They had everyone’s attention. Since Paige already knew the news, she sat back and watched everyone else’s reactions.
Caleb put an arm around Lauren and said, “You tell them.”
“Okay. Well, we’re having a baby!”
Josh apparently already knew, too, because he didn’t look even a little surprised, though he smiled. Everyone else clapped and cheered and congratulated them. For the next half hour, everyone peppered them with questions. Did they know the sex? No, they’d decided to wait. How did Lauren feel? Good now, but her morning sickness during the first trimester had been a bitch, which is why she’d changed the schedule so she wouldn’t have to open the Cat Café for a few weeks. Paige had noticed that but hadn’t said anything at the time, figuring Lauren had her reasons for not wanting to open. Were they excited? Immensely. Caleb had, in fact, already started measuring their guest room to convert it into a nursery.
Guests started to leave as it got darker. Once Lauren announced she was tired and ready to go home, the party was basically over. That left Paige and Josh behind at the restaurant as stars started to appear in the sky.
“So you want to get another drink or try that peach cobbler, or what do you want to do?” Josh asked.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said. She raised an eyebrow.
Josh grinned. “Your place or mine?”
Epilogue
A new high-profile restaurant had opened on Whitman Street about a month ago, and it was a mere three blocks from Josh’s new office near Brooklyn Borough Hall, so Paige thought it would be a fabulous place to have an anniversary dinner.
She’d arrived first and spent a few minutes perusing the menu, which was mostly classic American dishes with Latin influences. The chef had three other well-regarded restaurants in Manhattan, but this was his first foray into Brooklyn. As the menu explained, the chef had also been a fixture on the Food Network and a contestant on several cooking-related TV competitions. Where did he find the time?
She was saved from having to worry about that too much when Josh arrived, finally. When he sat across from Paige, he looked tired and a little disheveled, but happy.
“One week down,” Paige said.
Josh grinned. “What a week! They threw me right into the deep end.”
There had been an opening in the Law Enforcement Assistance Unit of the Brooklyn DA’s office, so Josh’s new job involved the kind of investigation he found really exciting, plus he got to prepare subpoenas and warrants to help bring in the bad guys. The unit helped with a wide range of cases, but Josh’s first was a homicide. He hadn’t told Paige much about the particulars of the case, but he had told her that he was working with a pair of detectives he really liked. He also hoped that, eventually, he’d get promoted into the trial division, but for now he was content to work on investigations. Either way, Paige hoped he was much happier at this job than he had been at DCL.
Paige admired Josh’s ambition and ability to look toward the future. And she knew that the last few months at DCL had been a slog for him as he’d worked on a series of cases that left a bad taste in his mouth, ultimately pushing him to start job searching in earnest. His dream of being a prosecutor was finally being realized, although he’d spent a fair amount of time fretting about the pay cut. Paige had assured him it was fine. After all, she knew all about leaving a lucrative job for something one found more fulfilling. They both had money in savings, and two months ago, they’d moved into a new apartment where they were splitting the rent, so already Josh’s monthly expenses had gone down.
They were happy. And Paige had some ideas for the future, too.
They ordered, and then Josh settled into his chair and smiled. “Sorry I was late, by the way.”
“It’s fine. They let you leave before sundown.”
“True! I mean, I’m on call in case something develops in the investigation this weekend, but otherwise, I am all yours for the next two days.”
“I got the weekend off from the Cat Café.”
“Wow, really? No Sunday events? No crafts?”
“Nope. Somehow we have a weekend with nothing on the schedule. Not even a private event.”
“So we really do have the whole weekend to ourselves.” Josh lowered his eyelids. “I wonder what trouble we could get into.”
Paige laughed, and their drinks and the appetizers Josh had, of course, ordered arrived.
When they were halfway through their dinner, Paige said, “There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Yeah? This steak is really good, by the way. I’ve never had skirt steak this tender.”
Paige laughed. “Josh? I love you.”
He grinned. “I love you, too. More than I love food, even.”
“That’s a lot.” She reached over and pat his hand. “But anyway, I’ve been thinking lately that, you know, we’re in a committed relationship, we love each other, maybe it’s time to take the next step.”
