Sunny laughs; the sound matches her name. She puts a hand on my cheek. “Please don’t take offense to this, but I’m not waiting for my wedding because I’m worried about stealing your spotlight.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Shit, I feel like an asshole.

“You can’t help it, Alex. You’re used to being the center of attention. It’s what you know, and that’s never been an issue for me. It’s where you belong. I get what it’s like to be the center of someone’s universe. I’m that for Miller. And he’s that for me. And now that’s what this baby is for both of us.”

“I don’t think people realize how strong you really are,” I admit. “I don’t know that I’d be handling this situation as well as you.”

“It’s as hard to be the shadow as it is to be the light, Alex.”

There’s some real insight in that. “When did you grow up?”

She laughs again and hugs my arm. “While you were off playing hockey and getting famous.”

“I mean it, though. Don’t feel like you have to work around mine and Violet’s plans.”

“Miller and I want to wait. We’ve talked about it, and I want to do all the planning and fun stuff, and I want Mom to be part of that. I think it’ll be good for her and me to have that experience together. There’s just too much happening in all of our lives for me to be able to enjoy the process. I don’t want to be stressed about it like Violet’s been. And I don’t want to rush it. This baby was unexpected, but he’s not unwanted, and while we might be doing things out of order, we’re going to wait until after he’s born, so we can plan things properly.”

“Wait. Did you say he?”

Sunny clamps a hand over her mouth. “Oh, poop. I wasn’t supposed to say anything. It’s ninety-percent probably a boy, but we have to wait for the next ultrasound. You can’t tell Miller I told you.”

“I won’t.”

“And you can’t tell Violet.”

“Okay.” It’ll be a challenge to keep this news to myself. “Who knows?”

“No one. Just you.”

“Not even Lily?”

She drops her lying face. “Okay, Lily knows.”

“Which means Randy knows.”

“But that’s it. If you tell Violet, she’ll tell Charlene, and Charlene will tell Darren, and then the circle of knowledge will expand, and everyone will know.”

I run a hand through my hair. “When’s the next ultrasound?”

“Not for another three weeks. You’re going to tell Violet aren’t you?”

I’m going to be an uncle. I get to spoil some kid and do all the awesome things without dealing with the fallout afterward. Of course I want to tell Violet. Then I kind of want to get her pregnant so we can do it, too.

“Have you told Mom?”

“I wanted to wait until she comes to Chicago in a couple of weeks.”

I sigh. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.” If Violet finds out I knew and didn’t tell her, she’ll be hurt. All I can do is hope someone doesn’t slip before Sunny has a chance to disseminate the information.

The conversation ends when everyone comes out of the store, stocked with beverages. Violet has an entire bag. “Look!” She opens it to show me the contents. “They have shooters! Let’s all do one! Except you, Sunny.” She bends and kisses Sunny’s stomach through her dress. “We don’t want to get the yeti baby drunk.”

“She had a few while she was in there,” Lily informs us.

Violet passes out the shooters and makes us all toast to vacations and cock love. Thankfully, in Vegas our behavior doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. We stroll the Strip, sipping on drinks and baking in the hot sun, stopping in at the occasional casino to cool off and gamble. At first Violet will only play the nickel slots, but then I coerce her into sitting down at a blackjack table, and she wins two thousand dollars.

On the way back, Sunny has to pee, and the closest place is a twenty-four-hour wedding chapel. All the girls decide to go with her, as always seems to be the way.

I check my phone while we’re waiting. I’ve been avoiding the buzzing in my pocket all day because I want to enjoy this time away. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this. And it’s a lot different with my fiancée and my friends than it was when I was a rookie.

“Shit.” I have twenty new messages from my mom.

“What’s going on?” Darren asks.

“It’s the never-ending guest list additions.”

“Someone needs to cut those women off,” Miller says.

“What women?” Lance perks up.

I gesture between Miller and me. “Our mothers. This whole wedding would be a lot simpler if they would stop interfering.”

“You could solve the whole problem right now if you wanted.” Randy motions to the flashing Twenty-Four-Hour Wedding sign above our heads.

I laugh, because obviously it’s a joke.

“I actually thought that might’ve been the reason you wanted us all to come along.” Miller stuffs his hands in his pockets. “They’re gonna do the same thing with Sunny. We already know that. It’s another reason to wait until after the baby.”

The girls come tripping out of the chapel. Well, Violet’s tripping, the rest of them are giggling. “The cutest couple in the world is getting married by Elvis.” She falls into my arms. “We should get married by Elvis. Actually, I think there’s a choice between Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, or maybe it’s Gwen Stefani.”