Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Me, too,” Dean says with a smirk. “As long as I get to eat the noodles afterward.” He rubs his stomach. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always hungry,” Kat quips.
Deans whispers into her ear, and Kat giggles. It must have been something dirty, and he said it with me right behind him. Not one of his brightest moments.
Lila’s mouth widens in shock when we step into the formal dining room large enough to entertain fifty people. My dad sits at the head of the table, bouncing Noah on his knee. Max is on his right, where I usually sit. Austin is running late, which is unusual for him. He never misses Christmas dinner, no matter what the reason.
Kat skips over Austin’s usual chair to the right of my dad, leaving his spot open. Theo and Travis plop down on the other side of Lila. The twins’ phones start dinging, one text after the other. They argue under their breaths.
“Boys,” Dad says to them. “No cell phones at the dinner table.”
Theo rolls his eyes.
Travis snorts. “Since when?”
“Travis,” Dad warns. “We have guests. Turn off the phone.”
“Just do what he says.” Travis shows his twin a new message and scowls. “We’ll deal with this later.”
After everyone takes their place at the table, sans Austin, Dad raises his glass to give his usual Christmas toast. He talks about love and family and welcomes the newest members of the Baldwin clan into our home. We go through the typical holiday traditions, and then my dad gives us permission to eat.
“Wait,” Max says, and Lila covers her face with her hand. “You can only have macaroni on your plate for Mac and Clues.”
“My bad,” Travis says, dropping the ham back to its plate.
Max explains how to play the game. By the time she’s finished, she’s practically out of breath. She talks so fast sometimes it’s hard to understand her. When Max is passionate about something—like Mac and Clues—she puts everything into it. Max is a lot like her mom in that regard. Lila put one hundred and ten percent of her energy into helping me get better, and because of her dedication, we’re celebrating our first Christmas together.
No one argues when Max takes the first turn. Since I came into her life, Max changed the game a little. She wasn’t thrilled with using riddles back then, but now, she searches the Internet for new questions to stump me. Lila gets most of them, me not so much.
“I’m as big as a lentil at six weeks grown,” Max says. “Soon, my presence will be known. What am I?”
Lila looks at me, and her breath hitches. She knows the answer and spells it out with her macaroni and cheese. Theo and Travis look as lost as usual. Kat and Dean are moving noodles around on their plates. Dad is busy feeding cut up macaroni to Noah, who has cheese all over his mouth.
“Time’s up,” Max yells. “Hold up your plates.” She turns to me. “Duke,” she groans. “Why didn’t you play?”
“I didn’t know the answer.”
Lila raises her plate that says, BABY. Dean and Kat lift their plates, revealing the same answer.
“Mommy’s having a baby with Duke,” Max announces.
My jaw drops along with Lila’s. The room falls silent, and everyone stares down the table at me.
“Max,” Lila says in a hushed tone. “How did you know?”
“I Googled why does Mommy sleep all the time? Why does Mommy spend so much time in the bathroom?”
The room erupts into a fit of laughter.
“Morning sickness is the worst,” Kat says.
Lila nods in agreement. “You’re too smart for your own good,” she says to Max.
Max presses her palm to Lila’s stomach. “Can I name the baby?”
Lila looks at me for confirmation.
“What names did you have in mind?” I ask her.
Max peeks up at me. “Pete.”
“Like Pete the Cat?”
She bobs her head. Max loves the cartoon television show and the books.
“If it’s a boy, we’re naming him Dennis,” Lila says.
Max scrunches her nose. “Why?”
“Because that’s my name,” I tell her.
She laughs. “No, it’s not. Your name is Duke!”
“Duke is a nickname.”
“Baby Duke,” she says with laughter in her voice and rests her head on Lila’s chest.
“You’re having a baby?” Austin stumbles into the room with a familiar brunette on his arm. He stops next to my chair and clamps his hand down on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze when I nod in response. “Congrats, bro.”
Everyone at the table echoes the same sentiment.
“Veronica?” Dad says to Veronica York, a sports announcer for ESPN. He stands with Noah in his arms, and his eyes travel between Austin and Veronica. “You’re not dating, I hope.”
Austin looks at Veronica for answers, and she turns her head away.
“Well, this is awkward,” Dad says.
“No,” Austin says, his face filled with horror. “Please tell me…”
My dad fucked Veronica, and Austin brought her home for Christmas. What the hell? I want to laugh but stop myself.