“I have a secret.”
“Oh, a secret? Is it a good one?” Piper asks her.
She tilts her head to the side. “How do I know if it’s a good one?” She taps her index finger to her chin. This little girl is five going on fifteen.
“Well, is it something that makes you happy? Or someone else happy?” Ramsey asks her.
“Oh, yes, and it’s really pretty.” Blakely’s head bounces up and down.
Kennedy smiles and raises her eyebrows in confusion. “Whose secret is it?” she asks her daughter.
“Mommy.” Blakely sighs. “If I tell you it’s Uncle Sterling’s secret, then that’s telling the secret,” she explains.
We all smile, holding back our laughter at her explanation. “So, you know Uncle Sterling’s secret?” I ask her.
“Yep.” She picks through the kid’s makeup kit that she uses for girls' night.
“Is it wrong that I want to coerce my daughter to tell me what she knows?” Kennedy whispers, so Blakely can’t hear her.
“Nope,” Palmer says, popping thep. “You can bet your ass if Remi ever lays something like that on me, I’m going to try to get the details out of her.” She grins. “We ladies have to stick together.”
“What about you?” Ramsey asks me. “Are you curious?”
“Of course I am, but this is Sterling we’re talking about. He could be making her something for her room or taking her for ice cream.”
“She’s right,” Kennedy speaks up. “They all dote on her. And they continue to try to one-up each other for favorite uncle, especially with all the new babies,” she says, rubbing her hand over her baby bump.
“Mommy?” Blakely asks.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Do you like your ring?” She points to Kennedy’s engagement ring and wedding band.
“I love it. Daddy gave this to me as a symbol of his love. Where did that question come from?”
“Uncle Sterling bought a sparkly ring like that, and he said he hopes it’s the right kind.”
All the air whooshes from my lungs. My eyes are wide as I seek out the other ladies to see if I just heard things or if Blakely really said what I think she did.
“Breathe.” Ramsey rubs her hand on my back.
As if I need her words to do so, I pull in a deep breath and slowly exhale. “Did she?” I finally ask.
“She did.” Palmer grins.
“Blake? Is that the secret?” Kennedy asks her.
“No. The secret is that Uncle Sterling found a wife. He said that I have to start calling Alyssa Aunt Alyssa and that I should have been doing that already.” Her concerned eyes find mine. “I’m sorry, Aunt Alyssa. I didn’t know I was supposed to.”
My heart is thrashing in my chest, from her admission and from the secret that she let out of the bag. “Come here.” She stands, and I pull her into my arms. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Technically, I am not your aunt.” I swallow hard. “However, if your uncle Sterling and I get married, I will be.”
“Will you get to be a mommy too?” she asks, her eyes wide.
I nod, fighting back the tears. “I hope so.”
“Would that baby be mine?”
“No, sweetie. That baby would be your little cousin, just like Remi and Uncle Orrin’s baby is going to be.”