She could’ve sworn his broad chest puffed out another inch or two. “I’m a lot more excited than Steph is. Of course, I don’t have to carry her for nine months or give birth.”
“This crew is really growing,” Rylie said. “I love that you guys always make the effort to get the families together. It really means a lot to Jarrett, too. He’s not too open about his feelings, but he really loves all of you. You’ve been there for him during his worst moments.”
“Thankfully, we’ve been there for his best ones, too. Like your wedding. That was something we’d all given up on ever happening.”
“If I’m not mistaken, all of you played a part in bringing us together.” She let Hazel slide down to the floor, watching to make sure she didn’t get stepped on as she crawled away.
“I didn’t do that much. But Steph and I would never have gotten married if the guys hadn’t interfered. I owe them. I’d be a deranged hermit if they hadn’t dragged me off to Vegas.”
“That’s one of my favorite stories.”
“The thing is,” Bran said. “We’re family. We’ve always been there for each other, and we always will be.”
Rylie sniffed. She’d started weaning Hazel, and her hormones were going crazy. But even without the hormones, the blessings of being a part of their multifarious family might’ve brought her to tears.
Branson’s hand squeezed her shoulder, his eyes appearing to focus on hers in his uncanny way. “We’re really lucky, aren’t we?”
“Blessed,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Jarrett finally found his wife in their bedroom, sitting on the bed with a tissue in her hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She dabbed at her eyes. “It’s just all the stuff out there.”
“What stuff? What happened?” Had someone hurt her feelings? None of his friends would do that on purpose, but Carlie might’ve made a thoughtless comment.
“Just… just…” Her hand circled in the air above her head. “Just everything! All those friends and all those babies and more babies coming and it’s getting so big. What if it gets too big? What about when we all have teenagers, like Ellie, and we’re all busy with activities? What if we aren’t close anymore?”
Rylie was way more emotional than normal. Jarrett’s stomach lurched.
“Rylie?” He sat beside her and slid his arm around her waist. “Do you think it’s possible you’re pregnant?”
“No, I can’t be. I haven’t even finished weaning Hazel.” She chuckled, digging her elbow gently in his ribs. “Besides, we haven’t even done it that many times. It’s just my end-of-nursing hormones. I’m sure of it.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
“But what if you’re right?” Tears flooded her cheeks. “What if I’m pregnant again? What would we do? We’re not ready to have another baby. We were going to adopt next year. We can’t have another baby!”
She buried her face against him, wetting his shirt.
“If it happened we’d be happy,” he said, rubbing her arm. “How could we not be happy if God gave us another miracle?”
She took a shuddery breath. “Y-you’re r-right.”
“Let me see that.” He took the wadded tissue from her hand and blotted her face, kissing her cheeks and tasting her salty skin. “Don’t worry. It’s a waste of time and energy. That’s why we pray, right? Because we’re not in control.”
She nodded, relaxing against him.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Now, do me a favor, okay?” he said.
“What?”
“Go take a pregnancy test… just for peace of mind.”
“Okay,” she said. “Just for peace of mind.”
Ten minutes later, Rylie appeared at the bathroom door, her face the color of vanilla yogurt, a small piece of plastic dangling from her fingers. Her eyes dazed, her mouth opened, but no words came out.
Jarrett’s heart did a double back flip. “We’re pregnant?”
Before she’d nodded a second time, Jarrett was on his feet. He wrapped her in a hug and twirled her around off her feet until they both fell on the bed, laughing and dizzy.
“I can’t believe it!” he said. “This is awesome!”
“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to squirt out a nine-pound baby.”
“Maybe this one will be smaller.”
