Page 83 of Everything After

“Ohhh,” Jack mumbled, suddenly clicking what the news was, we wanted to share. He made a zip motion with his fingers to his lips and made his way back over to Mya.

Everyone congregated in our large, airy reception room and stared in anticipation toward us.

“So, we’d just like to thank you all for coming today?—”

“Fuck, you’re not tossing us out already like last time, are you?” Rick muttered, waving his half full drink toward us.

“No, Rick, in fact we’d love it if you stayed the night. There’s plenty of room for everyone,” Lily replied.

“That’s my girl,” Rick said, chuckling and held his drink up to salute her.

“Now where was I before we were so rudely interrupted?” Alfie asked, earning a chuckle from the room.

“No, rude would have been if I’d asked the same question and farted,” Rick replied.

“Shush, Rick, you’re ruining it,” Lily admonished, but grinned all the same.

Rick shrugged. “Anything for you, honey,” he replied again.

“The reason Lily wanted to do this, besides being surrounded by friends, is because we have a special announcement to make.”

I glanced down at Lily who already had tears in her eyes. I bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you,” I said, then studied the faces in the room again.

“Lily and I are delighted to announce that in approximately six months from now we’re expecting our very own Baby Black.

The room erupted in cheers. “Woo Hoo,” Jack and Elle stated, rushing forward to congratulate us both as if they had no idea about Lily’s condition.

“You’re pregnant?” Lennie asked Lily. I couldn’t fail to hear the note of disappointment in his tone.

“I think you meant to say congratulations,” Holly barked, elbowing Lennie since she stood next to him.

“Of course, congratulations,” Lennie muttered and tried to look enthusiastic about it, but the damage was done.

“Right, then,” Holly muttered back. I loved the challenge in her tone, even though Lily looked concerned about her bandmates’ reactions to the news.

“Congrats, sweetheart,” Rick stated, smiling. “It’s high time you shared those incredible genes with someone else.”

Lily laughed, “Thanks, Rick, we’re pleased,” she mumbled, even though I wasn’t certain she had gotten fully onboard with being a mom yet.

A flurry of hugs and congratulations came from most of our other guests, including her bandmates Digs and Shawn, whoappeared genuinely pleased in offering their best wishes for a safe, healthy pregnancy.

My gaze caught Sienna’s unsmiling expression and for a second it felt cruel that she’d been present for the announcement. Then again, we had been kids when we’d had a thing going on. It wasn’t my fault she still held a candle for me, instead of moving on and building a future for herself.

While everyone flocked around Lily, my gaze cut to Cody, and I watched him slip out of the room. I followed him, seizing my opportunity to deal with the unfinished business from a few weeks before, and now was as good a time as any.

“I need a word,” I said, walking a few paces behind him until he reached the door that led to our landscaped back yard.

“Yeah? What about?” he mumbled.

“You know what. I need you to leave Lily alone.”

“I did. Look, I don’t know what you imagine is going on but?—”

“It has nothing to do with my imagination and everything to do with you constantly trying to worm your way into my woman’s personal life. You know what? I feel sorry for you… I mean, I have everything you want,” I said, in a pitying tone. “Lily’s mine. She’s always been mine. You’re deluded if you think she’d suddenly leave me and want you.”

“If she was mine, I’d never let her play in a band for months on end without a husband to support her.”

I laughed. “And that’s why you could never hope to snag a woman like my wife. Lily alone decides what she does. It’s not as if I allow her to do what she wants. She doesn’t need my permission to chase her own success. That’s why we work. We have something called trust between us. I trust her.”