Page 8 of Winter Sun

“Patrick?” Sophie whispered. “I have something to tell you.”

Patrick furrowed his brow. Like her, he was accustomed to hearing only bad news.

“It’s not bad. I mean, I don’t think it’s bad,” Sophie assured.

Patrick’s shoulders loosened. His eyes stirred with questions.

Sophie tucked her hair behind her ears.Spit it out, she told herself. You’ve kept it in for three long days. He deserves to know.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

Patrick’s jaw dropped. He gaped at her for a long, beautiful moment, his face registering several different emotions at once. And then, he dropped forward and wrapped her in his arms. Sophie felt his heartbeat through her torso.

“Sophie. Sophie. Sophie.” Patrick couldn’t stop repeating her name. “Sophie, I’m so happy. I don’t know what to say.”

Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. She closed them tightly and slid onto Patrick’s lap. He placed his hand across her lower stomach and held it there. Their baby was a collection of cells—hardly visible. Yet she somehow felt that their baby could feel Patrick’s warmth and love.

“I never thought I would be well enough to do this,” Patrick said, his voice breaking.

“Neither did I,” Sophie said. Her throat was thick with tears.

The front door cracked open, and Rachelle’s voice echoed. “Happy New Year’s Eve!”

Sophie slid off Patrick’s lap, wiped the tears from her face, and pressed a single finger over her lips, suggesting they keep the news to themselves. It wasn’t time. Patrick bowed his head. He looked on the brink of calling out across the bluffs. Screaming out that he would be a father. That it would be up to him to raise the tiniest of babies into a young woman or a man.

“What’s up, guys?” Sam interrupted them from the doorway. “Can I get you anything?” Her gaze cut from Sophie to Patrick and back again.

“We have everything we need,” Patrick said, his eyes still on Sophie. Sophie’s heart swelled.

Chapter Five

Rachelle cooked a feast that evening. Asian-style roasted quail with dumplings, spring rolls, various types of Asian noodles, and three types of Chinese soups. Darcy ambled in and out of the kitchen to help her sister, bringing appetizers on ornate platters. Their dates, Greg and Dean, were amiable islanders, both twentysomethings and handsome. To Sophie, neither of them seemed good enough for Darcy and Rachelle.

Patrick and Derek were kind to Greg and Dean. Derek made them Manhattans and asked them about their careers and New Year’s resolutions. Greg said he wanted to travel more, and Dean said he wanted to settle down. The glance he cast to the kitchen made Sophie’s heart crack. She had a sense that if he asked Darcy to settle down with him, she would say no. She hated that heartache awaited both of them. But that was life, she supposed.

“Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?” Derek asked Sophie.

Sophie laughed and raised her glass of non-alcoholic champagne. “Stay sober, of course.”

That, and have a healthy baby. But she couldn’t share that part.

“You, Patrick?” Derek said.

“I’d like to echo what my beautiful girlfriend said,” Patrick said. “But on top of that, I’d like to eat healthier. I guess.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Derek joked, eyeing Sophie. “You should see my brother when we’re on the job. It’s just burgers and fries.”

Sophie laughed. “It hasn’t caught up to him yet.”

Patrick was still slender and muscular due to his vigorous work as a contractor. That, and frequent runs along the boardwalk. Sophie sometimes joined him, amazed at his long strides and his ability to run without music or podcasts.

“What do you think about for all that time?” she’d asked him.

Patrick had said, “I make up stories in my head.” When she’d begged him to tell her one, he’d shrugged and said, “I dream up what kind of man I’ll be in five years. That’s all.”

Now, Sophie wondered if the man he hoped to be was a husband and father.

When dinner was served, the eight of them sat at the immaculate dining room table. Out the window, the snow escalated, becoming a thick sheet of white between the glass and the stark black night. Rachelle instructed them on which flavor pairings to make, how to eat the quail, and which spicy sauce went with which dumpling.

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