Page 38 of Need You to Choose Me

Once she serves them a black coffee and glass of cold water, we settle into the living room. I stare at the two of them before glancing at Mom, still in disbelief.

Nobody is saying anything.

Tori’s hand rests on the bump.

Sebastian keeps his hand locked around hers.

“I’m sorry,” I say, ignoring the full can of soda next to me. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that Sebastion just waltzed in here with a pregnant wife that we never met before or heardabout? No offense, Tori. You seem cool and my brother usually isn’t a bad judge of character. Well…most of the time.”

He grumbles, tightening his hold on her.

“But seriously,” I press. “Mom got mad at me when I posted online that I aced my final without telling her first. This is like one hundred levels above that and she’s acting cool as a cucumber.”

Mom shoots me a look. “Firstly, you were stressing about that exam for weeks. You called me to vent about the course material at least four times a week leading up to it. I figured you’d at least tell me how you did when you worked yourself up about it for so long.”

Okay, point taken.

“Secondly,” she adds, eyeing me. “I’m trying to be reasonable. I’ll admit, this is a lot to take in. I mean, my baby boy is married. And I’m going to be a grandmother. Right?”

Her face lightens like that fully set in. I can tell she’s excited. Elated, is more like it. Those minty eyes shift toward Tori’s stomach.

“You are,” Tori confirms, brushing her bump.

Mom clears her throat, trying to sound stern despite the excitement in her eyes. “I would have liked to have more of a heads up about all of this, but what’s done is done. And I didnotthrow a fit when you posted about your final. I was just…disappointed.”

Even Sebastian rolls his eyes at that. “I was going to tell you about all of this sooner, but something would always come up,” he tells us. He doesn’t seem nervous at all. Had he freaked out or is he in denial? Or is heexcited? I’ve never heard him talk about being a husband or dad before, which makes sense. It isn’t like that sort of conversation just pops up. All I ever heard him talk about is hockey. “And then I would get busy and decide to tell you the next time I saw you in person. Tori had her anatomyscan last weekend, which is why I couldn’t make it to Dad’s when you were there.”

Tori gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I know you wanted him there.”

Mom pipes up. “Does that mean you know if it’s a boy or girl? Or are you keeping it a surprise? Back in my pregnancy days, we didn’t get told that stuff. We counted on the old wives’ tales to figure out what we were having. I couldn’t stop puking when I carried Olive, so I was sure it was a girl. And, well, here we are.”

Tori glances at her stomach. “It’s going to be a surprise. But Sebastian is positive it’s a boy. He keeps having dreams about having a son.”

Mom beams. “A boy. Oh, how wonderful.”

Am I the only sane person here? “This is still mind blowing to me.”

Mom frowns. “What? You like kids. Tell your brother that you’re happy for him.”

Sighing, I look at Sebastian. “I’m happy for you.Bothof you. But now the pressure is on for me to get married and have a traditional wedding, so thanks for that.”

My brother snorts in amusement because he knows I’m right.

Mom hits me with a pillow. “Olive! I would never do that. It’s your life. Whether you elope, have a traditional wedding, or not get married at all, I won’t care. As long as you’re happy.”

She’ll be disappointed, though. I know she would. I look at my brother. “Are you at least going to do a reception with people? We both know Mom would want that even though she’s pretending to be reasonable right now.”

The woman I look like sighs.

Sebastian’s lips twitch. “We’ll see.”

Instead of letting that discussion go on further, Mom changes the subject. “Tori, tell us about yourself. Now that you’re part of the family, I’d love to get to know you.”

For the next hour, we learn all about my brother’s twenty-five-year-old wife. Unlike most of the girls he went for who seemed ditzy like the bimbos our father dated, Tori is educated, witty, and sweet. She has a degree in sports journalism and was covering one of their games, did an interview with him, and apparently, the rest is history. Something tells me there’s a lot they left out for the sake of our eyes and ears, and I appreciate that. Nobody asks how long they’ve known each other or how long they’ve even been married. I’m not sure Mom even wants to know the answer.

All she really cares about is if Sebastian is happy. And he seems like he is. He’s calm and always has a hand on Tori’s leg or finger or palm.

I find myself frowning after a while because I realize I miss that. Physical contact. The butterflies. When Alex and I watched movies, he would always touch me. It could be innocent, and my heart would still sing inside its cage like a damn bird. If we were walking around campus or bantering at parties, he would always find a way to brush our hands or hit me with those bedroom eyes that would do some funny things to my ovaries, even if there was no sex involved.

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