My face heated to the point that I wouldn't have been surprised if my skin melted off.
J.J. tugged me to the sidewalk and shot Cam a rude gesture. She returned it, leering at us as she cruised by.
I was laughing by this point even though my face was still hot.
Cam pulled into the empty parking spot right in front of the diner and J.J. gave me a speaking look.
"If we'd driven over here, I bet all the spots would have been full," I replied to his non-verbal I told you so.
Cam clambered out of her car and came over to us. "Were you just at Doc Stubens' office? How's the baby? Everything look good?" Then, she stopped and stared at us with wide eyes. "Wait, you're sixteen weeks now, right? Did she tell you the baby's sex?"
"First of all, how do you know when the doctor can tell the baby's sex?" J.J. asked. "And second, how did you know we had a doctor's appointment this morning?"
Cam nudged J.J. to the side with her elbow so that she stood between the two of us, her back to him. This also meant he had to let go of my hand, which I immediately missed.
"For your information, Lee is my friend as well as sister-in-law. She's also an employee. I'm privy to all sorts of information regarding her, which you should honestly be the one to tell me since this baby is my niece or nephew. Also, I've been doing some research on pregnancy so I can be helpful if I need to be."
J.J.'s pained expression over her shoulder was enough to make me smother a laugh.
"Do you have pictures?" she asked me, effectively blocking her brother as he tried to scoot around her.
I reached into my purse and pulled out the small envelope of ultrasound prints, taking them out to show her.
"Wow, what am I looking at?" she asked, turning the first picture a couple of times.
J.J. leaned over her shoulder for a better look. "My daughter's vagina," he deadpanned.
Cam twisted the arm not clasping the pictures to swat him in the belly with the back of her hand, making the air whoosh out of his lungs. "Not funny—" Then, she stopped talking and whirled around to face him. "Your daughter? You're having a girl?" she squealed.
She started jumping up and down and tried to hug him at the same time.
"Oh, my God, I'm having a niece! A niece! I'm so excited. I'll buy her all the pretty dresses and teach her to take down the patriarchy. I can't wait!"
I laughed and found myself enveloped in Cam's strange bouncing embrace as well.
"I'm so happy for you guys!" She released us and took a step back. She grimaced at J.J. when he took the ultrasound pictures out of her hand and carefully placed them back in the envelope. "Have you told Mom yet?" she asked.
J.J. sighed. "We just found out ourselves. We haven't had a chance to tell anyone else. Now, if you don't mind, I was taking my wife out for a late breakfast before you brought us to the attention of the entire town."
Cam made a face at him, which I barely acknowledged because my stomach was all shivery at the sound of J.J. calling me his wife. Now that we were sleeping together and spending every waking minute together, those words affected me. In a good way, but they still affected me.
"Well, you know how Mom is. As soon as she finds out, she's going to want to get everyone together."
J.J. glanced at me as if he wanted help, but I just shrugged. "My mom will want to do the same thing."
"We'll call the moms later," he decreed. "Right now, I just want to celebrate with Lee." When Cam opened her mouth, he lifted a hand. "Just the two of us."
She pouted but it was so obviously fake that I had to laugh.
"Fine," she said. "I have things to do anyway." Turning away from J.J., Cam gave me a hug. "Congrats again. I'll be sure to schedule us a day off soon so we can go shopping for girl things."
I hugged her back. "Thanks, but let's wait just a bit before we do that." I met J.J.'s eyes over her shoulder. "I think we'll be looking for a new place to live soon so I need to focus on that."
She released me and frowned. "But you love your house. You said you always wanted to live there."
My answering smile was sad. "I do, but it's only two bedrooms and tiny. We won't have enough room for the baby and her things if we stay there."
"I'm sorry," Cam said, squeezing my hands. "I'll ask around, see if anyone's planning to sell and let you know."
"Thanks."
She released me and faced her brother. "No hug for you. You're mean to me."
He grinned and grabbed her in a bear hug anyway, lifting her off her feet. She yelled and smacked him on the shoulder.
When he dropped her back onto the sidewalk, she socked his shoulder one more time for good measure.
"You're the worst big brother ever," she huffed.
"You love me anyway," he said, his voice smug.
"Only because biology dictates we love our pack mates so we'll be inclined to protect their dumb asses when they do something stupid and dangerous." She shot me one more look. "When you get sick of him, just say the word. I'd rather have a sister than a brother anyway. See you at work tomorrow!"
She flounced back to her car and backed out of the space before she sped away.
J.J. sighed and took my hand again. "I love my sister, but she's a nut."
"I've always wanted a sister," I commented. "But I got stuck with four stinky older brothers."
"Brothers are the best. Every girl should have a brother," J.J. argued, walking toward the cafe.
I fell silent at his words. Even though things were going well between the two of us, we still hadn't really discussed our marriage. Or plans for the future.
When I agreed to marry him, I'd told J.J. that it wouldn't be permanent, but now I couldn't imagine my life without him. I not only wanted our marriage to work but I wanted to give our daughter a brother or sister in the future. I wanted to argue about who was going to take carpool duty. I wanted family dinners together, movie nights on the couch, and vacations that were both wonderful and made me want to pull my hair out because the kids were driving us nuts...I wanted to get dressed up and go on dates with my husband. Something we hadn't really done.
I wanted a real marriage.
Now, I just had to figure out how to tell my supposedly temporary husband that I wanted something permanent.
19
As Cam and I had predicted, our mothers both wanted to do something to celebrate the news that we were having a girl.
However, rather than inundating us with plans or ideas, they did exactly what they had done for our wedding—they hatched a plan between the two of them.
I'd been to Sunday lunch at the McClanes' several times since J.J. and I married, so I wasn't surprised when they decided to have the event on a Sunday and at lunchtime. It was a standing event for the McClane family.
What did surprise me was that my mother insisted the lunch happen at her house and that all my brothers and their spouses and children come. Even Cam and Sierra and their respective husbands were invited.
That was nineteen people crowded into my parents' house. Granted our dining room sat twelve since there were seven of us growing up, but it was still going to be a tight fit, even if the kids ate in the living room at a card table.