Page 80 of Shattered Union

"Can I come?" she asks, walking into the room and sitting down beside me, and I can't help but laugh. "What?"

God, she's a chancer. "You know you're not allowed in the pub after nine. Callie could lose her license."

She huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. I wrap my arm around her and pull her close. "Peanut," I say softly and she looks up at me, her eyes soft and the disappointment gone from her face. "Callie and I wanted to ask you something."

She unfolds her arms and frowns at me. "What?"

"Next week, we've a scan to see the babies and we want you to come with us. Callie's ma is coming too. We hope you and Nichola will find out the gender and then plan a party?"

Her eyes widen and she grins. "That would be awesome."

"Callie said you have her ma's number. You two can coordinate on what your plans are."

She bounces on her seat. "Da, this is amazing. I can't wait."

"Oh, and by the way, you're not allowed to tell anyone."

She rolls her eyes. "Duh, da, we're throwing a gender reveal party, I'm hardly going to announce it. That would defeat the purpose of the party."

I nod, glad she's on the same page. "Good, you also can't tell anyone we're having twins."

Her mouth opens in surprise and she lets out a squeal so loud that I'm wincing at the pain it's causing to my eardrums.

Footsteps rush into the room. "What?" Danny asks, glancing between us.

The others are standing in the doorway, watching on in confusion.

She gets to her feet and starts hopping around the room in excitement. "Callie and Da are having a scan next week and they're letting me and Nichola find out the gender so we can host a party," Chloe squeals yet again and thankfully this time she's away from my ears.

Holly smiles at her. "That's cool. What are you hoping for? So far we're all even. Three and three."

"Well, Danny and Lis have a girl, so a girl would be amazing. They could be best friends."

Danny and Melissa chuckle. "What about this one?" Danny asks, his hand going to Melissa's stomach.

Chloe shrugs. "That's a girl too. They'll all be best friends."

"Okay, smarty pants," Makenna grins. "What am I having?"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "That's easy, you and Raylee are having boys." Her phone buzzes, and she pulls it out of her pocket. "Oh, that's Mallory. I'll talk to you later. Have a good evening. Tell Callie I'll see her tomorrow." She places a kiss against my cheek and skips out of the room.

Danny laughs, and I turn to him with a raised brow. "How much do you hate that Chloe gets to spend more time with your woman than you do?"

I scowl at the arsehole. "It actually doesn't bother me in the slightest."

"It's good for her to have someone who devotes time to spend with her," Melissa says as she leans back against her husband.

"Are we sure she's not just sucking up?" Makenna questions, glancing around the room.

"No," Melissa hisses. "Callie knew Chloe before she knew she was Denis's daughter. Look, Kenna, I get your looking out for your brother. But you're just going to piss him and her off with your bitchiness."

Danny tries to hide his smirk, whereas Holly fails and flat out smiles.

"Bitchiness?" Makenna echoes as though it's the most foreign concept on earth.

"You tried to do it with me when I was marrying Danny, you tried to do it to Raylee but she wasn't having it. Push Callie, and Denis is going to be pissed."

"It's not bitchiness, it's overprotectiveness," Holly says, trying to diffuse the situation.

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