Chapter 312 Start talking

Chapter 312 Start talking
Nobody could take away the joy from a family that swam in love. Frederick had come to that conclusion, at least, in the quiet of his own mind.
He left later that night on his private jet, the city shrinking beneath him as the plane climbed into the dark. He couldn't afford to stay longer.
He'd watched Rose's face all evening, watched the way it softened around Cassie's presence, and he knew that if he gave her the space to make the choice, she might choose to stay. He didn't fault her for it. He understood it completely.
Children love wherever love lives. That was just the truth of it. And Frederick was nothing but fortunate that Rose's love for him ran deeper than anything he had a right to expect, deeper than words had ever really been able to reach.
He notified Asher and Lucien once he was back, telling them about the party Franklin had mentioned, and neither of them wasted a single second before they started asking when it was happening, less out of genuine interest in the celebration and a whole lot more out of their very thinly veiled desperation to get in the same room as some of Cassie's friends.
The invitation, as it turned out, didn't come for another two months. And even then, the party itself wasn't scheduled until a full month after that.
Franklin had booked out a hotel for the event, practical, the way Franklin tended to be about these things, partly because there was always someone who was going to have too good a time to safely get themselves home, and partly because he didn't want anyone out on the roads late at night trying to navigate their way back from a celebration that had run long. Everything came together the way it was supposed to.
Nathan and Debbie arrived a full day before the event, which gave them, and everyone a little breathing room, a cushion of time that belonged to no particular agenda.
It was a chance to step away from the hospital, from the clinical hum of that world, and just exist somewhere else for a while.
Cassie and Franklin had the same idea and came a day early too, so by the time the evening settled in, the four of them were already tucked into the hotel together, unhurried and easy.
Sebastian and Scarlet made it in next, and the sight of the two women moving through the lobby with their full, round bumps drew an immediate, delighted reaction out of Debbie who stood there for a moment looking between them with something bright and knowing dancing behind her eyes.
"I was wondering how I was going to break the news," she said, her gaze moving from Cassie to Scarlet and back again, "but you two made it real easy."
"So you're pregnant too?" Cassie asked, already smiling before the answer came.
Debbie smiled right back. "Yes, but I'm not as far along as you."
The room filled up with that particular warmth that only comes when women who genuinely love each other find out they're sharing something this big.
They carved out time for themselves, long, unhurried stretches of conversation that wandered wherever they wanted to go, while the men did exactly the same thing in their own corner of the world.
The next day, after lunch had wound down and the afternoon had settled into something golden and expectant, the squad started rolling in.
Franklin moved through the lobby like a man entirely in his element, playing host on behalf of his wife with that calm, welcoming authority that came naturally to him.
He greeted Evan and Ocean first, then Jonathan and Victoria right behind them.
Thelma arrived with Patience and her husband in tow. Then Lila came through the doors with Julian, her husband, the two of them moving with that particular ease of a couple that has learned how to travel together without friction.
Lilian's pregnancy was running on almost the same timeline as Cassie's but among every pregnant woman in that room, Cassie's bump was unmistakably the largest, and nobody was being quiet about noticing.
Giselle arrived alone. Violet came alone as well, slipping in with that quiet presence she always carried. And then Evelyn walked through the door, and she was not alone.
Cassie noticed the blush on Evelyn's face before she noticed anything else. It was the kind of blush that doesn't come from the weather or the walk from the parking lot.
It sat high on her cheeks and refused to go anywhere, and Cassie felt her curiosity light up like something had just been switched on.
"Girl," she said, her voice dropping into that warm, conspiratorial register that meant business, "you never once mentioned you were coming with a man."
She leaned in just slightly, eyes bright, a grin already pulling at the corner of her mouth. "Start talking."