24. Pakoras, Proposals, Panic Parties
24
Pakoras, Proposals, Panic Parties
LEIGHTON
“Well. There’s no denying that ,” Ollie said with a chuckle, grinning down at our sonogram.
“I don’t know how to be a boy mom,” I squeaked, staring at what was blatantly a twig and berries between my not -a-baby-girl’s legs. I hadn’t believed the doctor when he said it—partly because I’d been calling this peanut she since I found out about her— his —existence. But mostly because there was a dull roaring in my ears that didn’t go away until the doctor ran all the tests and told us we had a very healthy baby growing inside my belly.
Which, frankly, still looked like I’d just eaten one too many burritos.
“What the hell do I do with a boy?!”
Ollie just laughed and pressed a kiss to my temple as he guided me out of Dr. Swift’s office into the sterile-smelling hallway.
“The same things you do with Beau every day, baby.”
“But every day? Forever? This poor guy is going to come to me after riding his bike off a hill, and I’ll be expected to know how to patch him up. He’ll need me for the talk . And oh my god —he’ll hide his sheets and sneak ‘em into the laundry and I’ll have to keep a straight face like I just think he’s becoming more responsible or some shit.”
“ Puberty . You’re panicking over something more than a decade away. There are, like, a million terrifying moments between now and then.”
“Gee, thanks. That’s very helpful. Oh my god , we have to get rid of your knives.”
“My what? ”
“All those scary-looking cleavers you lob through lamb bones!”
“Um. Why?”
“What if baby finds one and chops off a finger? Severs an artery ?! Oh my god, Beau’s Legos . It’s like a landmine of choking hazards.”
“Oh, lord. Welcome to intrusive thoughts. They never stop.”
“And fuck those staircases. I used to think they were beautiful, you know? Swoopy. Dramatic. Great for photos. But we’re absolutely looking for a single-story house.”
“Honey, Tillie and Beau toddled just fine in our house.”
“But what if this baby isn’t that coordinated? What if he goes tumbling down and breaks something?”
“I think I still have the baby gates in the garage.”
“But what if he hurts himself?”
“Kids break bones, Leigh. They spend the first decade perpetually bruised and use their disproportionate skulls like battering rams. We’ll take all the precautions.”
“You think I don’t know that? Six brothers, Ollie. Do you know how many casts I saw in my house? Fucking Axel cracked his skull open once.”
“Ouch.”
“Jameson and Rhyett were hell on wheels.”
“I believe it. But girls aren’t always easier—don’t look at me like that,” he added as I scowled. “I saw your home videos while we stuffed bags of almonds before the wedding. As much as I love a good slide tackle, they are against the rules in rec leagues.”
“They are not .”
“If you’re going for the ball , Leighton.”
“Who says I wasn’t going for the ball, Ollie ?”
“Well, the ref, for starters. Secondly, my eyeballs—she’d just passed the damn thing.”
“I was already mid-slide! You can’t just change momentum!”
“ Please . You saw a window for revenge and took it.”
“I might’ve been sick and fucking tired of her fouling me all game and the ref doing monkey shit about it.”
Ollie threw his head back, laughing, and I grinned down at my lap, muttering bitterly, “Buncha pussies.”
“And the dickhead in co-ed that kept fouling Kaia?”
“He got what he deserved.”
“For sure. But don’t pretend you were some demure little angel.”
I just grinned, waggling my brows.
“See? Right there. You’re so full of shit. Axel said you weren’t even allowed to get your license until you were eighteen because Milo thought you needed to leash your temper first.”
“Oh my god, we have to teach them all how to drive! Ollie, you have to tackle that. Boys are crazy. They hood surf. They do parkour. They think they’re in The Dukes of Hazzard. ”
“Not a lot of ramps in Emerald Bay, baby.”
“Still,” I squeaked as the elevator dinged.
“Yes, Leigh. I’ll teach our son how to drive.”
“Good,” I croaked, palming at my face as I stared at that little black-and-white picture. A wave of joy finally overrode the panic. Our son. Ollie and I were going to have a son.
Another mini Oliver, running around.
“ A boy, ” I whispered.
