Page 32 of When Love Is Unexpected

Peanut is the nickname Dad gave Loren when she was born because she was a tiny baby. By the time I was three, and she was five, I was much taller than her, and to this day, Loren is the shortest member of the family.

When Katherine takes her turn hugging our sister, she touches Loren's big belly with one hand and her own with the other.

"They'll only be a few months apart," Katherine says.

"They're going to grow up together, like the girls," Loren says.

Adam walks up to Loren with Tori at his heels and gives her a hug and a kiss. "Jon's right," he says. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," says Loren.

"Where's Holly, Auntie Loren?" asks Tori, trying her best to look behind Loren.

"Holly and Grandma Tina are on their way," says Loren. "They'll be here soon, Sweetie."

"Where's Sam?" asks Dad.

"He's on his way, Daddy," I say, smiling. Dad has managed to procure three grown sons for himself in a six-year period. If you count little Jon, baby Adam, and Loren's baby, if it's a boy, the Linder women will soon be outnumbered.

When the doorbell rings, I rush to open it, thinking it's Sam.

"Hi, Christina," I say, hugging her and then Holly.

"Come in," I say, looking out the door to see if Sam is here.

After we pray over our meal of chicken, ribs, rice pilaf, and salad, I pick up the phone to call Sam and get his voicemail. Where could he be?

"Auntie Laila," says Holly, "is Uncle Sammy coming?"

"He should be here soon," I say. "Why, Baby?"

"Tori said he has a gift for me," she says.

"Look who I found outside," says Adam, walking in with the last tray of barbequed ribs and chicken.

"I couldn't come empty-handed," says Sam. "I stopped by the bakery but had to wait for them to put out more cheesecakes."

He flashes me a big smile when he sees me, and a rush of warmth spreads through me. I'm so happy to see him.

He brought my favorite dessert, strawberry cheesecake.

"You remembered," I say.

"I remember everything about that night," he says. "Don't you?"

I do. That night we shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake and then almost shared a kiss.

"How did you get here?" I ask. "You didn't walk all the way here with a cheesecake in hand, did you?"

"Well," he says, "I could have, but no, I took an Uber."

"I should've left you my car," I say. "We could've brought Loren's car. I'm sorry, I didn't think about it."

"No worries," he says. “I'm used to public transportation. I don't have a car in Athens either."

When we all sit down to eat, Sam pulls the small barrette from his shirt pocket.

"Holly," he says, "I made something for you in Athens."

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