Chapter 25 Sage
SAGE
“Tell the truth, what made you more nervous? Finding me to tell me you were pregnant, or right now?” Brady’s voice makes it clear he’s teasing me, but his words still hit hard. I guess I thought I was doing a better job of hiding my nerves than I am.
“Fiona’s the closest thing I have to family,” I say, then I pause. I don’t want him to be hurt, or for him to worry if I finish my thought. That if she doesn’t like Brady…
But Brady’s intuition is strong. He wraps his arms around me, his hands resting on my belly. Kissing my shoulder, he says softly, “It’s gonna be fine. I’ll be on my best behaviour, she’s gonna love me.”
I let myself relax back against his warm body, feeling enveloped in the security and comfort he always offers without question.
The sharp knock on the door startles me, even though we’ve been expecting it.
“Okay. She’s here.” I blow out a breath, then walk to the door and open it.
My best friend walks in with her usual energy. She hugs me and bends over to kiss my belly. “How’s my nugget doing? Hi baby, it’s Auntie Fi,” she coos. Over the top of her head, I meet Brady’s amused gaze.
Fiona straightens and pivots, looking him up and down.
“So you’re the guy who knocked up my best friend.”
I nearly choke. “Fiona!”
But Brady stays calm, unbothered. He cracks a small smile and nods. “That’s one way to put it. I prefer to think of myself as the lucky bastard who gets to be with your best friend and have a baby with her.”
Fiona folds her arms over her chest, appearing unimpressed, even as I’m swooning a little bit. “I see. Well, let’s talk.”
“How about some tea or coffee first?” I interject, shooting a glare at my best friend, who’s acting more like an interrogator.
“I’ll get it, little mama,” Brady murmurs, kissing the top of my head. “You and Fiona go sit down.”
He strides toward the kitchen where I’ve spent the last half hour fussing over preparing snacks for today. I know how ridiculous it is, being so worked up over Fiona and Brady meeting. But her opinion means everything to me.
Fi drags me over to the couch and sits down in the corner, tugging me down next to her.
“Little mama?” she whispers, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Okay, fine, that’s adorable. He gets a point for cute nicknames.”
Brady walks back over to us, carrying a tray with three mugs of tea and the plate of cookies I baked last night. He sets it down on the table before sitting in the big chair opposite the couch, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He’s the picture of calm, cool, and collected.
“Alright, what do you want to know?”
“What are your intentions with my girl?” Fiona fires at him.
“To be by her side, no matter what. To never let her regret giving me a chance, and to raise our child together.”
Tears prick the backs of my eyes, but Fiona doesn’t let up.
“What about diaper duty and midnight feedings? Are you planning to help or leave it all to her?”
“She’s not doing any of this alone. If I can help, I will. And if there’s something only Sage can do for our baby, then my job will become supporting her to allow her to do whatever that is.”
Fiona nods and she takes my hand in hers. “And if you ever hurt her?”
“I’m guessing you’ll be first in line to kick my ass, and I’ll let you.”
“She gets the first punch.”
“Deal.”
“Oh my God, you guys, stop,” I finally interrupt, half laughing, half crying. “There will be no beating anyone up.”
I drop Fiona’s hand, stand up, and walk over to Brady, who pulls me down into his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, not caring that Fi is right there. I can’t not kiss him after everything he just said.
When we part, I look over at Fiona with an arched brow. “Are you done grilling him?”
Her expression tells me everything. Approval is clear on her face. “For now,” she says teasingly.
The baby chooses that moment to kick. Hard. My hand immediately goes to where I felt it, rubbing the area softly. When Brady’s hand covers mine, our gazes meet.
“Think she’s defending my honour or siding with her auntie?” he asks in a lighthearted voice.
“Definitely siding with her auntie,” Fiona replies, but her face has softened into a smile as she watches us. Then she raises one hand. “You’ve earned my conditional approval.”
Brady pumps his fist in the air.
“But,” Fiona continues, pointing a finger at him, “I reserve the right to change my mind if you ever try to mansplain stuff to either one of us, or are anything less than a supportive servant to Sage’s needs in the delivery room. No puking, no freaking out, and no fainting.”
“Noted,” Brady says, giving her a solemn nod. “For what it’s worth, only idiots mansplain because they don’t know shit. And if I can’t handle it in the delivery room, I’ll be sure to be subtle with my fainting and not take any attention away from Sage.”
Fiona’s lips twitch like she’s holding back a smile. “Good answer.”
The rest of Fiona’s visit is a lot less stressful now that the interrogation is over. After she leaves, Brady and I decide to order in takeout for dinner and enjoy a rare lazy evening together since neither of us has to work.
I’m just coming back from the bathroom when I notice Brady scrolling through his phone, grinning to himself.