I pulled out my phone, snapped a photo of the sonogram, and fired it off to the family group chat. Internally, I apologized to my battery for the incoming deluge.
“Hey,” Ollie said cheerily when we stepped outside.
“What?”
“We just discussed many years worth of plans without either of us forgetting how to inhale.”
“A monumental occasion.”
“ Indeed .”
“We shall rename today a holy day.”
Snorting, he said, “I’ll mark it on the calendar,” and pulled me into a kiss on the forehead.
“I’ll do one better,” I promised, flipping my phone to selfie mode and snapping a photo just as he sneak-attacked me with a kiss on the cheek.
“You’re fucking adorable,” he declared, tucking me into his side.
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Excellent. Want to grab lunch on the way home? Pickup, so you don’t have to cook?”
“Indian?”
Smirking, he nodded. “Of course.”
“Sounds great.”
“Your brother home? Should we grab him some?”
I stopped dead on the sidewalk, a hand flying to his chest. “Oh my god, I meant to tell you!”
“Pax found a place?”
“No,” I grinned. “I caught him with a girl .”
“Finally.”
“Harsh,” I laughed.
“What? He’s been holed up all winter.”
“Fair.”
“Was she pretty?”
I nodded. “The back of her head was.”
“Excellent frame of reference.”
“It’s my personal favorite.”
“ So? ”
“She was petite. Maybe five-foot-three. Prettiest curly black hair.”
“I meant, what did Pax say?”
“Oh! He kinda glared like I wasn’t supposed to come out of my room, then gave me the ‘you didn’t see anything’ eyebrow arch.”
“Like the penguins.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
He handed me his wallet and his phone—already queued to our favorite Indian restaurant—as he opened my door. I watched with a totally appropriate level of admiration hitherto unachieved, as I tracked that perfect ass as he rounded the car. That man walked sexy.
“ Madagascar ,” I muttered.
He beamed. “There she is.”
“Oh. Very nice.”
“Beau loves the zebra.”
“Naturally.”
One absurdly large order later, we were carrying back bags of food when one split open—aluminum, cardboard, and spiced sauce hitting the pavement in a glorious mess.
“Fuck,” I barked, scooting back as pakoras and curry rained down.
“Dammit, I’m sorry,” I muttered, squatting down to clean it up—only to be ambushed by tears. Fucking tears. What the hell?
“Leigh, are you okay?” Ollie asked gently, already kneeling beside me, gingerly setting down his own bags and rolling up his sleeves. For the first time, the sight of his beautiful forearms wasn’t enough to make me salivate because my throat was tight and my eyes were stinging, and?—
Oh my god what is wrong with me?
“Fine,” I squeaked. Liar. Then I saw the pakoras. And I was not fine.
“I just really wanted veggie pakoras,” I whimpered as he scooped me up.
“Baby,” he cooed, wiping my cheeks with kisses. “Do you want me to go get another order?”
“Mm-mm.” I shook my head, lip wobbling. “Stupid fucking hormones.”
He chuckled, pulling me against his chest. “If my girl wants pakoras, I’m getting her pakoras.”
“Stupid,” I mumbled into his shirt. “Wasteful.”
“You didn’t design the bags, Trouble.”
“So much food,” I complained against his firm chest. Honestly, I was surprised he could understand my petulant words where I suffocated them in his shirt. But he just laughed, dropped a kiss to my crown, tucked me into the Bentley, piled my lap with the survivors of the Great Curry Massacre, and then closed me inside. I watched in the mirror as the love of my life knelt in his ridiculously expensive pants to gather the remaining mess, dumped it into the trash, and then vanished into the restaurant for exactly twelve and a half minutes.
While I waited, sniffling pitifully, I turned on the radio. Declan J Donovan’s “More Than A Feeling” filled the car.
Ollie was… Ollie was everything… more than I ever could’ve asked for. Patient. Steady. Loving. He never made me feel like a burden—not once. Even when I unraveled in the middle of a sidewalk over dropped pakoras.
With the workload on his shoulders, he couldn’t be at every appointment, but he FaceTimed for a few minutes during ultrasounds whenever he could manage it.
