by J. S. Scott
As relieved as she was at how well Bobby was taking this, it was equal parts unsettling and strange. It wasn’t just that he was putting on a brave face. He was actually excited about the fact that she was pregnant. He wasn’t the kind of guy who did one-eighties. Once he made up his mind about something…that was it. So for him to have gone from never wanting to have kids to wanting to tell every person, including the bellboy, of her delicate condition was more confusing than the final episode of Lost.
She felt like she’d stepped into an alternate reality of her life. She was pregnant. Bobby was thrilled. It was like she was trapped in some kind of emotional limbo. More than anything, she wished she shared in her husband’s enthusiasm, but for some reason, she just didn’t.
Every time she would let herself think about whether it was a boy or a girl or if the baby would have Bobby’s dark hair and light eyes or her blonde hair and full lips, she saw her mom’s face at Nick’s funeral. Flashes of her parents, barely existing after they’d lost her brother, played in her mind on repeat.
After parking, Bobby turned to her, his hands still resting on the wheel. “Soph, I know that you are still trying to process this, and I know you are having a hard time coming to terms with it. I wish I could help, I wish I knew the right words to say, the right thing to do to make this okay for you. I may not be able to do that, but I want you to know that, last night, you made me the happiest man in the world. I honestly didn’t think it was possible for me to love you more. Apparently, I was wrong, because the second the words, ‘I’m pregnant,’ left your mouth, I fell even more madly in love with you. I couldn’t be happier that you’re carrying my baby…that I’m going to be a dad.”
Bobby rarely strung more than two sentences together, but when he did, it mattered. Sophie sniffed as her eyes filled with tears, then slipped down her cheeks as she looked at her amazing husband. Throwing her arms around him, she buried her face in his neck as she said, “I love you. Thank you for being you.”
His large hands rubbed up and down her back as he held her and whispered, “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
She nodded and tried to put on a brave face as she pulled away from him, smiling as genuinely as she could. “I know. It will. But I’m still not ready to tell everyone. Not yet.”
A flicker of disappointment flashed across Bobby’s eyes, but he quickly recovered. “We’ll tell them when you’re ready.”
Guilt filled her chest as they exited the SUV and started up the walkway to the front door. Sophie knew that he was disappointed that she wasn’t ready to share the news. If it were up to him, they would have called everyone last night to tell them. He seemed confused at her hesitance when he’d suggested that this dinner would be the perfect time to tell everyone at once and she’d shot him down. But, to his credit, as soon as she’d made it clear that that’s not what she wanted to do, he’d dropped it. Which, in a weird way, had made her feel even worse about the fact that she was disappointing him.
The front door opened and Jason, who was wearing one of the ugliest Christmas sweaters she’d ever seen, stood in the doorway holding a mug of what she assumed was eggnog. He smiled brightly and pulled them both into a hug as they stepped through the door.
For the last few years, the Sloan Christmas parties had had themes. Last year, it had been “Winter Wonderland” by default because Haley Sloan had gotten married on Christmas Eve and that was the theme of her wedding. This year, it was “Ugly Christmas Sweaters.” She was wearing a particularly obnoxious green sweater with dancing elves on it. She’d scored Bobby a dark-gray Star Wars-themed sweater. It had a picture of Darth Vader wearing a Santa hat.
“There’s the traitor,” Alex said as he came down the hall with his wife, Jamie, who answered his comment with a playful swat across his chest and a roll of her eyes.
“Seriously, Alex?!” Sophie asked, shaking her head. Not because of the ‘traitor’ comment. Bobby had told her that Alex was having a field day with the fact that Bobby had quit Sloan Construction to start working for Seth. Nope, her response had been spurred by Alex’s choice of ugly sweater.
The middle Sloan brother wore a green-and-red-checkered sweater that featured Santa sitting on a toilet with his pants down.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” Jamie immediately jumped in, animatedly throwing her hands up in the air, “but you should have seen how happy he was when he found it online.”
“My girl likes me to be happy.” Alex wagged his brows as he pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her before pretending like he was going to drag her back down the hall where the bedrooms were.
Sophie was laughing as she and Bobby headed towards the family room, but they were sidelined when Haley and Katie came out of the kitchen carrying trays of meats and veggies.
“Hey. How are you feeling?” Katie asked.
Haley’s brow furrowed. “Yeah. We’ve been worried.”
“I’m good,” Sophie assured them as Bobby rubbed her lower back in support.
“Did you guys have a fun weekend?” Katie looked between Bobby and Sophie. Sophie could practically feel the suspicious wheels turning in Katie’s pretty head.
Just as she was about to tell her all of the things they’d done and throw her off the scent of the trail, the aroma of the ranch dip wafted through the air and Sophie knew she needed to get to the bathroom now.
“Yeah. The traffic was pretty bad though. I’ve gotta use the…” was all Sophie able to get out before she spun on her heel and speed-walked down the hall, praying that Bobby wouldn’t follow her. If he did, she knew that it would be one more piece of the puzzle in Katie’s jigsaw detection.
