Page 79 of His Greatest Treasure

“Will I have funny stories to tell about Dad, Mom?”

There’s a near audible crack in my chest as I fumble for an answer. “Of course, baby. You’re only seven. You’ll have a million stories to tell by the time you’re our age.”

She tugs her legs into her body and leans forward, clutching her ankles. In a blink, I’m on the floor beside her, my hand on hers.

“You know, Nova, I’ve been keeping a secret for a while now, and I think I want you to be the first to know,” Addie says, abandoning the braid.

When she leans close to Nova’s ear and whispers, Nova grins so wide, all thoughts of Chris abandoned. My appreciation for Adalyn triples in size.

“Really?” she shrieks, turning to stare at Adalyn’s stomach in awe.

My eyes bulge as I gawk at Addie, my question obvious in the way she giggles and nods.

“I’m pregnant,” she tells us, patting her belly. “Seven weeks along.”

My sight grows blurry. I push to my feet and throw myself onto the couch before pulling her into my arms. “Oh, Addie. I’m so happy for you.”

“Is it a girl like me?” Nova asks, joining our hug.

“It’s still too early to tell, but I’d love a girl.”

Cooper was meant to be a girl dad, but I keep that to myself for now, not wanting to remind Nova of what she’s just forgotten about.

“And we’re the first to know?” I ask instead.

Addie huffs and sits back, slowly peeling herself from Nova’s grip. “I’ve been leaving clues all over the house for a week, but Cooper’s always too focused on me to pay attention to them. I’ve decided that I’m going to paint the walls tonight with terrible pictures of baby things until he gets the idea.”

“Men can be so obtuse,” I say.

Nova sits on my lap, cuddling close. “What is obtuse?”

“Dumb,” Addie answers. “Men can be really dumb sometimes.”

“But we shouldn’t call them that. We shouldn’t call anyone names,” I add, staring pointedly at Addie.

She hides a smile. “Your mom’s right. No name-calling.”

“Oliver isn’t obtuse. Right? You said he was kind.”

The words are a shock to Adalyn, and I can understand why. The last time we saw her, Oliver and I were at each other’s throats, and the last thing I would have called him was kind. Gracie had a similar expression when she picked us up from the station yesterday and Oliver made sure to tell her to drive safer than she normally does. Or, well, more like threatened her.His own mother.

She didn’t pry in the car, but I could tell she wanted to. Yesterday was probably my only pass when it comes to her and the thousands of questions she’s thought of since.

“Your mom said Oliver was kind?” Addie asks slowly, expression slack.

“Yes. Last night. He watched me at the fire station. I played Go Fish with his friends!”

“They’re his colleagues, Nova,” I correct pointlessly.

“Okay, hold on. Give me a second here. Oliver, as in Oliver Bateman, the resident grump of the Bateman family, watched you at the fire station? Why did he do that?” Addie asks, her eyes slowly sliding to me. “And why were you giving him compliments? I feel like I’ve missed a chapter here.”

A car door shuts outside, and Nova’s jumping up immediately, eyes wide and excited. She climbs onto the couch and leans over the back of it to stare out the window at the street.

“Ollie!”

I swallow, ignoring Adalyn’s even stronger sense of surprise and following my daughter’s stare. Seeing Oliver for the first time since leaving the station yesterday does something to my stomach. It flutters,hard. I fight to ignore it while he grabs a duffle bag from the back seat and throws it over his shoulder. Before shutting the door, he reaches back inside to grab a rectangular box.

Even from all the way over here, I can see how exhausted he is. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been checking my phone every single hour since waking this morning, waiting for him to get home. Every time I checked and he wasn’t back, I let my mind run in circles for a few minutes before busying myself with something else.

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