Page 6 of When It Reins
“Another one? Are you insane?” Annmarie’s shocked voice grabs my attention, and I see her looking at a smirking Thea.
“What? Isn’t Colter cute?” Thea says, referencing her son, who is currently with her mother-in-law, Didi.
“Colter’s the cutest kid ever. Don’t tell Dani or City,” Annmarie retorts, slumping in her seat. We are currently going over projections for projects we want to add to the bar, seeing how we can financially make that happen. “But you just had one.”
“Are you having another baby?” My voice pitches at the end of my sentence with shock, somehow having missed the entire conversation.
“No.” Thea smiles and rolls her eyes, reaching for her water. “Not yet, anyway.”
“You are insane,” Annmarie says, shaking her head. “Two kids under, what? Two?”
Thea shrugs. “It’s not like we’ve already started trying. We just know we want more.”
“You’re brave,” Annmarie says. “Or crazy.”
“I think it’s great,” I say, smiling at my big sister. “The two kids you got are already great. Why not add more?”
“Suck up.” Annmarie coughs into her hand, grinning when I nudge her shoulder, her long brown hair swaying behind her.
“Shush, you,” I scold, looking back to Thea. “Logan’s on board?”
“Yup. For eventually, not for right now. Colter is making some seriously amazing baby strides, like walking.”
I squeal, remembering the video she sent last night of my nephew taking his first steps. He is seriously the cutest little nephew.
“What about you? Staying safe, missypoo?” Annmarie directs the question at me, and for a moment I frown before I realize what she’s implying.
“A baby? With David?” I scrunch my nose, before I realize I probably shouldn’t act like that at the thought of having a baby with my boyfriend.
But…no. It does not sound appealing right now.
“Not a chance,” I reply, not wanting to go into details.
“Are you guys okay?” Thea asks in a sweet voice, folding over some paperwork and setting it aside.
“Oh yeah. We’re great.” I smile at her, but something in her expression doesn’t seem to buy my answer.
“Great as in, ‘I think I’ll marry the guy one day,’ or great as in, ‘This is fun…for now?’” Annmarie’s question is innocent, yet loaded.
I’m not quite sure how to respond.
“We’ve only been dating for five months. How soon do you know you want to spend your life with someone?”
The question is rhetorical, so I’m surprised that both sisters answer, “Not long.”
I glance back and forth between them, uncomfortable for some reason. “Well, maybe I’m wired different.”
“Maybe,” Thea says, but doesn’t sound sure.
“Or…” Annmarie starts with a flip of her hand, and I can tell by the look on her face that I’m probably not going to like what she has to say next. “Just maybe, you’re not with the guy you are supposed to be with.”
Lead settles in my gut at her words, and I frown. “I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Annmarie! Don’t put that in her head.”
“What? We all know—” A thud cuts off her sentence, and she yelps, reaching down to rub her leg and glaring at Thea.
“What’s going on?” I ask, settling back into my seat.
