“Me?” She points at herself.
“Yes, you,” I laugh.
She hops up, leaving James for the moment, and grabs the bag before sitting back down with it.
Cooper checks the meat and closes the lid on the grill before joining Sarah to open the bag.
Xander and I stand by our parents to watch them open the bags—everybody else is watching too, curious to see what we got them.
Sarah rips at the tissue paper, pulling it out and dropping it on the ground while my mom very carefully removes it.
Cooper peers into the bag but lets his wife have her fun.
She pulls out a binky and my mom pulls out a onesie.
“What?” Sarah looks in shock from the item in her hand, to us, and back to the bag. She pulls out a onesie too, shaking her head.
“Oh, my God,” my mom says, it clicking into place for her.
Her words must break through to Sarah because she screams—like screams bloody murder, drops the bag and items, and runs at us.
“You’re pregnant?” she asks me, looking from me to Xander.
I nod. “We’re having a baby.”
She screams again and throws her arms around my neck. “This is so exciting! Oh, my God! I’m so happy!” She hugs Xander next. “I’m going to be a grandma!”
My mom comes over and hugs us too, then Xander’s dad. Even James, my mom’s boyfriend, hugs us and offers his congratulations.
“Wait a minute,” my brother calls out. “You had sex?”
I roll my eyes. “No, Cade, this was an immaculate conception.” He tilts his head, wondering at my sarcasm. “Of course we had sex, you idiot. That’s how babies are made.” I look up at Xander. “Honestly, how am I related to him?”
Xander chuckles and turns it into a cough.
“This is fucking weird,” Cade mutters. “I’m going to be an uncle. Whoa.”
“Does he have to put a quarter in the swear jar?” I ask Xander.
He shakes his head. “Nah, I think that’s just for us.”
“Darn it.” I snap my fingers.
We move further into the yard and over to where our friends and his siblings hang out.
“Congrats, man.” Xavier claps Xander on the back.
“Hey, Xavier. It’s good to see you. I wasn’t sure you were coming back for the summer.”
He shrugs. “I thought about staying on the east coast, but I missed everybody, so here I am.” He spreads his arms wide.
Xavier has one more year of school left—and since he’s a smarty-pants he goes to Yale. I’ve missed having him around. He’s a lot like me, a jokester, and the life of the party. He keeps things interesting.
He looks a lot like Xander too, with the same mop of dark hair and olive skin. He’s a little bit shorter, though, and not nearly as built. He’s still a muscular guy, but Xander’s on a whole other level—but with his job, that’s kind of a given.
“So, I’m totally going to be the godfather, right?” Xavier asks, looking from Xander to me.
“Uh …” I hedge.