J.C. had almost been late to dinner, but luckily the traffic had been leaner than usual, and he’d made it out of the city in good time. Pulling up to Le Chateau, he cut the engine and admired the flowers that someone had planted around the fountain in the center of the driveway. Looking up at the front portico, he realized that the improvements in greenery didn’t end there—large urns of flowers greeted him on either side of the front door too.
He considered walking right in for a moment but thought better of it. This wasn’t his childhood home anymore. It was Jax and Gard’s home and he needed to respect the new owners by letting them welcome him.
He rang the bell and Jax swept open the double doors, grinning from ear to ear at her eldest sibling. “Bonsoir!”
“Bonsoir, doudou,” he said, using a nickname that he’d given the girls when they were little. He bussed each cheek and inhaled deeply. “Gard’s cooking?”
“Mm-hm. Gumbo.”
“Thank fuck. The last time you cooked, I chipped a tooth on the steak and lost a layer of skin, the corn was so hot.”
He grinned at her to let her know he was teasing. As much as J.C. and his siblings gave each other a hard time, they’d die for each other too.
“I never claimed to be a chef,” she said, relieving him of the bottle of wine in his hands. “By the way, remind me to show you something.”
“What?” he asked, mildly curious, since this was the second time she’d mentioned it. “Nothing. Just…a painting. I found it in the attic. It’s probably nothing, but…”
“But?”
“I don’t know. There’s something about it.” She shrugged, waving her free hand. “Later. For now, come and sit. étienne and Kate look like they’re about to jump out of their skin. I think they’re moving, and they don’t know how to tell us.”
J.C. frowned, feeling unsettled, and followed Jax into the game room, where J.C. had bested his little brother in every Nintendo game known to man. This wasn’t good news. He liked having Ten, Jax, and Mad close. He’d go so far as to admit he needed them close. He hated the idea of Ten and Kate moving away.
“Moving? Are you sure?”
“I don’t know,” said Jax in a singsong voice. “What else could it be? étienne knows you’ll freak if they move.”
They entered through the double doors together, and Mad jumped up to hug her brother. “Hey, stranger.”
“You look good, petite,” said J.C., kissing her cheeks before looking into her eyes. “Had fun in London?”
Her complexion changed from pink to red, answering his question in a way that made him hope that Cort Ambler was serious about Mad and not just playing around. Because big fucking woe to Cort if he made Mad look like this and didn’t follow through.
“Yes,” she said. “Lots.”
“When’s he back?”
“Labor Day,” she said, sighing with longing. “But he’s coming home the weekend after next to see me.”
“For how long?” asked J.C., nodding with approval.
“Long enough,” said Mad cheekily. “I’m meeting him in New York from Friday to Sunday.”
“If you need anything,” said Kate from the couch, “I’ll give you Lib’s number.”
“Thanks,” said Mad, turning to smile at Kate. “How is Libitz? I barely got to talk to her at your wedding, but she seems so interesting!”
“She’s great! I just talked to her this morning,” said Kate, grinning meaningfully at étienne before looking back at Mad, Jax, and J.C., who stood shoulder to shoulder before them. Kate giggled softly, “Do you want to tell them or should I?”
“My turn,” said étienne, kissing Kate’s temple tenderly before standing up.
“So we wanted to tell you that—”
“You’re moving!” cried Jax.
“No,” said Ten, shaking his head, his face confused. “Well, actually, yes. We are. We’re moving out of the city to a place we found here in Haverford, but—”
“We guessed it!” said Mad to her twin. “Well, we knew you were moving—”
“But we were afraid you were going farther away,” said Jax, stepping forward to hug étienne. “Thank God you’re sticking around! We’ll be neighbors!”
“Um,” said Kate, standing up beside étienne, “that isn’t the only news.”
“There’s more?” asked J.C., who’d gotten momentarily distracted at the mention of Libitz, who was doing “great” and probably hadn’t given him so much as a second thought since the wedding, while he’d been cursed with vibrant, all-too-frequent memories of her.
“What news?” Jax released her brother, stepping back to shift her eyes back and forth between Kate and étienne. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” growled étienne. “Yes! I’m fine!”
“Then what is it?” asked Mad, concern written all over her face.
Kate took her husband’s arm, grinning at her sisters and brother-in-law. “We’re having a baby!”
Jax and Mad gasped in unison, and étienne turned to look at his wife, caressing her face with his eyes before dropping a sweet kiss to her lips. “You stole my thunder, chaton.”
“You were taking too long,” she said, kissing him back.
Jax threw her arms around étienne again, while Mad embraced Kate, and J.C., standing just behind his sisters, stared awkwardly at his celebrating siblings.
A baby.