Page 30 of Reeve

I tell myself I’m ready as I walk through the woods for the second night in a row, headed to my oldest brother’s house.

Tonight, however, there aren’t sixty or seventy people jamming the porch and swinging from the rafters inside. Tonight, it’s just my family—the people I love most in the world, the people who are going to be hurt and disappointed when I tell them I’ve been keeping a big secret about a major life decision.

“Welcome, Reeve!” says Hunter, pulling me into a bear hug when I walk through the front door. “I barely got to see you last night!”

“Do you evenrememberlast night?” I ask him. “I feel like Jägermeister shots might have gotten the better of you, big brother.”

Isabella comes up behind him, taking a hot plate of cornbread from my hands. “Thanks for bringing this, Reeve. And thanks so much for getting the cabin opened up for us!”

“No problem.”

“And you’re right,” she says, laughing at her husband. “He had theworsthangover this morning!”

Hunter pulls his wife into a side hug and kisses the top of her head. “But you helped me feel better, baby, didn’t you?”

“Callate, mi amor!” she scolds him, her cheeks turning a pretty color of pink as she hustles back into the kitchen.

It’s not news that my brother and his new wife are trying to have a baby. They’re eager to catch up with Harper, Tanner, and Parker. But I really don’t need a picture painted for me.

“You’re completely gross,” I tell him.

He grins at me. “She loves it.”

“She lovesyou,” I correct him. “And for that, you are lucky.”

I let him take my parka, line up my boots along with everyone else’s, then join the rest of my family in Hunter and Isabella’s living room. The tree I decorated on Thursday evening still looks pretty good, despite how many people must have bumped into it last night.

“Hello, granddaughter,” says Gran.

“Hey, wise one,” I say, kissing her papery cheek. I give one to Paw Paw, too. “How’re you two doing?”

“Fine, littlest,” says Paw Paw. “Just fine.”

Harper, McKenna, and Parker are sitting on the floor, around a sheepskin rug where the three baby cousins are lying side by side by side, all dressed up in red and green. McKenna’s using a fancy camera to take pictures while Parker makes cooing noises.

“Did you three plan this?” I ask.

“Yes,” says McKenna proudly. “I insisted. We needed a picture of the three cousins! It’s their first Christmas together.”

“She’s picture-crazy,” mutters Tanner from behind me.

“She just wants to remember,” I say, squeezing between him and my dad on the sofa. I look up at my dad, then lean closer. “You still mad at me?”

“I won’t be,” he murmurs, “once you come clean.”

“Then, let’s get it over with,” I say, springing back up to my feet. “Hey! Everyone!”

Isabella and Hunter poke their heads out of the kitchen, and everyone else looks up at me.

“I have an announcement!”

Mind you, when someone in our family holds court like this, the announcement could be anything—an unexpected pregnancy, a surprise engagement, a secret baby, a move to Seattle—the list is endless. As I look around the room, into each of their eyes, I see the range of feelings—from excitement and surprise to disappointment and worry—that accompanies such a moment.

I take a deep breath, but before I can speak—

“Are you pregnant?” demands Harper.

“No!”