Page 91 of Everlasting Love

I turn to him. “We’ve never been away from Mom for so long. She’s the glue in our family and we missed her.” He tucks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels as he watches her fuss over Daisy and Poppy. “But we’re thrilled she took some much-needed time out for herself and that she connected with you. She’s sounded happy … really happy every time we’ve spoken while she’s been away and I think I know why.”

He gives me a boyish smile. “I actually crushed on your mother in high school but I was too shy to do anything about it.”

“Ha! I know what that’s like,” Toby interrupts with a chuckle from behind us. He holds out his hand to Lloyd. “Hi, I’m Toby. I’m Cassia’s husband.”

He shakes Toby’s hand. “Lloyd. Great to meet you, Toby. Rose has talked about you all non-stop.”

I nudge Toby’s arm. “Nice car.”

He huffs a laugh and runs his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I finally got around to upsizing.”

We all make our way inside, and the scent of garlic and tomato sauce wafts through the house in greeting. I grab Cass’s arm and pull her to a stop. “I said I’d make dinner.”

She shrugs. “Toby insisted. You know how much he loves Cristo’s, and he had a hankering for his favoritemoussaka. We have enough to feed all of us for three days.” She rolls her eyes and chuckles.

“Where do you want Lloyd’s luggage?” Shane asks Mom, and Cass and I wait with bated breath for her answer.

Without skipping a beat, she tells Shane to take it to her room, and Cass and I grin at each other like a couple of kids at a birthday party. Maybe Shane should just move into my bedroom, too. There’s really no point in him keeping Cassia’s old bedroom since we spend every night together now. Shane nods and he and Toby carry the bags upstairs.

“Mom, why don’t you show Lloyd around and we’ll set up for dinner,” Cass suggests.

Jas rushes to Mom’s side. “Can we show him our garden first, Gramma?”

Lloyd crouches so he’s at Jasmine’s height. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about your garden and how you help your gramma grow the fruit and vegetables. I’d love to start there.”

Jas twists her body from side to side in that shy way she does when she first meets new people but her happiness at Lloyd’s praise is plain to see. She slides her hand into his and leads him out the back door, telling him all about the storm and how we had to clean up afterward. Mom collects Daisy and Poppy and follows them out back.

“He seems nice.”

I watch them through the same window I watched Jasmine lead Shane around the backyard when he first moved in; it’s almost like déjà vu. “He does. And look how happy Mom is.” I turn toward Cass. “I feel like our family has finally fallen into place.”

Cass nods and comes closer to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and spinning me back toward the window. I wrap my arm around her waist and lean my head on her shoulder. “We all deserve this, Vi. Good men who love us and our kids unconditionally.”

“Yeah,” I whisper, feeling emotional that we’ve all found happiness.

“Everything okay in here?” Toby’s voice breaks through our moment.

When I spin, both of our guys are standing in the kitchen doorway and my heart skips a beat, just as it does whenever I think of Shane as mine. “Yeah, we were just watching Mom and Lloyd with the girls.”

“He seems like a decent guy,” Toby says absentmindedly as he carries dishes to the table. He and Cass work together to place the dishes along with spoons ready for serving. Shane and I grab the plates and silverware, and before long, we’re ready to eat whenever Mom comes back inside.

The girls chatand eat happily at the table we set up for them next to Mom’s dining table, and the adults settle in with full plates and glasses of iced tea. As I’m scooping up my first forkful of food, Toby stands and taps his fork against his glass.

“I hope you don’t mind the interruption, but Cass and I have something we’d like to share with you.”

I flick my eyes to my sister who’s looking up at her husband with a grin. Her eyes are bright and clear and she almost looks as though she’s glowing. Giddiness grows as I study her closely, and I think I know what Toby’s about to tell us.

He looks down at my sister with so much love, then turns back toward the table. “Cass and I are excited to announce that Cass is pregnant with our third child.”

Mom and I both bolt out of our seats to embrace Cass and Toby with our congratulations as cheers fill the dining area. The guys do that back-slap-come-hug thing they do and I ask Cass when she’s due.

“We’re due the second week in May, around Poppy’s birthday.”

I can’t stop my smile. “I can’t wait to be an aunty again. This is so exciting. How have you been feeling?” I grab Poppy and hug her, using sign language to congratulate her, too.

“Yeah, good. I’ve been feeling fine so far. Just a little morning sickness but it’s gone by ten.” She takes her seat again.

“Well, that explains the need for a bigger car.” I raise my eyebrows at my sister.

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