His parents showed up at our house the next Thursday, Mia in tow with them. She’d wanted to tag along since Pierce was doing another investigation that required him to be away for a few days. They’d driven over instead of flying, though I wasn’t sure why, but whatever. Some people liked long drives, I guessed.
Nonetheless, the three of them stood in our doorway Thursday afternoon, his parents eager to give me congratulations in the form of big hugs and smacking kisses on the cheek. I was feeling enormous, my lower back was killing me, and my feet had swelled up like balloons due to the hotter temperatures that had rolled in. But I refused to let those things dampen my bright mood.
“Come on in, y’all!” I waved them into my clean apartment.
The swelling may have also been in part from the fact that I refused to have the apartment be a mess. I’d spent two days straight deep cleaning. Kai offered to help, but he was a guy, and no matter what he said about keeping his place clean in the military, I couldn’t believe he actually knew how to clean. I’d even taken the time to get fresh sunflowers and put them out on the table and counters.
Mia just stood there staring at my stomach for a really uneasy moment before coming inside behind her parents. “Your belly is really cute,” she told me with an awkward side hug.
I chuckled, shutting the door behind her. “Still thinking about babies, Mia?” I murmured while her parents doted on their favorite son in the living room.
With a smirk, she shrugged. “Twins seem a bit harrowing.” The knowing look she gave me made me laugh. She was a twin, and the more troublesome of the two. But I would never tell Ava I was beginning to prefer Mia over her. There was never a moment she wasn’t paying attention and looking to take the fall if it meant keeping others out of trouble. She was more selfless than I could ever claim to be.
“You have no idea how terrified I am.” I was honest with her.
“I’m sure it’ll be even more fun with them being a boy and a girl,” she pointed out.
“Oh that’s right, Jim!” Mrs. Hart broke in, having come over to the kitchen where Mia and I stood. “You need to get the gifts from the car.”
“Yeah. Kai, come on out so we can get everything.”
Everything? I wanted to ask but didn’t want to question Mrs. Hart when she had that look.
“I hope you didn’t go overboard,” Kai muttered to his dad on the way out, as if knowing what it would do to me if they had.
Mrs. Hart was smiling after them when Mia murmured, “They totally went overboard.”
“Oh, it’s our grandbabies. Of course we’re going to go all out. Just like we are for your wedding, Mia.” Mrs. Hart winked at her. Mia rolled her eyes.
I wanted a change of subject because I didn’t quite know how I felt about them getting anything for the babies, since it felt a lot like it was gifts for me. That didn’t sit well.
“How is the wedding planning going?” I flashed a smirk at Mia. The bored look she shot me said she might pay me back for that later.
But true to form, she took the weight of the conversation to ease the tension. “It’s going. I only have Ava as a bridesmaid, since you refused to be in it.” She waved a hand at my stomach. “Pierce only has Kai, but he might not be able to make it. So there’s that. I keep thinking we should just save all the money and go to the courthouse. But—” Her mom made an impatient noise at that. Mia gave her an uncomfortable grimace. “Yeah, Pierce doesn’t want to do that either. He likes his parties, I guess. And Mom wants to invite our entire damn family, most of whom I haven’t seen in years.” She shrugged.
Even though I’d heard some of it already, I was wondering if this was the first time she was saying it in front of her mom. A laugh bubbled at my lips, but Mrs. Hart was watching her daughter as if she were a ticking time bomb, which had me wondering if Mia had been having a hard time of things lately. I pondered playing the caring person later and asking her how things were going. If the opportunity presented itself. Now that my own drama had settled a bit and I was actually kind of happy, I considered meddling… only a little.
The guys came through the door then, both holding an end of two giant flat boxes that were wrapped—one with green paper, the other with purple. My heart pounded in my chest at the size of them, all happy, meddling thoughts dissipating. They grunted and made manly noises as they set them against the living room wall. Kai gave me a wry smile, glancing between me, his mom, and his sister.
“Let’s get the rest of it,” Mr. Hart announced.
“The rest of it?” I almost shrieked.
Kai snickered, the jerk.
Mia patted my arm with a sympathetic frown. “I told you they went overboard.”
My stomach churned, the sight of those giant boxes making it a million times worse. They came back in with their arms full of bags and boxes. Way too many. I held a hand to my chest, finding it hard to breathe. I couldn’t even compose my face into a fake smile.
What were they thinking getting all this stuff for the babies? Did they think I didn’t have the ability to get stuff for them?
Kai was the first to catch my expression before the rest of them when he was done setting down the packages he’d carried in. His eyes widened for a millisecond before he approached me, warm hands gripping my shoulders. The smile that spread across his lips made his eyes crinkle. It was full of compassion, and his thumbs kneading my shoulders were doing wonderful things. But I still couldn’t get my expression under control. I didn’t even know what it looked like.
“It’s all for the twins,” he whispered, not paying any attention to our audience. The twins. Our babies, who were also their grandkids.
Biting my top lip, I nodded. Then he engulfed me in a hug that was just the right amount of pressure to relieve the weight on my chest. When I took a deep breath, he pulled back, kissing me on the forehead. His family was standing there, watching us, watching me have a complete meltdown in front of them. Well, not a complete one—at least I hadn’t cried for the millionth time that week.
“Thank you,” I told his parents, trying for sincerity.
Mrs. Hart gave me an encouraging smile. “Us girls are going to have a little baby shower tomorrow, just the four of us, while the guys go out for breakfast.” She beamed. My face fell again. What was she trying to do to me? “Nothing extravagant. We’re just going to have breakfast and you can open all your gifts.” She seemed so excited, and I tried not to cringe. The idea of opening all of those gifts… in front of them.... I didn’t want to do it. And Kai wouldn’t even have to be there through it.
I was going to die. Actually die.
“So, Ava and Cade will be here any minute,” Kai broke in, knowing I needed a moment. He already knew me so well, even with only a little over a week of us being together. His observant mind boded very well for our relationship, the way he read me and understood my moods. We wouldn’t have worked out otherwise. Weaving his fingers with mine, he squeezed my hand. “Then we can go get dinner.”
“Sounds good.” Mr. Hart clapped Kai on the shoulder and gave me a warm smile.
While they waited for the rest of their family to show up, I excused myself to the bathroom. I said I was going to freshen up, but really I just stood there, staring at myself in the mirror. My hair was in a twisty side braid. I’d gone without makeup simply because I didn’t have the urge to do it. The sheer yellow button-up shirt I’d chosen made my eyes pop and did a pretty good job of concealing my giant bump. It was my eyes I stared at though, urging myself to chill out, to pull up my big girl panties and embrace his family for the two days they were to be there.