Page 91 of The Lake House

“Yes!” Josie bellows before anyone else can answer. I know she’s been super excited about this day. She wants a little sister so badly.

“Okay, here we go,” Dave says, handing Liv a pair of scissors to cut the bow.

“Hurry, Mommy! Hurry!” Josie roars.

Everyone bursts out laughing.

Liv raises the scissors up to the bow at the top of the box, and without further ado, cuts the ribbon. As she does so and then pulls back the lid, blue balloons come floating out.

Everyone cheers. Dave and Liv embrace and then share a kiss.

As we applaud, Declan says to me, “How did you ever keep this a secret from her for as long as you did?”

I chuckle. “It was tough. I wanted to tell her as soon as I knew what she was having. I know how badly they wanted a boy.”

I look over just in time to see Josie with a blank expression on her face, so I decide to walk over to her.

“What’s the matter, Josie?”

“It’s a boy?” She shouts over everyone.

Dave and Liv come apart from their embrace and turn to face their daughter.

“Yes, princess! Aren’t you excited? You’re going to be the best big sister!” Dave says to her.

As the realization hits, Josie turns six shades of red and storms toward the house. “I hate boys! I wanted a sister! UGH!”

Everyone bursts out in laughter once again.

Declan leans in to whisper in my ear, “That’s going to change in just a few years.”

I giggle at his statement, knowing just how true that is.

As Liv and I lock eyes, she walks over to me and we embrace.

“Congratulations, girl!” I say. “I’m so happy for you and Dave… and Josie, too.”

She laughs as we pull apart from our hug. “She’ll come around, I know it. But I just wanted to say thank you so much for doing this for us. It was so beautiful.”

I smile happily. I’m so glad she loved it.

“Hey, Liv,” Declan says. “Congratulations on your little man.”

She beams, bringing Declan in for a hug. “Thanks, Dec! And thank you for coming.”

We spend the rest of the time laughing and joking with the guests. Eventually, Josie comes out from hiding, joining the party, and trying to convince her mother that she can go to any store and return the baby for a girl.

* * *

“That was a great party,” Declan says to me as we stand against the banister out on my back porch, taking in the silence and the beautiful view of the lake.

By the time the last of the guests left and we cleaned up everything, it was well past eleven.

I nod. “It was. Everything turned out great. Even the food from that new place that opened downtown was excellent. Thanks for recommending them.”

He pulls me to stand in between his legs. “You’re welcome. One of our clients’ nephews owns the place. Rog and I tried them for lunch a few months back.”

I stare up into his eyes. I wonder if he can tell how badly I want him right now.

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