I huffed and puffed up the stairs and sighed in relief when I got to the second floor and headed for the sitting room. Kane was still behind me, but his hands were no longer on my hips. I kind of missed his touch, but I forced myself to believe that was because he gave me a boost and made moving around easier.
That was my story and I was sticking to it.
“Finally!” Bronagh stated when Kane and I entered the room.
I held up my hands. “Sorry, I was hungry.”
Bronagh waved me off. “Play the DVD. I wanna see me niece.”
“Nephew,” Nico mumbled.
I rolled my eyes at him and picked up the remote to the television. “Is the disc loaded?”
“Duh,” Bronagh and Alannah said in unison before they high-fived.
I snorted and hit play. I walked over to the largest settee in the room and sat down next to Kane, who apparently had the spot saved for me.
“It’s a boy!” Nico stated proudly six or seven minutes into the DVD.
I rolled my eyes. “We don’t know the gender so pipe down, you.”
“I can see that the baby is Slater boy,” Nico cheered, ignoring me.
I pulled a face and looked at the television and instantly laughed when I saw what he saw. “That is a leg, not a penis, you freak.”
“Whatever. It’s a boy. I can tell.”
Everyone laughed at Nico.
Bronagh looked at her sister. “Do you know what the gender is?”
Branna tilted her head as she looked at the screen. “Not from this video. The legs are crossed so it’s too hard for me to tell. Then again, I’m a midwife, not an ultrasound technician.”
I was glad she couldn’t tell because I really wanted the gender to be a surprise at the birth. It made everything more exciting for me, and hopefully for Kane.
“How cool would it be if you were on a shift when I go into labour.” I smiled to Branna.
Branna squealed, “I’ll swap patients to make sure I have you in me care.”
I leaned over and high-fived her. “I’m holdin’ you to that.”
We sat back then and watched the rest of the DVD, which was just the most amazing thing ever. The girls awed when the baby’s four-dimensional face came on screen, and the lads smiled when the heartbeat played.
“This child is goin’ to be so spoiled,” Alannah commented as she stared at the screen.
I snorted, “You’re tellin’ me. Me brothers are already fightin’ over which football team she will support.”
“He,” Kane murmured.
I looked at him and glared. “Stop that.”
He smiled. “Can’t help it, feels like ‘he’ is the right thing to say.”
“Bro. Yes. We’re on the same wavelength.” Nico beamed.
I rolled my eyes at the brothers and smiled as I looked around the room. I felt happy and content with how everything was turning out for me. I was no longer terrified of having this baby. Sure I was scared, but I was also excited now, and so was everyone else.
I jumped when Dominic’s phone rang. I glanced at him when he dug his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. He smiled wide.
“Damien is FaceTiming me.”
I squealed, “Answer it so he can see the video too.”
Dominic tapped on the screen of his phone.
“Dominic,” Damien’s voice chirped. “What’s up, man?”
I loved how Damien spoke like he hadn’t spoken to Dominic in a long time even though they spoke every day. He always got really excited, just like Dominic did—it was beautiful to watch.
“Watching the DVD of Kane’s baby. Look,” Dominic said and stood up from his seated position. He tapped on the screen of his phone and aimed it at the sixty-inch plasma screen in front of us.
“Can you see?” Dominic asked.
How could he not?
The screen was sixty bloody inches wide.
Not a second later Damien said, “It’s a boy!”
Us females groaned, while the males cheered.
“He’s right,” Kane smirked. “Us men know what we’re talking about.”
I rolled my eyes. “She will not like being called a lad you know.”
“Let me see Aideen,” Damien asked Dominic.
Dominic pointed his phone at me so I smiled and waved. “Heya, cutie.”
Kane put his arm around my shoulder and tugged me into him. “Really?”
I laughed and so did the girls.
“Do you remember on movin’ day you said Damien could be your f—”