Chapter 263\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dinner was loud and chaotic in the best way. Lily chattered nonstop about her preschool and her friends, while Liam made a mess with his food, getting more of it on himself than in his mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLiam, please, Sarah said for what felt like the hundredth time, wiping his face with a napkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He just grinned at her and went right back to smearing mashed potatoes everywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lily insisted on sitting next to me, and she kept reaching over to steal food off my plate even though she had her own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLily, eat your own food,\u201d Sarah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Aunt Athena\u2019s tastes better,\u201d Lily said, making everyone laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s because I\u2019m not eating it,\u201d I said, tickling her side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She giggled and finally focused on her own plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I caught Tristan watching me from across the table, a soft expression on his face. I knew what he was thinking. Soon we\u2019d have our\u00a0<\/p>\n
own kid sitting at this table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made warmth spread through my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After dinner, Orion and Tristan cleared the table while Sarah and I got the kids settled in the living room. Derek helped carry dishes\u00a0<\/p>\n
to the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah put on a kids\u2018 movie for Lily and Liam, and they both settled on the floor with some toys Tristan had bought for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d Sarah said, turning to me. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d she said. \u201cI know you. You\u2019re nervous about something. And you invited us over, which you never do unless something\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled. She knew me too well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll find out soon,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We all gathered back in the living room once the kitchen was cleaned up. The kids were absorbed in their movie, and the adults settled into comfortable seats with drinks in hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 263\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan handed me a glass of sparkling cider that looked like champagne. Sarah\u2019s eyes zeroed in on it immediately,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot drinking?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot tonight,\u201d I said, taking a sip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw her exchange a look with Orion, and I knew they were both starting to figure it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright,\u201d Orion said, looking between Tristan and me. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on? You two have been acting weird all week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart started pounding. This was it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at Tristan and he came to sit beside me on the couch, taking my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to have you all here because we have some news,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah sat up straighter, her eyes bright. \u201cGood news?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best news,\u201d I said, feeling a smile spread across my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan squeezed my hand and looked at me. \u201cYou want to tell them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded and turned to face everyone. My brother, my sister\u2013in\u2013law, my friend. My family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pregnant,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a heartbeat, there was complete silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Sarah let out a sound that was half squeal, half sob, and practically launched herself across the room to hug me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my god,\u201d she said, squeezing me tight. \u201cOh my god, I knew it! I knew something was different!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pulled back and I saw tears streaming down her face. \u201cI\u2019m so happy for you,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is amazing!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned to hug Tristan next, and he laughed as she nearly tackled him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at Orion. He hadn\u2019t moved. He was just sitting there, staring at me with an expression I couldn\u2019t quite read.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOri?\u201d I said, my voice small.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood up slowly and walked over to me. For a second, I thought he might be upset. But then he pulled me into the tightest hug he\u2019d ever given me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
843\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 263\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy little sister is having a baby,\u201d he said, his voice thick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I said, tears starting to form in my eyes. \u201cI am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he pulled back, his eyes were wet too. He looked at Tristan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to be a father,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI am,\u201d Tristan said, his voice equally emotional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion pulled him into a hug too. \u201cI\u2019m happy for you, brother. So damn happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek stood up and came over, a genuine smile on his face. \u201cCongratulations,\u201d he said, hugging me. \u201cThis is wonderful news.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 263 Chapter 263\u00a0 Dinner was loud and chaotic in the best way. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}