Page 51 of More than Need

“There’s no hat.”

Didit fall out of the sky? If Darcy said he walked over a rainbow to a pot of gold where a leprechaun waited to let him know the letter of the week for alphabet day, Dawson would believe him.

“What did you bring?” Dawson asked. “Other than what you’re making.”

Darcy beamed and lifted a cooler bag from behind the counter. He zipped it open and pulled out a few stacks of containers, spreading them out.

“Forest made us glazed yams.”

Sadie reached over and grabbed a container, flipping it open before plucking one out with her fingers, the sticky food dripping on the counter. She took a bite and moaned, throwing her head back obscenely. “Oh my God, I love your husband.”

“Me too,” Darcy said, nodding seriously.

“We’d hope so, considering you married him,” Dawson said, snickering. He speared a piece and took his own bite. Damn. Along with being a great footy player himself, Forest sure knew how to cook.

“He said we should warm them, though,” Darcy said, concerned.

“This is fine,” Sadie said dismissively, grabbing another one. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d finished a meal standing aroundthe kitchen counter because they hadn’t waited to serve it up properly.

“Riddle me this, though,” Sadie said, plucking out another yam. “Is it still technically Y if they’reglazedyams. Would that be considered G?”

“The yam is still the food. The glazed bit is just how it’s prepared,” Dawson said.

“It stillstartswith G, though,” Sadie insisted.

“You’re thinking about it too hard.”

Darcy finished pouring the Yorkshire pudding batter into the muffin pan and slid them into the oven. “That should be ready in twenty minutes,” he said, clearly uncaring about the semantics of alphabet day. He’d been doing it with his parents since he’d been a kid, so it probably never occurred to him to question the logistics of the choices.

Sadie considered the other foods in front of them and casually flicked off the lid for the yo-yos. “I think we could finish all this before then?”

“Is that a challenge?” Dawson asked. He’d take it. Everything on the spread said, “Eat me.”

“Fifty bucks says we can.”

“Who are betting against? I’m agreeing with you. Darcy?” Dawson gave him a fake scandalised look. “You don’t think we can?”

“No?” Darcy blinked. “Wait. Yes. What was the question? Yes and no,” he decided.

“You can’t pick both,” Sadie said at the same time that Dawson explained, “For if we can eat all the food.”

“Oh. It’s a lot of food, but I eat a lot—that’s why Forest packed extra—and Sadie is pregnant. So, yes.”

“Who are we betting against if we all agree?” Dawson wondered. “One of us needs to be contrary.” Not him. He planned on eating everything.

“Is that an ‘eating for two’ joke?” Sadie asked.

“Youareeating for two? I’ve been reading books about this and—”

“You’ve been reading pregnancy books?” Dawson asked. “Is there something you want to tell us?”

Darcy nodded enthusiastically. “It says that you should see a doctor now if you haven’t. Also, that you might be tired. But you might not. And your morning sickness might be at its worst. Or it might not.”

“How decisive,” Dawson remarked, snickering. “Hear that, Sade? You might be tired, or you might not. You might have morning sickness, or you might not.” She definitely had the days that he’d been home.

“And it still looks like a tadpole but is starting to develop human-like features,” Darcy finished. “Such as—”

“An adorable tadpole, right?” Sadie interrupted, holding a hand to her stomach.

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