“I figured you were just trying to be nice. Christine, this is a big deal. You and Matt have suffered for so long, been through so many heartbreaks…you guys deserve to celebrate. This is your rainbow baby—”
“Don’t, Janelle.” Her eyes turned glassy. “My baby isn’t in my arms yet. I will celebrate then. When I hold my child and know everything’s okay.”
I could only nod, fully understanding her fear, and pray to God it was unwarranted. After a quick hug in an attempt to clear her tears, we all walked inside—Christine and Matt, and Holden and me.
We got the standard greetings, the hugs and handshakes, the well wishes and congratulations. I smiled and clung to Holden, ready to run and hold our secret safe. We hadn’t been there for five full minutes before Mom started in on me.
“Why’s it called The Newest York? Are you and Holden getting married?” Her eyes lit up.
And I’m sure mine did too when I said, “No. I already told you, Ma…I’m not walking down the aisle with Holden. I will never change my last name, and I will never file for a marriage license. I need you to accept that and be okay with it.”
Christine stood next to me and snickered. I glared at her, hoping she’d stop before she gave everything away. Rather than stop, she muttered to me, “I don’t think I can ever trust another word that comes out of your mouth.”
I made sure to keep my voice low when I argued, “Technically, I didn’t lie.”
“I know. That’s the scary part. Now I have to pick apart every single one of your sentences just to know what you mean.”
I huffed a giggle beneath my breath and shook my head, turning my attention back to my mom just in time to hear more of her grumbling complaints. “You just have to be the only one, don’t you? Living in sin, shacking up with your beau, never planning to get married. You wanna see your mother in an early grave? Is that it?”
“Christine and Matt would like to share with everyone what they’re having—aside from a baby.” I winked at Christine, hoping to move the party along and away from me.
She nodded to Matt, who crossed the room and quickly stuck a pin into the giant black balloon, letting the pink confetti fall to cover the floor. “We’re having a girl!”
The entire family started to crowd in around her, making the small group feel like an arena full of excited partygoers. In an instant, her face paled and her hands began to shake by her sides. But before I could say anything to derail the frenzy, Matt stuck his pinkies in his mouth and whistled, causing everyone to immediately stop.
“Jelly is having a baby!”
Gasps rang out all around, soft murmurs and quiet questions. My head became light, and I started to feel dizzy. Not in a bad way, but in an out-of-body kind of way. It was like I had floated above myself and watched everything happen. I was completely cognizant of what was happening, but it was as though I had no control over any of it.
“You’re what?” My mother’s eyes couldn’t have gotten any bigger, shining with utter excitement.
“I’m, uh…I’m having a baby,” I repeated, turning my inquisitive stare to my brother.
He shrugged, and with giddy laughter, he said, “Holden isn’t allowed to keep secrets from me anymore.”
I whipped my head to stare at Holden, who stood next to me, shaking in uncontrollable laughter. As soon as his eyes fell on me, his mirth settled long enough to beam at me with pride and unadulterated love.
We’d found out shortly after coming home from New York. Turns out, antibiotics affect birth control, and Christine hadn’t felt the need to inform me of that when I’d gotten sick because she didn’t think there was a reason to. Holden was ecstatic, but I wasn’t sure how much of that was because of the baby and how much was because he now had a reason to say I had a Jelly Bean in my Jelly Belly.
“And you’re still refusing to get married?” Of course, that’d be my mother’s one and only concern.
I held up my left hand, proudly showing off the plain gold band Holden had purchased to match his in a small, cheap chapel in Las Vegas. But I treasured it as if it were priceless. “I can’t walk down an aisle because I already did. I refuse to change my last name because it’s York, and I will forever be a York. I will never apply for a marriage license because I’ll never have another reason to. Holden and I are married.”
Mom gasped and covered her gaping mouth. Everyone else just stood in place with wide eyes, observing the comedy show before them. “When did you do that? Did you run off and get married when you found out about the baby? You know we would’ve been involved.”
I glanced over at Holden and grinned. When he nodded, I knew that was his way of supporting me as I ran with it. “Actually, we got married over five years ago.” As expected, the entire room broke out in a flurry, everyone talking over each other, questions being tossed around, not caring who answered.
The noise level grew even louder, but abruptly stopped when mom shouted, “I’m getting breast implants!”
“What?” I’m pretty sure we all asked at the exact same time.
“Everyone else was sharing their news. Thought I’d share mine, too.”
All I could do was stare at her. And blink. And stare some more. Then, Holden came over and stole me away, saving me from dealing with that.
“Look at you, my Prince Charming, my knight in shining armor, coming to rescue me from the evil queen talking about filling her flabby boobies with silicone.”
His laughter shook his body when he covered my lips with his. “No, babe. I’m not your Prince Charming, and I’m not in shining armor.”
“But you’re not a dark knight, either.”
“Then what am I?”
“Just a regular man who chose to come sweep me off my feet and save the day.”
“So I’m not a superhero?” He cocked his head to the side and pinched his brows in question.
“You’re my hero. Isn’t that enough?”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.” And then he sealed our words with his lips.
Leddy’s Notes
When I first started writing this book, it was going to be just like all my others, a highly emotional romance. But then, when I was ALMOST finished, I realized how wrong it was. The entire time, Janelle and Holden’s relationship felt light, but the story was anything but. And so I finally decided to go back to the beginning and tell the story the characters wanted, not what I wanted.
There were nights I’d write and laugh my ass off at some of the things they were saying and doing, and then would wake up in the morning and freak out because I’ve never attempted light and humorous before, and feared my humor would be overlooked. But luckily, my friends and beta readers laughed at those same scenes.
So either I can be funny…or they’re my friends for a reason. It could also be a mixture of both. We’re just going to go with I’m hilarious!
Also, if you loved Ronnie as much as I did, you should totally check out “Girl Crush” by Stephie Walls, because there’s a lot of her in there!
Hey You!!