Page 73 of Sometimes You Fall

“I take it you knew about my newest grandchild?” Mom asks her.

“I did, but only because he told me at Lilly’s birthday party.”

My mom turns to me. “I was there!”

“I know, Mom, but…” Before I can finish, the doorbell rings, which means Scottie is here. I point a finger around the room to all of my family members. “You’d all better be on your best behavior. Remember, I’m trying to win this woman over.”

Penn shakes his head, Astrid smirks, and my mother pats me on the shoulder as she moves for the front door. “Don’t worry, Grady. We’re not the most obnoxious bunch of knuckleheads you could have for a family. It could always be worse.”

***

“You need to join the gardening club,” Scottie’s mom, Lisa, tells my mom as we all sit around the table, gorging ourselves.

When I asked Scottie what she was craving, she told me barbecue chicken wings, and as I watch her devour them across the table, licking her fingers, I’m happy that I was able to makeherhappy.

The sight of her licking her fingers might also prevent me from standing up from my chair anytime soon, but it was all fucking worth it. Both of our families are getting along well, the food turned out great, and the woman carrying my child looks even more beautiful than the last time I saw her.

Things are all headed in the right direction.

“Katherine Sheppard has been trying to get me to join her club for years, but I have a black thumb, ladies. Not a green one.”

Lisa groans. “Darn.”

Gigi, Scottie’s grandmother, chimes in. “And don’t bother asking Scottie either. The only time she ever touched grass was when she was kicking it up while running around on a softball field.”

Scottie stops eating for two seconds long enough to realize her name was mentioned. “What?”

“Nothing, dear. Get back to feeding my next grandchild.” Gigi waves her off.

Scottie glares at her grandmother but goes back to eating. She said that her nausea has finally started to subside, and since then, she’s called me three times to bring her something she was craving. Luckily, no orange popsicles again, but I haven’t fucked up since that night, so I’d say I’m getting better at this.

“Oh!” My mother exclaims, turning to Scottie. “You’re due in September, right?”

“Yes…”

“Does that mean you’ll still be playing in the Carrington Cove games, Grady?” my mom asks.

Scottie mumbles around a mouthful of food. “They still do that?”

“Some kids at school were talking about that,” Chase interjects. “What is it?”

“Every fall, the town hosts a weekend-long competition where teams fight for bragging rights and the Cove Cup. Each team is sponsored by a local business, and the winning team’s sponsor gets to display the cup proudly for the next year,” I say as Penn snickers beside me. “Dallas won last year, and I had every intention of trying to strip him of his title, but if Scottie has the baby before then, well…”

“You could still compete,” Scottie says to me.

“I could, but I’m sure I’d rather be with you and the baby.”

We stare at each other while our family looks on, but this woman is crazy if she thinks I would leave her alone with a newborn to go run around town fighting for a piece of plastic that doesn’t mean nearly as much to me as she does.

Penn clears his throat, breaking the moment. “You know, you could always be on my team this year instead of being captain of your own. That way if you can’t make it, it’ll be easier to fill in for you.”

Astrid pats Penn’s cheek. “I’m going to be on Penn’s team this year too. We talked about having one for the bakery and one for Penn’s business, but it doesn’t make sense to manage two teams.”

I nod in agreement. “I think that sounds like a good option for me too.”

Penn leans over the table now, smirking. “Plus, then all three of us could gang up on Dallas and knock him off his throne. He’d be livid.”

The gleam in his eyes speaks to the competition between brothers. “That’d just be the cherry on the cake, wouldn’t it?” I ask.

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