Emily

Chapter Eighteen

Even at dinner the next night, Emily could not stop thinking about Kit's words. In fact, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about them at all all day. She still did not know exactly what she wanted, and she was now willing to admit that, at the very least, she was conflicted.

She knew she had to make a choice sooner rather than later, especially as her ship was scheduled to leave in two days' time. She could not afford to waste any more time and she had to make a decision regarding what exactly she wanted. It was not fair to herself or to Nate or to anyone else that she had delayed this for so long.

With a sigh, she took a long sip of her wine, only to meet Nate's eyes across the table as she set her glass down. She knew she should have looked away, but his eyes only drew her in further. She didn't know what it was about them, but they always succeeded in leaving her breathless.

There was one thing she knew to be true, however, and that was that no one had ever before, throughout her entire life, looked at her the way Nate did now.

"If we can have your attention," A voice spoke up, making Emily jump slightly as she looked up at Cassandra who had risen, a beaming Kit right at her side. "There's something we'd like to tell you all."

The anticipation in their eyes was clear to all the others at the table. This was good news, too, and Emily's heart skipped a joyous beat as she caught Cassie's eyes. If it was what she thought it was, then she would have many congratulations to give the happy couple. The only regret she had was that Mary was in the room to hear whatever it was, as if she were actually part of the family.

"I am with child!" Cassandra exclaimed, her blue eyes dancing in joy. Kit looked just as happy. "Juliette is to have a little brother or sister."

Emily couldn't help the beaming smile that made its way on to her face. She'd spoken to Cassandra a while ago about children, and she'd told Emily that they'd tried for ages to have a child. With Juliette, they'd had to read through every medical journal they could find and listen to every old wives' tale offered to them. To be blessed with their second so easily was truly fortunate.

Allie was the first to congratulate them, as she squealed at the prospect of being an aunt again. She immediately rose to embrace both Kit and Cassandra, exclaiming all the while how she hoped it would be another girl because nieces were more fun than nephews.

The first thing Emily did was hug her best friend, smiling brightly as she whispered in her ear, "I am so, so happy for you. You deserve every last bit of happiness you've got. I'm so proud of you for chasing what you wanted." This was a reference to something she'd said to her two years ago, before she'd left, and Emily knew Cassandra understood exactly what she meant as, when Emily pulled back from hugging her, her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears as the memories of the past and hope for the future had hit her with full force.

"I'm proud of you, too." She said to Kit as she hugged him. "You've clearly done a good job." She teased, loud enough for just Cassandra and Kit to hear, making Cassie blush before smacking her on the arm and making her husband grin widely, chuckling.

Mary barely acknowledged the news, and only congratulated them out of politeness. It was entirely too amusing to see her around Juliette, as she was always torn between her disgust for children and her desire to impress Nate, which oftentimes had left to Mary cooing at Juliette while still wearing a repulsed expression whenever she thought no one was looking.

Finally, Nate stood, and it was clear that he was feeling emotional. He'd all but raised Cassandra and now, here she was, having children of her own. Any sane person would be impassioned by such a thing.

"Congratulations, Cassie and Kit, on the newest addition to your family. I'm sure that no matter what lies ahead of you, you shall overcome every hardship with the strength of your love, for each other and for your children. Be it niece or nephew, they are always going to have a loving uncle in me." He expounded, voice thick with emotion. Chuckling lightly, he added, "This speech of mine had better give me an edge over the others when it comes to being godfather, though!"