God must have heard her prayers, because as she stepped into the bathroom, a quick glance over her shoulder told her that she had not been followed.
After several moments of kneeling in front of the porcelain throne with no activity happening, she started feeling better. The nausea passed and it no longer felt like the room was spinning. Upon standing, she splashed some water on her face.
Confident she was out of the morning sickness woods—at least for now—she opened the door and found Grandpa J standing on the other side.
“Grandpa!” She smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Hey. There’s my favorite granddaughter,” he greeted her cheerily. The fact that she was his favorite granddaughter had been a running joke because she was his only granddaughter. His arms held her tight in a bear hug. “I heard you weren’t feeling so hot.”
“I’m okay,” Sophie said to him before closing her eyes. She let the familiar comfort of his hug seep through her, and before she knew it, she was crying. Again.
“Hey now.” He patted her back before away slightly and looking down at her with concern etching his face. “What in the world has got my girl so upset? Do I need to go have a talk with Bobby?”
“No, Grandpa. It’s not Bobby. He’s amazing. It’s just…” She had no idea what to say. The tears started pouring out of her like she’d turned on a faucet, and she wasn’t sure how to turn it off. Sophie shrugged her shoulders in frustration. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“Boy oh boy, I remember when my Marie cried over everything. Commercials, her shows, even if the glass she wanted to use was dirty.” Grandpa J’s eyes narrowed as something seemed to dawn on him. “It was when she was expecting your daddy.”
Great. Well, at least she came by it honestly.
“Are you…?” Grandpa J’s eyes widened.
There was no way she could lie to her grandpa—not that she wanted to. She nodded as tears kept falling down her face.
His face lit up in a huge smile. “Well, what are all the waterworks for? This is great news!” His loud voice boomed down the hall.
“Shhh,” Sophie hushed him as she opened the door to Katie’s home office and practically shoved him inside.
Thankfully, he went willingly. Her grandpa might have been pushing ninety, but he was solid and still had th
e strength of men half his age.
“I don’t want anyone to know,” Sophie explained in a loud whisper as she shut the door behind them.
Grandpa J’s bushy, white eyebrows rose. “Well, I hate to break it to you, sweet girl, but it’s gonna be pretty obvious real soon.”
“I know.” Sophie waved her hand dismissively. “I just mean I don’t want anyone to know yet. Not until I…until I can figure out…or at least just be…” As she stumbled over her words, the tears that had briefly dried up from fear, when Grandpa J had practically broadcast her condition to the entire house, were now back in full force.
Grandpa J’s arms, once again, encircled her and he kissed the top of her head as he held her in his comforting embrace. “There, there. It will be okay.”
“But that’s just it.” Sophie pulled away from him. “You don’t know that. Bobby doesn’t know that. No one knows that.” Her tears were falling to the carpeted floor as she looked down at her stomach and rested her hands protectively over it. “Anything can happen. Anything does happen. Nick was here one day and gone the next. Just like that. It wasn’t okay. He wasn’t okay. Mom and Dad weren’t okay. Nothing was okay.”
“Well, you’re right about that,” Grandpa J said calmly.
Sophie’s eyes shot up to his. The last thing she’d expected him to do was agree with her.
He nodded as he pulled out a handkerchief for her to wipe her eyes with. She took it, and as she brushed the soft cotton across her face, she inhaled deeply, loving the smell of Irish Spring and woodchips that was uniquely her grandpa’s.
“No one is promised tomorrow—or today for that matter. When I lost my dear Marie and when Nick was taken from us far too soon, it wasn’t easy. In fact, it hurt so bad sometimes I thought the pain was gonna split me in two. But you know what I learned? Life is about treasuring every moment you have with the people you love and being thankful for those memories even when they’re gone. I wouldn’t have given up one second that I shared with those two amazing people to escape the pain I felt when they were no longer with us.
“And I know it was hard for you to see what your momma and daddy went through after we lost your brother. But do you think they would have done things any differently even if they had known they’d only have him for eighteen years. Would you have? If you had the power to not have had Nick as your older brother so you wouldn’t have to feel the pain you still feel at his loss, would you change a thing?”
Sophie shook her head as she pressed the handkerchief back up to her eyes to catch the tears that were slipping over.
“No, I didn’t think so. You can’t control life, my sweet girl. All you can do is go for the ride and make sure you appreciate every second you’re given with the ones you love, and let me tell you, you are going to love that little bundle of joy more than you could ever imagine.”
“I already do,” Sophie said in a shaky breath.
And she did. That’s why she’d been so terrified. But Grandpa J was right about everything—as usual.
“Thank you, Grandpa. I love you,” Sophie sniffed as she launched herself into his arms again, this time with a huge smile on her face.
“That’s what I’m here for, Sophie girl. That’s what I’m here for.”
Feeling stronger and surer of everything than she had in a long time, Sophie knew exactly what she needed to do.
“Come on. I think Bobby and I have an announcement to make.”
Grandpa J looked down at her with pride, and even though she was a married woman in her mid-twenties who was about to be a mom, that look still meant the world to her.
