apartment.
