“Oh.”
“C’mere.” Liam pulled me in closer, and I didn’t hesitate to step into his waiting arms.
“Thank you, pretty girl. Thank you so fucking much. I promise to be so much more to our baby than this card says.”
I looked down at the Christmas card that had “Merry Christmas to the Best Daddy Ever” emblazoned across the front.
One hand slid around to the back of my neck and his other held on to my hip as he pulled me in for a soft, gentle kiss.
“When did you find out?” He brushed his hand over my belly as he asked.
“I just took the test this morning, but I’ve had my suspicions for a few weeks.”
“This is the best present I’ve ever gotten. Well, apart from getting you back last year.”
“Do you know when you’re due?”
I shook my head. “Maybe June or July time. I’m not sure. I’ll make an appointment to see my doctor on Monday.”
“Congratulations, bro.” My brother’s hand reached out to Liam as he kissed the top of my head. “Well done, Sunshine. I can’t wait to be the best uncle to the little dude.”
“Could be a dudette,” Sasha chimed in.
“I’ll still be the best fucking uncle.”
“Yeah, and you’ll start by not dropping the F bomb around them.” I warned him. My brother actually looked a little sheepish as he mouthed sorry to me.
Sasha pulled the bottle of champagne I’d bought earlier from the fridge and grabbed glasses from the cupboard. Liam—who hadn’t said a word but hadn’t stopped grinning—popped the cork and topped everyone but me up. Sasha poured me a glass of lime flavoured sparkling water—yay!
“Sarah . . .” Liam started and then took a moment to compose himself. I felt my lips tremble as I watched him struggle. I didn’t think he was even this emotional at our wedding.
“You’re the person that has given me things that I never even knew that I wanted. You’ve filled my life with things that I never even knew I was missing and now . . .” He stopped again, placed his hand over his mouth, and rubbed his lips with the tips of his fingers. “And now I’m gonna be a dad. We made a baby, pretty girl. Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me. I know it’s been hard these last few months with all the hours I’ve been putting in, but I promise to do better. I promise.”
I actually managed to hang on to my sob until I looked at my brother and saw him cry. That was when I lost it too.
We had a few moments of enjoying a laughing, crying group hug before getting down to enjoying the rest of the evening. We spend hours celebrating and eating pizza and agreeing that until we had more details, our news would remain just between us.
I really wanted to tell Nan and Grandad, but they had already left on their Christmas cruise. They enjoyed it so much the previous year that they were going further afield and for longer this time, taking in the Canary and Balearic Islands around Europe. By the time they returned in the New Year, we would know exactly when I was due.
Sasha was a drunken crying mess by the time Luke carried her up to one of our spare rooms just after ten that night. I was feeling absolutely exhausted and left the boys shooting the shit downstairs and made my way up to bed a little while later.
I wasn’t sure what was going on with my brother. I’d never known him to be so quiet. Despite my concerns, it wasn’t long before I drifted off into a happy and contented sleep.
2008
“I’m not going.”
“Well, someone’s got to, it’s either there or Canada next week,” Luke replied. “I thought I was doing you a favour by putting myself up for Canada, but I can’t do both.”
“We’ll just have to reschedule.”
“And let Anglo step in and win the contract? Its two nights—tops. Get Sasha to stay with her or send her to my nans.”
My jaw was so tense that I could feel it spasm intermittently and twitch.
“I can’t leave her, Luke. I won’t leave her.”
“Then we’ll just have to step aside this time. We can’t negotiate with them long distance. We need bums on seats around that table, otherwise we might as well just step aside and let Anglo Continental win the contract this time.”
“Fuck.” I attempted to massage some of the tension out of my own neck as I paced.
“It’s only Scotland, can’t you just take her with you?”
“She can’t lift her head without wanting to throw up.”
Sarah was four months pregnant and suffering from severe morning sickness. She was living on water, the occasional black tea, and rice cakes. She’d started this pregnancy glowing, but by early January, the odd feeling of nausea turned into throwing up every morning, which soon evolved into throwing up at any time of day.