Page 131 of What if It's Us

“By making me more anxious?” I ask jokingly, gesturing toward the cardboard cutout of myself that he’s placed next to a hand-drawn bracket titled: “Baby Name Showdown: Tournament of Champions”

He grins. “Exactly.”

A karaoke machine powers on with a familiar Stevie Wonder tune and Griffin excitedly grabs the mic.

“This one’s for the mom-to-be!” he croons. “Isn’t She Lo—OVULATING.”

I groan and bury my face in Ledger’s chest. “Please tell me there’s actual food.”

“Yep. I ordered a catering spread of pregnancy-safe delights,” he announces proudly. “No soft cheeses, zero deli meat, and exactly one mocktail bar featuring five flavors of ginger.”

I blink. “Wait…you actually did the research?”

“Of course I did.” He shrugs. “You Google panic at 2 A.M. enough times, a guy starts reading WebMD for fun.”

The lengths that this man goes to for my happiness is unreal.

I tilt my head up to kiss him. “This is insane. But also…really sweet.”

He loops his arms around me. “You’ve been carrying three tiny humans for seven months. You deserve to be celebrated—even if that means wading through balloon-based safety hazards.”

“Waddling you mean.”

He kisses my forehead. “Whatever. You’re perfect.”

A shriek comes from the corner and all eyes are on August standing with a diaper pinata on his head.

“Uh fuck!” Bodhi shouts. “The diaper pinata fell on someone again.”

“Again?” Ledger sighs and then winces. “Like I said. I may have gone slightly overboard.”

God, he’s so cute. “Promise me next time we do this, it’s in a normal restaurant with less glitter.”

Ledger smirked. “Okay. But only if they’ll let me bring the ‘Guess That Baby Food’ roulette wheel.”

“Deal.”

The door clicks shutbehind us and silence settles over the apartment like a cozy blanket. No balloon explosions, no rogue karaoke attempts, no ‘Mood Swing Mint’ cupcakes.

I sigh, exhausted as I drop my keys in the bowl, and toe off my shoes. “Well… that was a glitter-soaked fever dream.”

Ledger sets down the diaper gift basket someone labeledEmergency Blowout Kitand flops dramatically onto the couch. “We’ll be finding confetti in the car for the next six years.”

“Tell me about it.” I shuffle over and collapse beside him, resting my head on his shoulder. “You really went all out.”

“I panicked,” he admits. “I wanted to make you feel special. And distracted. And like you’re not doing this alone.”

I lift my head to glance up at him. His shirt still saysDAD IN TRAINING,though one of the arrows is now pointing to his armpit.

“I do feel special,” I tell him. “Also mildly concussed from the balloon arch collapsing.”

“I’ll work on my structural integrity next time,” he say nodding.

“Oh Ledger,” I huff a laugh as I rub my enormous belly. “It’s cute that you think there will be a next time.”

“What? You don’t want to go through this pregnancy thing again? We could have a whole brood of kids. You’d be great at it.”

“Do you even hear yourself right now?” I laugh. “I think three is just fine. I think I got way more than I bargained for with you, Ledger Dayne, so I’ll stop while I’m ahead.”

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