Page 144 of Wilde Flame

Emeline sighed as she smiled at me. “I’m so glad things are going good. When I found out Rachel had shown up at Caden’s house, I wanted to track her down and rip her hair out.”

“That makes two of us,” Ensley added.

“You know, in a way, I’m glad she showed up. I think I would have always had that worry in the back of my mind about whether or not Caden was over her.”

Ensley huffed. “Oh, he’s over her. Trust me. I don’t think he ever truly loved her.”

There was a soft knock at the door, and Vivianne poked her head in. “It’s time.”

Emeline jumped up and clapped. She reached for my hand and pulled me out of the room.

“Jesus, Emeline, are you sure you’re not having twins? I just realized your belly is bigger than Lilibeth’s.”

Glancing back at her sister, Emeline shot her a dirty look. “Bite your tongue, Ensley!”

When I walked into the large living room, everyone was gathered around. The kids all sat on the floor, and the adults were scattered throughout the room. Emeline made her way over to Levi, who kissed her as she sat down. Ensley slipped onto the sofa next to Ladd.

Caden held his hand out for me to take, and we stood in front of everyone. Nellie was beaming, as was Gus. I knew Caden was beyond happy that his grandparents would get to see their first great-grandchild.

“So we didn’t want to have one of those gender reveal parties, but we did want to make this fun,” Caden started, as Gatlin brought in two containers and set them on a table.

“As you can see,” I said, pointing to the containers. “We took diapers and wrapped them in either pink or blue wrapping paper. Gatlin will walk around and have everyone draw a number. You’ll pick in that order.”

“If you pick a blue diaper, everyone who also thinks it’s a boy has to chant, boy! Boy! Boy!”

Katie practically bounced in place as she squealed in delight. “I hope it’s a girl!”

Caden laughed. “Maybe you’ll pick the right diaper.”

“Wait, how will we know?” Ensley asked.

Caden and I both grinned as I replied, “One of the diapers has a little surprise in it.”

Jimmy, Kate, and Rhett all yelled, “Gross!”

I held up my hands. “Don’t worry. It’s not a dirty diaper!”

Laughing, Caden said, “We’ve got enough diapers for everyone to pick at least twice.”

As Gatlin passed out the numbers, Emeline asked, “Do you know which diaper it is?”

“No clue!” I laughed.

Emeline had drawn number one. She walked up and picked up a blue diaper. As she opened it, everyone cheered. I was hoping no one would find the right one too soon.

Looked like luck was with us. Everyone got one round, then we started over again. Katie rose and stood before the two containers. She’d picked pink the first time, and I thought for sure she’d pick blue now. Instead, she picked up another pink diaper, grinned at Caden and me, then turned to face everyone. My heart warmed at how happy she was. Both she and Jimmy were in the process of being adopted by Levi and Emeline, and seeing them so happy at being part of the family nearly made me tear up.

“Girl! Girl! Girl!” half the room shouted, as she opened the diaper. She peeked in, then glanced up at everyone.

“Well?” Ensley cried. “You’re keeping us in suspense!”

Katie sighed with the saddest expression. Everyone groaned—until Katie suddenly jumped and spun the diaper toward the group, pink confetti flying out.

“Holy crap!” Gatlin laughed. “Get that girl into acting classes.”

My mother was the first to rush up and hug me. She held me so tight, I didn’t think she’d ever let go.

Eventually holding me at arm’s length, she smiled. “I would have been happy either way.”