Page 111 of While We Waited

“It’ll be awesome.” He winks.

I hold up the tray. “Pick your poison. Pink if you think the baby, is a girl. Blue if you think the baby, is a boy.”

Brooks grabs two blue ribbons.

“What are you doing? I’m only having one baby.”

He puts one ribbon back. “Just checking.”

“Ha!” Sawyer holds out his hand. “You owe me money.”

Hudson growls at his brothers. “You better not be betting on our baby.”

“They’re betting on whether you’re carrying twins and whether the baby is a girl or a boy,” Logan says.

Owen glares at him. “Tattletale.”

“Don’t make fun of your brother,” Emma says as she joins us with Hudson’s dad.

I glance around and notice the chalet has completely filled up with our friends and family. I wave to Maya who’s standing by herself in the corner. She’s not good with crowds even if she knows most of the people in attendance.

“Listen up!” Hudson hollers. “We’ll be revealing Sprog’s gender today. Pick a blue ribbon for a boy or a pink ribbon for a girl. Pick one ribbon only.” He glares at his brothers. “There is only one baby.”

I walk through the crowd ensuring everyone has a chance to pick a ribbon. Once everyone has one, I return to Hudson.

“We’re going outside for the reveal,” Hudson announces before ushering everyone outside onto the new patio.

“Awesome!” Owen shouts when he sees the pool. “We’re going to have epic pool parties here.”

Hudson wraps an arm around my shoulders and leans in to whisper in my ear, “Don’t worry. I already have contractors on the ready to build a pool at my parents’ house.”

“Your brothers are welcome to swim here.”

“My brothers are hellions.”

I point to where Brooks is stripping off his clothes. “I kind of figured.”

Hudson shakes his head before leading me to the board filled with balloons. I had planned to do the reveal inside but since the construction on the deck is done, we can do this outside.

I glance around at our guests. “I don’t think giving our guests darts is such a great idea.”

He kisses my hair. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone harm you.”

I’m not worried about me. I’m worried Smuggler’s Hideaway emergency services can’t handle fifty people needing stitches all at the same time.

Hudson picks up the tray of darts before explaining how the gender reveal works. “Everyone gets one chance to hit a balloon. One balloon reveals Sprog’s gender but which one?”

“Me first.” Chloe rushes to the front of the line and throws her dart. Water splashes out of the balloon but no color. “I want to go again.”

Sophia shoves her out of the way. “My turn.” Her balloon doesn’t have any color either.

Paisley pushes her glasses up her nose as she studies the board. She takes aim and hits a balloon on the bottom row. It bursts and the color pink explodes.

Maya rushes to me and throws her arms around me. “A girl. You’re having a girl. I’m so happy for you.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes. “I always wanted a little girl.”

“I’m going to spoil your daughter rotten.”

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