Page 36 of Can't Win 'Em All
“I wasn’t talking about the baby.” He turned surly. “I didn’t mean that. Don’t think I meant that.” To my surprise, he pressed his hand to my stomach. I hadn’t put on any weight yet—not even a little—but I could feel changes happening inside my body. It was a very surreal experience. “Don’t ever think that, Rex Jr.”
I frowned at him. “Rex Jr.?”
“Only if it’s a boy. If it’s a girl—when do we find that out by the way?—I was thinking of Rexanne.”
I blinked. Then I blinked again. Was he being serious right now? It used to be easy to tell with him.
“It’s like Roxanne but with a Rex to start,” he explained. “I think it’s cute.”
“We’re not naming the kid Rex or Rexanne.” I hadn’t thought of any names yet, but I could easily rule those two out. “It’s not happening.”
“I like Rex Jr.”
“Well … it’s not happening.”
“What names do you like?”
Now really wasn’t the time for that conversation. “Let’s get through dinner first,” I suggested. “Then, once you’re over the verbal beatdown—because that is coming—we’ll focus on names. I need to put together a list.”
He snorted but didn’t say anything.
“What’s with the snort?” I demanded.
“It’s just you and your lists. You like them way too much.”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with having a list. It keeps you on point. I like an orderly life. That’s going to be helpful with a baby.”
“If you say so.” He patted my shoulder. In the days since he’d confirmed he wanted to be a father, we’d fallen into an easy routine. It started with him buying a few books—he went for the audio versions because he said he fell asleep when reading a paperback—and culminated with him adding my doctors’ appointments into his phone calendar.
“I’m being serious,” I insisted. “Everything I’ve read says that a schedule is key with a baby.”
“Okay, but you do realize that babies don’t actually understand about keeping schedules, right? They’re little mayhem machines.”
“How would you know?”
“I know things.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The knock at the door had me jerking up my chin. The food had been delivered to the kitchen ten minutes before, so everything was ready. “It’s time.”
He frowned. “They’re going to be suspicious about why I’m here.”
“I told them I just wanted to have a family dinner. They won’t be suspicious until your parents show up.”
He balked. “You invited my parents too?”
“I told you that.”
“You did not.” He turned belligerent. “I would’ve remembered if you’d told me that.”
“Geez.” I rolled my eyes and escaped from the kitchen. “Just … take a breath. Nobody is going to question why you’re here until your parents show up. Then they’re going to realize the truth before we even have to tell them.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because everybody has been waiting for you to knock up a showgirl for ten years. They might be surprised that I’m the one you knocked up, but it’s not as if you have the word ‘responsible’ stamped on your forehead.”
His mouth fell open as I walked toward the door. “We’re going to talk about that crack later,” he warned.
“I’m looking forward to it.” When I pulled open the door, I found Mom, Pearl, Opal, Olivia, and Zach waiting for me. “Thanks for coming.” I ushered them inside, exchanging a heavy look with my sister-in-law. She was the only one who knew what was coming. “I appreciate it.”
