“What do they eat?” Marty stuck his head out of the limo.
“Mice.” Alex put his hand on the small of Sam’s back.
“For real?” Marty’s eyes got huge. “Can I, Mom?”
“Um, what will that involve?” Meredith looked at Alex with worried eyes.
“He’ll wear a full glove and I’ll be with him the whole time,” Alex assured her.
“Okay,” Meredith said. Her face still looked a little hesitant.
“I’ll go with them,” Sam said. “After I eat something.”
“Food does sound like a good idea.” Meredith rolled her head from side to side. “I didn’t eat much this morning.”
“Then let’s head home.” I opened the door for her and helped her climb in. It wasn’t until I noticed Alex raise an eyebrow in my direction that I realized I had called D’Lynsal home. For all of us.
I helped Sam slide into her seat and looked up at Alex and Cathy. They were both smiling at me.
“What?”
“You’re in trouble, brother.” Alex smacked my shoulder before climbing into the car.
“You guys are really obnoxious, you know that?” I glared at my sister.
“Only because you know we’re right.” She laughed as she slid in the car.
Shaking my head, I climbed in after her and took the last seat available. The car ride was a jumble of talking, laughter, and good-natured ribbing. It was like we’d all decided to cut loose after a very intense morning.
Marty was draped over his seat so that his feet were in the air and his head hanging down by his mother’s feet. He popped a grape in his mouth and Meredith rolled her eyes.
“Sit up before you choke.”
“I was being a bat. Do you have any bats?” He looked at Alex.
“No bats.” Alex laughed. “We have horses though.”
“Oh cool!”
“When are you going to tell us if the baby is a boy or a girl?” Cathy was looking at Sam with an intense expression.
“What does it matter?” Alex asked. “You’ll be an aunt either way.”
“I want to know if I should buy pink stuff or blue stuff.”
“Oh God. Do not swamp us with pink stuff. I hate pink.” Sam shook her head.
Alex turned to look at her and smiled. “Purple wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Yes!” Cathy sat forward. “It is a girl! I knew it.”
“I didn’t say that.” Sam frowned. “I just said I didn’t want lots of pink stuff . . . if it is a girl.”
“Come on.” Cathy laughed. “It’s a girl!”
Sam looked at Alex and he shrugged.
“Don’t tell anyone else.” Sam looked around the interior of the limo. “Yes, it’s a girl.”
“Ahh!” Cathy jumped across the cab and hugged Sam.
“Don’t squish me!” Sam fended off my sister with a laugh.
“Names?” I leaned forward and looked at my brother.
“Not yet.” He shook his head. “We’re not going to decide for certain until we have the baby.”
“I didn’t pick Marty’s name until after I had him,” Meredith offered.
“Really?” Cathy asked. “I think I wouldn’t be able to help myself from picking.”
“I couldn’t decide.” Meredith shrugged. “Then when I saw him, the name Marty popped into my head and nothing else seemed to fit.”
“Is it a family name?” I watched her face.
“No.” She smiled. “I have no idea where it came from.”
“It fits him.” Alex nodded his head. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”
“I would have thought you’d go with a family name.” I looked at my brother. Knowing that Sam had lost her mother a few years before she lost her stepfather, I thought it would be a natural choice.
“We’ve talked about it, but we want it to be the baby’s name. If it doesn’t fit, then it doesn’t fit.” He shrugged.
“Cathy, I bet you twenty that they can’t agree on a name in the first three days.” I looked at my sister.
“Pfft. I’ll see your twenty.” Cathy narrowed her eyes and looked at Sam and then Alex. “I say five days.”
“I want in.” Meredith sat forward. “Two days tops. And I’ll raise the bet to fifty.”
“Accepted.” I narrowed my eyes.
“You guys are going down.” She lifted one eyebrow and smirked at me.
“Are you guys so sure that we’re going to argue over our baby’s name?” Alex looked around the car. “We have talked about it, you know.”
“After I squeeze a watermelon out of my hoo-ha, I have final say on the baby name.” Samantha sat back in her seat. “His Royal Stubbornness can suck it if he doesn’t like what I pick.”