Page 96 of Mayflower

I nudge Raven. “Tell him.”

“Which part?”

“All of it.”

He turns to Sonny. “Maddy is pregnant,” he says.

Well, jeez, if he could make the news more kid-friendly, he wouldn’t be Raven.

Sonny’s eyes dart between me and Raven.“With a baby?”

I grin. “Yes, with a baby.”

His smile falls. He takes a tiny step back. His chest starts rising and falling fast. His fingers start twisting the hem of his swim shorts. I know the signs—he is nervous or upset.

“What’s wrong, Sonny?” I ask, disheartened.

“Does that mean I can’t stay with you anymore?”

My heart does something strange. It contracts, then skips a beat.

Oh, god, I’m going to cry again. Yes, it’s happening. Tears well up in my eyes at the sight of Sonny looking so lost while we thought we gave him the best news.

I put my hand on Raven’s back, signaling for him to deal with it, because I don’t think I can speak.

Rave motions for him to approach and sits down on his haunches to bring his eyes to Sonny’s level. “Maddy and I are getting married, okay?”

Sonny nods. “Okay.” He tries to force a smile.

“We decided that the day we get married, we will sign adoption papers.”

“Adop—” Sonny scrunches up his forehead.

“That means we will legally be your parents.”

Sonny’s eyes widen so fast that they look like they are about to fall out of their sockets. His jaw drops. His eyes start darting between Raven and I.

“So, that means three things.” I can hear a smile in Rave’s voice as he talks softly. “One, you are going to be our son. Legally. And there is no way we are letting you go. You’re stuck with us now.”

Sonny nods so vigorously that it looks like his head is about to fall off. His smile is back.

“Two. You are going to have a brother or a sister.”

“Sister!” Sonny blurts out and bites his lower lip as his grin grows.

I laugh as Raven looks up at me over his shoulder, grinning too.

“We’ll see about that,” I say.

“Sister! Sis-ter!” Sonny grins. “What’s number three?”

The third is a mystery.

“Three,” Rave says sternly. “Because Maddy is pregnant, she can’t be stressed out or upset. You will have to listen to everything Maddy tells you, okay? You will not complain about your classes. And you have to be really patient at learning Spanish.”

“Ugh.” Sonny wrinkles his nose. “Do I really have to?”

I laugh. Of course, Rave snuck in additional duties.

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