“Moi?” Theo pressed a hand to his chest. “Lies and calumny. I’m extremely fair.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Porter had to take your class twice ’cause he failed the first time, andhe’sthe love of your life.”
“So he says,” Porter agreed in a voice so aggressively cheerful that Luke and I exchanged a worried look.
Before I could really think about it, though, Drew and Marco’s voices rose from outside.
“I’m just saying you don’t need to keep every concert tee you’ve ever sweated through,” Marco snapped. “That’s what downsizing’s all about.”
“But those shirts might be worth something someday!” Drew argued, gesturing wildly with the grill tongs. “I’m going to pass them to my nephews and niece.”
“Look out, kids,” Marco said dryly. “Twenty years from now, one of you might inherit a size XXL Indigo Girls concert T-shirt Drew bought in Hampton Beach in 1997, complete with marinara dribbles down the front from a mozzarella stick he ate in 2001. Balance your retirement portfolios accordingly.”
Everyone laughed, even Drew.
Marco kissed Drew’s cheek, soft and sure. It was still strange seeing them open like that after years of keeping their relationship under wraps, but it was good. Really good. As Luke might have said, a reminder that amazing things happened when you kept the faith.
“It’s not the shirts that are important,” Marco said gently. “The experiences you had, the memories we’ve made… that’s what matters. And I want us to make more memories. Together. That’s why we’re doing this, remember? So we can travel more.”
“I know.” Drew gave him an affectionate look, then grunted. “But stop throwing out my stuff before I’ve had a chance to go through it, okay? It’s aprocess.”
Marco had the grace to look guilty. “Alright,” he agreed. “No more.”
“That’ll be us someday.” Jack leaned back in his chair, slung his arm around Hawk, who was seated beside him, and nodded toward Drew and Marco. “We’ll be an old married couple, still passionately in love.”
“Yeah.” Hawk leaned into Jack and sighed. Then he added, “But you better not get any ideas about downsizing my throw blankets.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jack assured him, tilting his chair back.
Gage and Knox exchanged a look, and when Knox nodded, Gage grinned. “So, ah… turns out Knox and I will be an old married couple someday, too.” He held up his hand, displaying the band on his finger. “I made an honest man of your brother… whatever that expression means.”
Jack set his chair down with a thud. “Hell yeah! Congratulations, you two!”
A round of loud back-slapping and congratulatory hugs ensued, deafening even for someone used to Sunday family chaos.
“Hang on. You two have been together forever,” Porter teased. “Surely you’ve already had a wedding?—”
Gage punched Porter in the shoulder. “I think I’d remember, jerk.”
“Okay, okay!” Laughing, Porter held up his hands. “I must’ve dreamed it up.”
“Yeah?” Knox punched Porter’s other shoulder, less gently. “Stop dreaming of my fiancé, Porter.”
While everyone was laughing, I nudged Luke and nodded toward the hallway. He tapped Aiden on the shoulder, and the three of us slipped into my home office.
“Bruh, come on, we’re missing the fun,” Aiden complained, but when Luke grabbed an envelope off my desk, clutched it in his hand, and gave him a nervous smile, he wrinkled his nose. “What’s going on?”
“Aiden.” Luke licked his lips. “Being your bonus parent is pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me, right up there with marrying your dad. You know that, right?”
“Well, yeah,” Aiden said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I tipped my chin to my chest to hide my smile. Luke wasn’t just the perfect man forme; he was also the perfect stepfather for Aiden. One who never missed an opportunity to show Aiden how important and loved he was. I couldn’twaitto see him with our daughters.
“So your dad and I decided you might want to, ah… level up.” Luke smiled. “From only child to big brother.”
For a moment, Aiden’s eyes widened, and his mouth formed a perfect, shocked circle. Then he cracked.
“Oh my God, are youserious?” he exclaimed, his voice high-pitched with excitement, all traces of preteen cool obliterated. “We’re having a baby?”
