“Oh cool.”

Magdalene no longer worked for us but was still like family. We kept in touch, and Birdie made sure to write to her all the time from college. Magdalene had informed us a few years ago that she needed to step back to take care of her ailing husband. It was perfect timing, really, because I had been considering quitting the magazine to stay home with Seb. So it worked out for everyone.

That decision in retrospect was a good call, considering I was about to give birth for a second time in a few months.

Birdie paused to look at my belly before serving herself a heaping plate of salad. “You’ve really popped, Smommy.”

I rubbed my belly. “I know. It’s crazy, right?”

It’s funny how life works sometimes. Sebastian and I tried for years to get pregnant before our son and ended up turning to artificial insemination. Then once we accepted the fact that we were probably done having kids, I got pregnant naturally. We were surprised but ecstatic.

“Are you finding out the sex?” Birdie asked.

“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “Smommy and I were talking about that. What do you think? Should we keep this one a surprise?”

“This family is really good at surprises,” she said sarcastically. “So yeah, maybe!”

Birdie spent the next several minutes shoveling food in her mouth.

She finally stopped long enough to say, “So . . .”

I tilted my head. “Yes?”

“I have a visitor coming over tomorrow night for Christmas Eve.”

Sebastian’s brow lifted. “Visitor?”

“Yeah. My . . . boyfriend.” Birdie looked like she was bracing herself for his response.

I could literally see the vein popping in Sebastian’s neck. “Boyfriend . . .”

“Yeah. You know . . . I am almost nineteen.”

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Don’t laugh.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It’s Duke.”

“No way!” I said. “That might be a good omen.”

“Or it could mean . . . he’s a dog,” Sebastian deadpanned.

“Dad.” Birdie rolled her eyes. “He’s a good kid.”

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Seb Junior shouted out of nowhere. He totally got that line from Sebastian, who said it often.

We all turned to him and laughed. He was so smart for his age, like a little adult. Even at six, he sure was protective of his big sister.

Sebastian sighed. “I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”

“His family lives in Brooklyn. It’s a coincidence that we’re both from New York.”

I reached my hand over to hers. “Well, we can’t wait to meet him.”

Over the next hour, we polished off all the food as Birdie told us stories from her first year at school. I’d made gingerbread men cookies for dessert. Not a year went by when I didn’t make them in honor of Amanda over the holidays.

Birdie finished taking a sip of water before she lifted her index finger. “Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. In my genetics class, we were studying genotypes and traits. One of the perks of the course is that students get a big discount on one of those DNA tests. You know, the kits you order online and send in a saliva sample? Remember, Dad, I used to put one of those on my Christmas list every year, but Santa never brought me one?”

Sebastian glanced over at me, then said, “Yeah, I remember.”

“Well I got mine done, finally. The results were really intriguing. I’m basically a mutt. But you know what’s really interesting?”

“What?” I smiled.

“I’m part Chinese.”

My smile faded as her words set in. I felt a rush of blood course throughout my body.

Sebastian and I just looked at each other.

And we just . . . knew.

Now we knew.

Wow.

Just wow.

We hadn’t been seeking the truth, but it seemed the truth found us. And like every single part of our journey—it was magical.