“We’re happy to be here. And falling in love with our Jenny was the smartest thing we’ve ever done, along with being the best.” Parker slid his left arm around her, pulling her in closer to his side.
Jenny took the opportunity to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment.
“Amen.” Dale moved in closer, too, and laced his fingers with hers. The heat of their two bodies warmed her.
When they say things like that, it just makes me melt.
This party had gotten underway a half an hour before. Jenny had attended a few of these events in the past but had never imagined that one day she’d be one of the guests of honor.
Carrie, Chase, and Brian moved to the side, making way for the large group of Benedicts they’d spotted just out on the sidewalk and heading this way. Jenny tilted her head as she noticed an older man with them.
She didn’t get a chance to ask who it was because the moment he entered the restaurant, he approached them, and she had her answer.
“Uncle George!” Parker and Dale both looked delighted with George Benedict’s arrival.
The older man’s wide grin made him instantly look younger. He gave man hugs to both her guys, who were clearly very happy to see him.
Jenny knew that Parker and Dale hadn’t expected their parents to come, though they had called and invited them. Her heart ached for her men. Maybe she had a different view on families because she’d always felt so fortunate to have been adopted and to be loved so completely.
She just couldn’t understand how people let petty differences come in the way of being family. Maybe in time, they’ll come around. Jenny thought that might happen when the three of them started having children.
“Uncle George, this is Jenny Collins. Sweetheart, our uncle, George Benedict—who is dad to Jackson and the guys.”
Jenny gave the older man her best smile. “I’m so pleased to meet you, Mr. Benedict.”
“Uncle George to you.” He grinned then simply hugged her. After a moment he stood back, his hands on her shoulders. “Welcome to the family, Jenny. These two nephews of mine ever give you a hard time, you just let me know. I’ll straighten them out quick enough.”
Because it was becoming a familiar theme, Jenny laughed. Parker and Dale assumed the serious expressions they hadn’t managed with their newest cousins.
“You can be sure we’ll treat her right, sir.”
George grinned. He stood to the side while Jackson, Cord, and Ari stepped up to greet them. Hugs and back slaps and congratulations abounded. Jenny hugged Ari, and then she stepped back and really looked at her best friend. Her eyes widened. She and Ari were as close as sisters and could read each other as if they really were.
“Really?” Jenny asked. Joy for her friend filled her.
“So much for your inscrutable face, Tinker Bell,” Jackson said. He smiled and nodded toward Jenny. “Best say it out loud.”
“But this is Jenny’s party,” she said to her husband. She turned to Jenny. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be in the spotlight.”
Jenny shook her head. “Baloney, girlfriend. There’s no such thing as too much good news. So, spill it, Mrs. Benedict.”
Ari nodded, but instead of addressing her, she turned to George—her father-in-law.
George had been listening to the two of them, clearly at sea. So, Ari stepped closer to him. “Dad?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Jenny liked the way the man’s face softened when he looked at Ari. She knew they’d all had a rocky beginning. But lately, with all the senior Benedict had been going through, Ari had mentioned that he’d been working on his relationship with his children and their spouses. Ari believed in second chances and had been doing her part to make that happen.
“We were going to tell you when we got home tonight because I didn’t want to steal Jenny’s thunder. But she guessed it, and she insists so…we’re going to have a baby. You’ll have a new grandchild sometime next March.”
“Really? That’s wonderful news!” He immediately enfolded his daughter-in-law in his arms, and then he hugged his sons. George Benedict didn’t seem the least bit ashamed of his wet eyes as he wiped a tear away. “Congratulations. You’ll make terrific parents!”
Jenny was ecstatic for Ari and her husbands. She knew they’d been working on this personal expansion plan of theirs for some time.
Carrie and Ari were hugging as the rest of the newly arrived Benedicts—Jesse, Barry, Shar and baby Patrick, along with Trace, Lucas, and Laci offered their congratulations first to Jenny and the guys and then to Ari, Jackson, and Cord. They all moved off, en masse, to sit and chat and eat.
News was spreading of Ari’s pregnancy. Chloe Jessop, who’d been among the first to arrive that evening, rushed up to her.
“When are you due?” Cloe asked her.
Something about the look on Chloe’s face drew Jenny’s attention—and everyone else’s, too.
“In March. I was afraid to believe, but…”
Chloe hugged her then whispered something in her ear.
Ari stepped back. “You are? My goodness, this is going to be awesome! Another woman to share the experience with!”
Chloe’s face turned red, and Ari slapped her hand over her mouth. Everyone laughed. Apparently, Ari hadn’t been the only one determined not to steal thunder tonight. As if.
“It looks like Lusty is due for another baby boom,” Alan Wilson said. He, Duncan, and Holly had come into the restaurant. He grinned at them. “There was one a few years ago, just after the younger Doctors Jessop came back to Lusty.”
“I’d heard that, too.” Jenny accepted Alan’s and Duncan’s hugs and then turned to Holly. She knew the woman not only because their men worked together. Holly was the town’s librarian, and Jenny, even though she had an e-reader, loved to haunt the bookstacks.
Then she looked at the pretty brunette’s face. Holly looks almost guilty…and then Jenny gasped. “You, too?”
“Me, too. Listening to Ari and Chloe, it sounds as if we’re all due around the same time.”
“Grandma Kate told us that
