Page 87 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“No, it’s—it’s—” I dab at my eyes with my napkin, tearing up from laughter.

Mom huffs. “You two have been so secretive lately!”

“They’re allowed to have secrets, Sue,” my father clarifies. “Although I have noticed a lot of whispered conversations when Jackson comes by the drugstore. Which isn’t any business of mine! You’re allowed to have secrets. But wehavenoticed you have them.”

I look at Jackson beside me. “Well, we do have a secret.”

Jackson raises his eyebrows pointedly. “Two.”

“Two!” my mother gasps. “Okay, tell me, I can’t take it.”

I look at my mom and dad. They trust me. I know they do. More importantly, maybe, they trust Jackson. This might not be the way I ever pictured things going, this fast and all topsy turvy, but this is my life. And I’m loving it. “We’re having a baby.”

“Oh!” My mother’s hands shoot to her mouth, her eyes rocketing wide. My father is frozen like a lizard that doesn’t want to be seen.

“Twins,” Jackson clarifies. “Which is why there are two secrets instead of—“

“Twins?!” my mother shrieks, and then leaps out of her chair. “I knew you were acting funny. I knew it was—” She pulls meout of my chair into a big hug, tears springing from her eyes. She waves at Jackson over my shoulder. “Come here, come here!”

The three of us embrace. My mother murmurs, “You’re both going to be sogoodat this.” When she’s done squeezing the life out of us, she pulls back and looks at my dad. “Say something, Darryl!”

My dad blinks a few times. “I didn’t know twins ran in the family.”

Mom sighs. “He’s in shock. Let’s get him a glass of water and an aspirin.”

By the end of the night, both my parents are beaming over the news. Mom wants me to go through bins of stuff she saved from my childhood, and Dad is offering pointers to Jackson on how best to give me support. It’s good. Better than good. So much so that when we’re alone once again, Jackson and I embrace and don’t speak for a long while.

None of this has really gone to plan, and yet it all feels right.

Jackson takes my hand and pulls me down the hall. “Your gift.”

I half expect him to take me back to bed, dress me up in a skimpy nightie and ravage me again, but instead, we go past our room to his office.

However, when he opens the door, it’s not his office.

It’s a nursery. There are only two cribs set against the wall, but it’s a nursery.

I go to the cribs. No wonder he was researching. I touch the side of one and look inside. Soon it won’t be a vacant mattress. “What did . . . when did you—”

“While you’ve been at work,” Jackson says and comes up beside me, placing his hand on my back. “Wasn’t too hard.”

I frown. “But your office. There are plenty of rooms that—”

“None right next to our room,” he says. “Besides, it’s a promise.”

I tilt my head to the side.

“You’re right. That . . . I have money.Wehave money. I don’t need to keep grinding. I don’t need to start new ventures or waste my time with things that aren’t important. You’re my priority, Lil.” He takes my waist in both his hands and slides his thumbs down the slight curve of my stomach. “The three of you are.”

I run my hands down his chest. “You don’t have to promise me like this, Jackson.”

“I do. After what happened in Banff, I’m still . . . ashamed I gave you the impression I thought I could control you. I don’t think that. You know that, right?”

I’m ashamed too since Banff. I never liked ultimatums. Getting them in my past relationship. That’s not us. That’s notthis. “You’re going to be an amazing dad, Jackson.”

His mouth quirks to the side, and his eyes fall bashfully.

“And you’re an amazing partner. Ever since the beginning. Don’t question that.”

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