Happily Letter After(87)
I rubbed my belly. “I know. It’s crazy, right?”
It’s funny how life works sometimes. Sebastian and I tried for years to get pregnant before our son and ended up turning to artificial insemination. Then once we accepted the fact that we were probably done having kids, I got pregnant naturally. We were surprised but ecstatic.
“Are you finding out the sex?” Birdie asked.
“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “Smommy and I were talking about that. What do you think? Should we keep this one a surprise?”
“This family is really good at surprises,” she said sarcastically. “So yeah, maybe!”
Birdie spent the next several minutes shoveling food in her mouth.
She finally stopped long enough to say, “So . . .”
I tilted my head. “Yes?”
“I have a visitor coming over tomorrow night for Christmas Eve.”
Sebastian’s brow lifted. “Visitor?”
“Yeah. My . . . boyfriend.” Birdie looked like she was bracing herself for his response.
I could literally see the vein popping in Sebastian’s neck. “Boyfriend . . .”
“Yeah. You know . . . I am almost nineteen.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Don’t laugh.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It’s Duke.”
“No way!” I said. “That might be a good omen.”
“Or it could mean . . . he’s a dog,” Sebastian deadpanned.
“Dad.” Birdie rolled her eyes. “He’s a good kid.”
“I’ll be the judge of that!” Seb Junior shouted out of nowhere. He totally got that line from Sebastian, who said it often.
We all turned to him and laughed. He was so smart for his age, like a little adult. Even at six, he sure was protective of his big sister.
Sebastian sighed. “I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”
“His family lives in Brooklyn. It’s a coincidence that we’re both from New York.”
I reached my hand over to hers. “Well, we can’t wait to meet him.”
Over the next hour, we polished off all the food as Birdie told us stories from her first year at school. I’d made gingerbread men cookies for dessert. Not a year went by when I didn’t make them in honor of Amanda over the holidays.
Birdie finished taking a sip of water before she lifted her index finger. “Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. In my genetics class, we were studying genotypes and traits. One of the perks of the course is that students get a big discount on one of those DNA tests. You know, the kits you order online and send in a saliva sample? Remember, Dad, I used to put one of those on my Christmas list every year, but Santa never brought me one?”
Sebastian glanced over at me, then said, “Yeah, I remember.”
“Well I got mine done, finally. The results were really intriguing. I’m basically a mutt. But you know what’s really interesting?”
“What?” I smiled.
“I’m part Chinese.”
My smile faded as her words set in. I felt a rush of blood course throughout my body.
Sebastian and I just looked at each other.
And we just . . . knew.
Now we knew.
Wow.
Just wow.
We hadn’t been seeking the truth, but it seemed the truth found us. And like every single part of our journey—it was magical.
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Acknowledgments Thank you to all the amazing bloggers who helped spread the news about Happily Letter After to readers. We are so grateful for all your support.
To Julie—thank you for your friendship and always being up for our little adventures!
To Luna—thank you for your friendship, encouragement, and support. Today the magic number was 70. Can’t wait to see what it is when you read this.
To our super agent, Kimberly Brower—thank you for putting up with us!
To our amazing editor at Montlake, Lindsey Faber, and to Lauren Plude and the entire Montlake team—your excitement about this book started at the summary and kept us motivated the entire way through. Thank you for making Happily Letter After shine.
Last but never least, to our readers—thank you for allowing us into your hearts and homes. We are honored that you keep coming back to take this publishing journey with us. Without you, there would be no success!
Much love,
Penelope and Vi