“What’s that look for?” I ask, dropping back onto the couch next to him. Without hesitation, he drapes his arm over my shoulder and tucks me into his side. “I was just thinking, since we’re on a roll with meet-the-family day, how would you feel about calling my siblings?”
The word family hits me, sending ripples of warm, fuzzy feelings through me. Maybe it’s the easy way he acknowledges that Fiona is my family, or the automatic inclusion of me into his. Whatever it is, I like it.
“You mean, right now?” I ask, sitting up from where I’ve slouched against him. But he doesn’t let me get far.
“Yeah, right now. They’ve been bugging me about getting to meet you.”
“Okay, yeah, let’s do it.”
The warm fuzzies have turned into butterflies that start to swarm in my stomach as Brady dials his siblings.
Blair answers, the family resemblance uncanny.
“Brady! Hey, you have good timing, Barrett just got here.” She leans in close to the phone.
“Wait. Oh my God, is that Sage?” Her voice rises to a fever pitch.
“Finally! You’re real! I was starting to think my big brother made you up. ”
“Told you she was a handful,” Brady murmurs with a laugh.
“Excuse you?” Blair raises an eyebrow, and I muffle a giggle. We hear a door open and close, and Blair looks off-screen. “B, hurry up and get over here. Sage is actually a real human being!”
“What did you think she was, a blow-up doll?” a deadpan voice says. Then a younger version of Brady, wearing glasses and a polo shirt, comes on-screen. “Hello, Sage, nice to meet you. For the record, I always believed you were real.”
“Hi Barrett. Thanks, I think?” I say, feeling Brady shaking with laughter beside me.
The twins and Brady catch up for a few minutes, talking about school, homework, and all that. It’s fascinating to see Brady in his parental role with them. I feel like I’m getting a preview of what he’ll be like with our own kid one day.
“Okay, enough bro-dad,” Blair says, shifting in her seat. “I wanna talk to Sage. Is he driving you bonkers yet with his book obsession? How many does he have on the go? His record was five. And oh man, he gets mad if you make him lose his page. Trust me.”
I lean into Brady’s side, eyeing the stack of pregnancy books he’s working his way through that happen to be sitting on the table in front of us.
“Let’s just say, he might have beat that record.”
“Wow, I feel attacked,” Brady teases, covering his chest with one hand. “Here I thought you liked the fact that I read so much.” He dips his chin, lowering his voice. “Or was it just the glasses you like?”
I blush furiously at his obvious dig about how I basically jumped him yesterday when I came home from a short shift at the hospital, only to find him shirtless on the couch, wearing those glasses, reading a book called The Fourth Trimester.
“I can’t decide if that’s cute or gross,” Blair says dryly.
“Gross,” Barrett confirms.
“Get used to it,” Brady states, kissing the side of my head. “You’re adults now, so if I want to flirt with my woman in front of you, I’m going to.”
The blush that had just subsided flares up again, making my cheeks feel hot. Hearing Brady claim me as his woman has me wanting to wrap up this conversation right now.
I tamp down the desire. The twins are important to Brady, and that makes them important to me.
“Okay, moving on. Can we talk about Christmas? Because I want to be there when we do baby’s first Santa photos. Remember how Mom and Dad would take us every year to the tree farm that had the whole set up, reindeer and all? I bet we can find some place like that!”
“Seriously? Let’s get through summer first. You need to make it through finals. Speaking of, how’s studying going?” Brady asks, earning an eye roll from Blair.
“We’ve got so much time before exams, Brady. Chill.”
“Actually it’s only a couple of weeks,” Barrett says mildly. But Blair waves her hand at him in dismissal.
“Plenty of time.” Leaning forward so that she’s partially blocking our view of her brother, Blair props her chin in her hand. “If we’re not gonna talk Christmas, how about baby names? Blair makes a great choice for a boy or girl, you know.”
Brady takes my hand and squeezes it in his. “Actually, we already have a name picked.”
“Wait. Does that mean you know the sex?” Blair shrieks, shaking Barrett’s shoulders. “Oh my God, this is so exciting. Tell us!”
Brady looks at me with a soft smile, resting his free hand on my stomach. “Sage?”
“It’s a girl, and we’re naming her Ivy after my mother.”
Blair covers her mouth with her hands, and Barrett nods slowly. For once, he answers first instead of his sister. “That’s awesome, guys. Can’t wait to meet our niece in a few months.”
“Thanks,” I say, feeling a little choked up. I didn’t realize just how much their reactions would affect me.
Family was something I never really had.
It was just me and Mom, and then it was just me.
But my daughter will never feel that way.
She will never be alone, because she’s already part of a family that loves her when she hasn’t even been born yet.
And just maybe there could be a space for me in that family, too.