Wiping her face to make sure there were no more tears, Sophie took a deep breath before opening the door and heading down the hallway towards the sounds of everyone talking and laughing in the family room. When she stepped around the corner, Bobby instantly spotted her from where he was talking to Seth by the fireplace and was at her side so fast, it almost gave her whiplash.
“Are you okay?” she asked, when she noticed a strange expression on his face.
Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “I went to look for you and instead found my dad and Pam…making out.”
“What?” she asked in shock.
“Yeah.” Bobby nodded, his eyes wide.
Then she remembered and told Bobby quietly that she’d seen Katie’s mom in the deli and they’d both seen Bob outside. They must have been in the city together.
“Do you think anyone knows?” Sophie asked.
Bobby shook his head, looking like he wasn’t really sure what to think of it. Which made sense. As far as Sophie knew, Bob hadn’t dated at all since Cheryl. Actually, come to think of it, Pam hadn’t dated the entire time she’d lived next door to her.
Sophie’s heart filled with love. Good for them.
“Are you okay?” Bobby asked, his face filled with concern.
Sophie smiled up at her amazing husband and answered him totally honestly. “Yes.” Then, lifting up on her tiptoes, she whispered in his in ear, “I’m ready to tell everyone.”
His entire body tensed as he moved his head to look right in her eyes. “You are?”
“I am.” She nodded happily.
“Hey, everybody,” he said loudly as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his side. All the talking stopped instantly and Sophie could feel everyone’s eyes on her. It was amazing how Bobby could command a room with just a few words. “Sophie and I are going to have a baby.”
“I knew it!” Katie screamed as the room erupted in congratulations.
Sophie found herself surrounded by her family, who swarmed around her in excitement. Her mom was the first person to hug her, and honestly, Sophie hadn’t seen her look as happy as she did in that moment since before Nick was gone.
Bobby kept one arm around her, not letting her out of his sight as everyone buzzed around them. His face was shining with a smile that made her insides jelly, and she knew, just like Grandpa J had said, that this was what life was all about. Moments just like this.
Here’s a peek of My First – Jason & Katie (The Crossroads Series, #1)
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“Need a hand, Kit Kat?” the deep voice sounded from behind her.
A shudder rippled through her body and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her carry-on slipped from her shoulder and dropped with a thud on the cement driveway.
“Jason?” she said, her voice a whisper of disbelief.
Katie had known she would have to face Jason at some point on her trip home. He was, after all, the best man in Sophie’s wedding—which made perfect sense, seeing as how Sophie was marrying Jason’s little brother, Bobby. She didn’t need to possess psychic powers to foresee that their paths would cross. She’d just thought she would have had a little more time to prepare herself before she came face to face with him.
She had also been banking on the theory that when the inevitable face-to-face occurred, she would have the benefit of a room full of people surrounding them to serve as a protective shield, a buffer. However, that did not seem to be the case.
Nope. Here they were. Alone.
She stood, frozen, with her back to him, staring down at her pink and black suitcase, wishing with all her might that she could just climb into the trunk and hide. Logically, she knew that plan was probably not the most mature response to this encounter—also, shall we say, not the most subtle. Still, it was tempting. Because as the realization sank in that the extra time and buffer-people she so desperately needed to get through this encounter with Jason were not flipping forthcoming, Katie felt as though the air was literally being sucked from her lungs.
Great. Panic attack number two. Here we go. And right in front of Jason. The hiding-in-the-trunk move was sounding better by the second.
Her mind raced as she tried to mentally prepare herself for seeing Jason again.
Jason Andrew Sloan had chestnut brown hair, whiskey-colored, soulful brown eyes, and a s
mile that could, as her Aunt Wendy always said, “melt butter in a freezer.” He was also the first person Katie had met in her kindergarten class at Harper's Crossing Elementary.
23 Years Ago
It was the first day of Kindergarten and Katie was paired up with a boy as a table buddy.
A BOY! Could this day get any worse? The class’s first official assignment as kindergartners was to write their names on the white paper sitting on the desk in front of them and then tape it to the back of their seats.
Katie wrote her name in all capital letters and rainbow colors and taped it on the back of her chair, just as she had been instructed to do. She was proud of finishing her assignment in time to go out for recess. She noticed her table buddy (The Boy!) had not.
After the first recess, when the kids came back into the classroom, she saw a few of them standing around her chair—laughing. As she walked up behind them to sit in her seat, she saw that the 'ie' at the end of 'Katie', on the nameplate she had been so proud of, had been crossed out, and the word 'Kit' had been written in front of the 'Kat' that remained of her original creation.
She was so embarrassed. Why would anybody ruin her name paper? She looked over to see her table buddy Jason (The Boy!) smiling a toothless grin from ear to ear as he patted her chair “I think this is your seat, Kit Kat,” he said.
All the kids started laughing and Katie just slumped down in her chair, furious at her table buddy aka The Boy aka Jason Sloan.
Jason never admitted to being the one who had defaced her beautiful rainbow-colored name paper but she knew, deep down in her heart, he was the culprit. And she would never forget it, just like no one ever forgot the nickname. From that day on, Katie Lawson was Kit Kat.
