Page 31 of The Winging It Holiday Special

Oh thank God.His husband was a genius.

Chris and Talia exchanged a look. “You don’t have to do that,” Talia said. “We’re figuring it out. We’re just venting.”

“Yes, but you don’t have to.” Gabe blew out a breath, dropped his gaze to the tablecloth, and then looked up again. “It was hard for me to accept someone new in my dad’s life at first. For a long time he was the only one who knew the real me.” He reached across the table and took Talia’s hand. “But that hasn’t been true for a long time now, and it’s obvious how happy you make each other. Let me do this for you, please. As a wedding present.”

Dante would have thought that would be the end of it—wedding planner Sylvie could take care of the details—but instead Gabe got twice-weekly phone calls verifying that it was really okay to get such and such a thing.

“Dad!” he’d finally half shouted, when one such call came right before a pregame nap. “Sylvie has my credit card number, okay? You don’t have to run everything by me for permission. If you want to spend six grand on flowers, go ham.But let me sleep.”

And then there wasthis.

A series of inconvenient events had resulted in Michelle’s scan being pushed backthree times. It would’ve been funny if it were happening to someone else. First the clinic’s pipes froze and they had to reschedule. Then Michelle got a flat tire on her way to the makeup appointment… on the day of an ice storm so bad that the tow truck took an hour to get there. Meanwhile,Chris and Talia were out doing wedding things, and the Dekes had their last road game before the break.

The third time they all actually made it into the building only for the fire alarm to go off.

Dante was really anxious to see a grainy black-and-white image of his future kid, but not enough to miss the Olympics. He had to get on a plane. Michelle promised to Facetime them from the doctor’s office.

At least he only had practice today—no game until tomorrow.

“Dante.”

He snapped out of his panic and pushed his phone farther away from him on the table. “Sorry, sorry. I know I’m—”

A complete mess.

“Playing my part for once?” Gabe teased.

Not to put too fine a point on it, yeah.

When the phone rang, Dante jolted to answer as soon as he could. Gabe put his hand on his thigh under the table.

“—if this is going to work.” The screen resolved into a grainy, pixelated version of Michelle’s face. “Hey! There you are.”

Dante’s heart thundered like he’d just come off a double shift. “Hey! How’s everything looking?”

The video wobbled. After a few seconds Dante had to admit he couldn’t see anything. It was too choppy. “Uh, can you see?” Michelle asked. “I think if I crank up the mic volume you might be able to hear….”

And maybe the video was too grainy. The Wi-Fi in the Olympic Village was trying its best, but it had its work cut out for it. But they did hear it—a rhythmic, cyclical whooshing.

The hair on the back of Dante’s neck stood up, and he put his left hand over his mouth to hold in whatever undignified sound wanted to escape.

“Everything present and correct,” a person who must’ve been the ultrasound tech said in the background. “Looks like you’re at about twenty-three weeks. Right on schedule for the middle of May.”

Dante couldn’t breathe. Gabe was squeezing his fingers so tight he almost had to ask him to let go.

“Do you want to know the sex?”

Mercifully, Gabe’s grip loosened. They looked at each other. The camera moved back to Michelle’s face. “That’s up to you guys,” she said.

Gabe lifted one shoulder and looked at Dante. His voice was a little raspy. “What do you think?”

He exhaled a shaky breath. “I know it’s not, you know,officially officialuntil the kid tells us so,” he started. Then he had to clear his throat. “But….”

He hit Mute. He didn’t want Michelle to feel even a little bit guilty. She was his hero. “We haven’t gotten to do a lot of things.” They hadn’t told their friends, hadn’t held a baby shower—he didn’t think they would have anyway, but a party might have been nice—just in case it didn’t work out. It would all be worth it, but in the meantime, he was a little sad they’d missed out on the milestones of sharing their joy, and the whole thing didn’t feel real. “We could have this, though. I’m not going to go out and buy thirty princess onesies or a junior mechanic set or whatever. It’s just… more directed daydreaming.”

Gabe unmuted the phone with his free hand. “Yes, please.”

The image on the phone screen wobbled again and then froze. This time Dante could actually make out the image on the monitor, which looked nothing like the grainy black-and-white blobs he’d seen in movies and on TV. That was ababy. It had a little face, with a tiny nose and mouth, and individually distinguishable fingers. And it wastheirs.

“Congratulations,” said the tech as the video started back up. “It’s a girl.”

It was real now.

Joy pushed the horrible noise out of Dante’s throat. He leaned over and pressed his face against Gabe’s shoulder.

Gabe let go of his hand and wrapped his arm around him instead. Dante could hear the smile in his voice, the love and the hope and the promise. “Well,” Gabe said. “Maybe justoneprincess onesie.”

---