dinner?”
Sophia leaned back in her chair and sighed. “A little bit of everything.”
“Tell me all about it,” Nana said, then lifted her hand, palm out. “Except if your mother’s pregnant. I don’t want to hear that.”
With a laugh, Sophia shook her head. “Nope. Not Mom.”
Nana’s eyes widened. “There was a pregnancy announcement?” Sophia nodded. “Oh boy, I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Well, it wasn’t Madelyn.”
“I should hope not. That girl’s not even out of high school yet.”
“Let’s just say that the announcement led to another epic argument.”
“Chloe then.”
“Yep. Baby number five on the way.”
“Let me guess,” Nana said. “Natalie lectured her on all the reasons why she shouldn’t keep having kids.”
“Yep. But I think Chloe was spoiling for a fight because if she hadn’t been, she would have announced her pregnancy last week when Natalie and Anthony weren’t there for dinner.”
“What did your mom say?”
Sophia sighed. “Well, as to be expected, she took Chloe’s side. I mean, you know how Mom is about babies. The more, the merrier.”
“I would imagine that even with your mom and Chloe against her, Natalie still held her own.”
“Of course,” Sophia said as she got the coloring books and crayons Nana kept for Bryson and gave them to him. “She knows how to hold her own and can out-talk us all when it comes to something she’s passionate about. Natalie had news of her own, though no one reacted quite like they did to Chloe’s.”
“Not a pregnancy announcement, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Sophia agreed with a nod. “Something she was working on with her team was approved. She didn’t give many details because most of us don’t quite grasp what she actually does.”
Natalie, the second oldest of her sisters, worked in marketing as a brand manager for some big company in Seattle. Her husband was a business consultant, and though married for four years, they had no children, and from the sounds of it, they didn’t ever plan to. Her oldest sister, Chloe, was happy to be a stay-at-home mom with lots of kids while her husband worked as a manager at a grocery store in Everett.
The two sisters butted heads on a regular basis, and inevitably, the others in the family jumped in with their opinions, making for raucous discussions. It was way too much for her and Bryson to deal with, so they usually made their escape as soon as the meal was over. Thankfully, Sophia was pretty sure that none of them had noticed when they’d slipped away earlier.
“Everything okay at the house?” Nana asked.
“It’s perfect. No issues.”
“And the car?”
“Also doing just fine.”
When she and Bryson had come back to New Hope, they’d stayed with her parents for the first couple of weeks, but the noisy chaos of the house had been untenable for her and Bryson. Plus, she didn’t think her brothers had been happy about having to share a room so that she and Bryson could have one to themselves.
Thankfully, even though Nana had decided to move into the care home permanently because she’d fallen twice, breaking and then rebreaking the same hip, she hadn’t sold her house and car. The older woman had been quick to offer both to Sophia. There had been protests by some in the family, but thankfully, her dad had shut them down.
“Are you sure you don’t want to move back home with me?” Sophia asked.
Nana gave her an indulgent look. “Sweetheart, you know that would never work. The house isn’t set up for wheelchair access. Plus, I kind of like this place. I’ve made friends here, and being able to hang out with them easily is a real blessing. The house is yours and Bryson’s. I just want you to tell me if anything goes wrong with it so I can make arrangements for repairs.”
“Let me pay rent.” Sophia made the offer on a regular basis, even though she wasn’t sure how she’d swing it. But if it made things financially easier for Nana, she’d figure out a way.
“Nope.” Nana leaned forward, resting her elbows on the arms of the wheelchair. “I am more than happy to be able to do this for you.”
Sophia was closer to Nana than any of her other siblings were, but that was mainly because Nana had taken over Sophia’s care from the time she’d been six months old.
Her mom had already had Chloe, a five-year-old, and Natalie, a three-year-old, when Sophia had been born. Within two months of Sophia’s birth, her mom was pregnant again with Christopher. Her pregnancy with