The prickle of being watched pulled my attention up the street to a black sedan, where I locked eyes on a man about Ollie’s age—dark hair, scruffy, broad-shouldered. Handsome, in a very not-Ollie way. He smiled and dipped his chin when I caught him staring, and then stepped out onto the sidewalk and loped away.
A year ago, that smile would’ve made my stomach flip. But not now. Not with Ollie. I reached for the necklace around my neck, unclasped it, and slid the sapphire ring onto my finger.
Bold. Mine .
Tears welled in my eyes again, but for a completely different reason.
The glamorous cushion cut sapphire surrounded in sparkling white diamonds was precisely my size. Because, of course, Oliver Hart would never accidentally get me the wrong size ring—God forbid. Hell, it even complimented my fingers.
I sat there, staring at the sparkling gems and wondering what on earth had compelled this man to fall for me in the first place. If chaos had ever had a vessel, I was it. Chaos was the last thing this man needed more of, yet, here we were.
Movement had me glancing in the mirror, where I spotted the man in question. Arms full of warm food, pretty Indian hostess beaming behind him. My wonderful, too-understanding man. The one on a mission to make sure his pregnant, emotionally unhinged girlfriend got her deep fried snacks.
I slipped the ring back onto the chain, re-clasped it, and smiled.
Mine.
Forever.
Chaos Goblins:
Maverick
FINALLY.
Mom
Awe, sweetheart, congratulations. Look at his little pout! He has your full lips.
Kaia
And Ollie’s nose!
Axel
*Finger gun GIF* He ain’t shy. Definitely a Rhodes man.
Kaia
*Barfing emoji* Gross, Axe.
Mom
Don’t mind your brother, he’s been spectacularly proud of his genitals since birth. Used to come bursting into the sun room and play it like a banjo when I had the girls over for tea.
Hadlee
*Spitting water out laughing GIF*
Jeanne
OMG, I forgot about that. *crying laughing emojis*
Congrats, sissy!
Broderick
Look at the size of his noggin, though. Gonna be a smart kid.
Axel
Christ, Mom, seriously?
Mom
You walked right into that one, darling.
Elora
Wtf do you mean ‘finally’?
Maverick
A boy!
Elora
*Photo of smiling three month old* What the hell is Robert?
Maverick
A boy on the EAST COAST. I get to squish this one more often. Make sure he’s holding a football the first time he walks.
Kaia
How the fuck are you gonna do that from Washington?
Maverick
I have my ways.
Paxton
I mean, sure, at least until you get drafted.
Dad
Axel, mind how you speak to my wife.
Congratulations, punky. He’s gonna be beautiful.
Maverick
A blessing from the GOAT?! I’ll take it. But that’s years away.
Paxton
IDK kid, with all these NIL changes and the chaos with the trade portals, the sport is changing. We saw way more juniors in this year’s draft.
Maverick
I’d only have two years of playtime. Seems a bit ambitious, don’t you think?
Paxton
Two years plus your redshirt year. It was smart, Mav. Less chance of getting hurt, still got the training. Better physical development. Just saying. I’m hearing good things.
Charlie
Same, kid. Your name popped up on a youtube podcast the other day.
Leigh, congrats!
Maverick
*Crying llama GIF*
Thanks, guys.
Hadlee
Welp. Not any denying that, sissy. Can I start buying all things blue or is this one of those new age green situations?
Jameson
Gonna name him after me?
Jake
Clearly, she’s going to name him after me. I did save her from that feral raccoon that one time.
Rhyett
I am the favorite brother. If she’s naming him after any of us, it’s gonna be me.
Paxton
That’s cute.
Finn
Psh. I shared half of all my popsicles.
Leighton
Food is the fastest way to my heart.
Kaia
Um. We share a genome, and ‘Kai’ is totally gender neutral.
Leighton
Actually, we were thinking Stetson, Ledger, or Beckham.
Axel
Literally none of those have a namesake.
Hadlee
Yes, and?
Jameson
As in a cowboy hat?
Rhyett
As in Heath?
Finn
As in ‘Bend It Like’?
Leighton
Precisely. *Laughing emojis*
Alice
I am in a MEETING. What is on fire?
Maverick
This is more important. Leighton is having an alien. Buy green.
Alice
Awee *heart eye emojis*