At least she got a laugh. “You see? You’re bad enough. Can you even imagine what Mom’s going to be like?"
"When are you planning to tell them?"
"I have my first scan in a couple of weeks. I think, if everything looks good then we’ll tell them. Maybe at one of Mom’s Sunday dinners. We’ll get the news out of the way at once and tell everybody."
Geoff brought their tea up at that moment. Iris reached out to take his hand with a quick word of thanks. Marguerite loved to see these two. If there was ever a couple who made you believe in forever love it had to be Iris and Geoff. So far, she hadn’t asked the obvious question. Were they going to get married?
As Geoff set the cups down, Iris said, “Sit down and join us, why don't you? We’re done with the secretive girl talk now."
He glanced at Marguerite, "Are you sure you don't mind?"
She grinned at him. “You're going to be the father of my new niece or nephew. I'd be happy to have tea with you."
His whole face lit up at the wordfather. "I still can't believe it. A year ago I came to this town broken and sorry for myself and starting over and now I've found an amazing woman and I’m going to be a dad. I even like the kids I teach in my high school. How great is that?"
She chuckled. "It's probably a good quality in a teacher. I think it's good that you like your kids. And you like your job. And you like this town. But mostly, I'm happy that you love my sister."
He took Iris’s hand. "That I do."
Iris said, “I’ll be glad when the scan is done. I feel like everything is going so fast. Like some alien’s taken over my body. I'm only about six weeks along but I swear my stomach is already starting to bulge.”
Geoff watched as Iris’s hand settled on her belly. “Are you sure you should be doing all this extra baking? I really think you need to rest more. Marguerite, don’t you agree with me?” His face creased with concern. “Iris should be sitting down more. She works too hard. All this stress and long hours can’t be good for the baby.”
Her sister let out a breath as though this was an argument they’d had more than once. She said, “Geoff, being pregnant is a normal part of life. My doctor says I’m fine to continue working so long as I feel good.”
“I think you should tell your mother about the baby. You should tell your family, so they can help you. And we need more staff.”
Iris nodded. “I know we need more staff. I am keeping my eyes open.” She glanced at Marguerite. “I figure when I get towards the end and I’m as big as a house I’m going to want to take it more easy. Plus, of course, I’ll want to take time off when the baby comes. But it’s so hard to find anybody in the area who can bake and is good with customers.”
“What about Dosana?” Marguerite asked. Dosana was a young business graduate who had become Iris’s right hand.
Iris shook her head. “She’s got her hands full with the second bakery. Maybe we shouldn’t have expanded so soon, but I didn’t know I was going to get pregnant.” And she glanced to Geoff with an impish grin that lit up her face, “Though I’m sure glad I did.”
Geoff rubbed her shoulders with a protective hand. “Me too. I’ve never been happier about anything in my life.”
Marguerite said, “You know I’ll help out where I can. But I’ve got to get all the harvest in. Plus, my area of expertise is growing vegetables. I can’t bake anything. I burn toast.”
Iris nodded. “I know. You would have been my first choice except for the fact that you have absolutely zero talent as a baker. No, I’m going to have to start widening my search. Put the word out for someone who can help. Even extra orders like the one from Mom mean I get a little less sleep. I can’t believe the Fall Harvest Festival is already here. I don’t know where this year has gone.”
Marguerite nodded. “I know. It feels like every year goes faster. Plus, you had a pretty busy time, opening a second bakery and well, making babies and all.”
Iris grinned. “The making babies was definitely the best part.”
Marguerite put her hands over her head in exaggerated shock. “Don’t remind me. I feel like everybody in my family is having excellent sex except for me.”
“Well, not everyone.”
“There’s you, disgustingly happy growing babies, there’s Prescott and Holly, Evan and Caitlyn. Even Rose, pickiest woman on the planet, seems to have found her dream guy.” And that dream guy had an even dreamier brother. Seemed like it was a combination of seeing her brothers and sisters finding love and happiness and always feeling like she was hidden away that was giving her this strange sense of loss. “Even my Mom is getting more than I am. Plus, when Dad drove by my cottage this morning and I was sitting outside on the rocker, he said I reminded him of Great Aunt Mildred. And I think he meant it like that was a good thing!”
Iris laughed, long and hard, so she had to bend over in her chair. “Oh, Dad has to be the most clueless man sometimes. You know he didn’t mean that in a bad way.”
“How is it good that I’m twenty-eight and remind him of an eighty-something year old spinster?”
Instead of answering, Iris said, “Maybe you need to get out more. I mean, you’re tucked away in a little cottage like Snow White.” Her eyes began to dance. “You even have seven dwarves—well at least seven dwarves, all those random gardening guys who come and pick the produce. They’re definitely a motley crew.”
She winced. “I know, but Snow White? Really?”
Iris shrugged. “Snow White got her prince.”
