Briana’s cheeks grew rosy. “Oh, yes, the grocery store.”
“What happened at the grocery store?” Georgie asked, grateful she wasn’t the only one who’d had an embarrassing pregnancy moment.
Briana shifted the baby in her arms. “I thought there was a conspiracy to hide the tapioca pudding. I craved the stuff like a maniac when I was pregnant, and they always seemed to be out when we were there to shop. Well, one afternoon, the store had been sold out one time too many for my liking, and I went toe to toe with the poor dairy manager, accusing him of treacherous tapioca trickery.”
Thad nodded. “It’s true. My neurosurgeon wife is now known as the treacherous tapioca trickster in the market’s dairy department. And her reputation seems to have spread. They watch her like a hawk in the deli. It’s only a matter of time before they hear about her in the meat and seafood section,” the man teased.
Becca glanced at her watch. “Speaking of time, Brice and I should head over to the restaurant to make sure we don’t miss our reservation, especially since we’re celebrating Thad’s last night.”
Georgie’s gaze zeroed-in on Thad. “You’re leaving?”
He put up his hands in mock-defense. “I am. But I promise. It’s not to go visit a secret family. Briana and I both work with Doctors Without Borders. But now that we have Ollie, I’ll be going alone this time.”
“How long will you be gone?” Jordan asked.
“I’m headed to Central America for eight weeks.”
“Putting brains back together. That’s my brother-in-law,” Brice chimed, slapping the man on the shoulder.
Becca took her boyfriend’s hand. “Briana and Thad, we’ll meet you at the restaurant. Georgie,” her friend added, turning a pointed gaze her way.
“Yes.”
“Are you good on the pregnant lady freak-out front? You’re not about to accuse the neighbors of running an illegal gambling ring, are you?” her friend asked, but the woman was holding back a grin.
“There will be no more accusations tonight. Cross my heart,” she answered, knowing that once Becca mentioned this to her sister, she’d never live it down.
Still, in her defense, how many pregnant women have run into their handsome obstetrician’s identical twin brother? It couldn’t be that common.
While Brice and Becca said their goodbyes to baby Oliver, she leaned in toward her husband and lowered her voice.
“You should have stopped me from acting like a pregnant police interrogator.”
“I tried, babe. You were on quite a tear. If the bookshop and blogging thing ever get boring, you should apply to work for the real FBI. That was quite a shakedown,” he whispered back with that cocky smirk of his.
She was about to tell her beloved asshat that he was going to receive quite a shakedown as soon as they got home when Briana closed the door behind Becca and Brice and turned to them.
“Let’s head back to the kitchen.”
“Thanks for not kicking us out,” Jordan said.
Georgie nodded. “Yes, thank you. And I promise. I’m not a crazy lady. I’m sure that’s what crazy people say, but I can tell you, I’m not,” she added, then cringed.
Honestly, she needed to travel with a roll of duct tape—or maybe a big can of pineapple chunks. If she were eating, that sure would have stopped her from talking.
Thad waved for them to follow him down the hall. “It’s not every day that we get a guest, armed with a doll, accusing me of leading a double life. I can’t wait to tell my brother. He’ll get such a kick out of this,” the man said over his shoulder as they entered the spacious kitchen.
Georgie glanced at Faby and felt her cheeks heat. “For the record, the doll is for a baby prep class Jordan and I are taking. But it’s not half as cute as your little one,” she added, waving at the child in Briana’s arms.
“In all the commotion, I forgot to introduce you to Oliver,” Briana replied, then snuggled the sweet boy, who sported quite a lovely head of baby hair.
Good hair must be in the Casey genes.
“He’s beautiful,” Georgie answered, watching the boy take in the world with inquisitive blue eyes.
She hadn’t spent much time with infants—ever. Families with little ones came into her shop, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d held a real baby.
The little boy reached out, and without thinking, she supplied her finger. The baby squealed with delight, then flashed a toothless grin before making raspberry lips at her.
“Look, he already likes you, Georgie,” Briana cooed.
“We appreciate you volunteering to watch Ollie. Becca and Brice had offered to babysit. It’s so nice that they’ll be able to join us tonight,” Thad said, pulling out an empty baby bottle from the cabinet.
“We’re going to miss Daddy, aren’t we, Ollie? But Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brice will help us out,” Briana said, making a silly face at the baby.
“That’s great that you’ve got your family close by to help,” Jordan replied.
“How about you guys? Do you have relatives in town?” Briana asked as the baby reached for Thad, and she passed the sweet tot over to his father.
“We do,” Jordan answered.
“It’s a lifesaver when you have a little one. That’s for sure. Especially with me going back to work,” Briana offered as she took over bottle duty.
Georgie nodded as a pang of guilt settled in her chest. When would she tell her mother? She had no idea. No time ever seemed to be the right time.
“Do you mind me asking how far along you are?” Briana asked.
Georgie caressed her little bump. “A couple days shy of eighteen weeks.”
“That’s when I was itching to tell everyone I was pregnant and not some wild woman downing pints of tapioca pudding.”
Georgie switched Faby to her other arm. “When did you share your pregnancy news?”
“A little after I was twenty-two weeks along. After the ultrasound where we found out the gender and learned this sweet boy was on his way,” Briana answered, tapping the tip of her baby’s nose.
Georgie shared a glance with her husband. “You did? You waited that long?”
Briana blew out a tight breath. “We did. My family is great, but they can go a little overboard. I’m not sure if you can relate.”
“I can,” Georgie replied, and the worry she’d been carrying from the moment the first set of pink lines appeared waned a fraction.
Perhaps she wasn’t a terrible person for keeping her mom out of the pregnancy loop.
Briana opened a canister printed with a baby’s face, then frowned. “Thad, we’ll need to pick up some more formula on the way home tonight. We have just enough to make one more bottle.” She turned to them and sighed. “We’re constantly forgetting to buy baby formula at the grocery store. With me going back to work, we switched from breast milk a couple of weeks ago,” she finished, filling the bottle with water, then adding the last of the formula powder.
“Have you started him on solids yet?” Jordan asked, and Georgie’s ears perked up.
Someone has been doing a little late-night baby research.
“We’ve introduced a little bit of rice cereal,” Thad answered.