Exclusively His

48: Twenty One Wishes

The garden was filled with chatter, laughter and a merry atmosphere. Ethan was in the corner of the garden, cooking chicken on the barbecue. I walked over, bringing two glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade to him.

"Hey baby," I greeted. "I brought you some lemonade, I thought you might be thirsty."

He gave me a smile, as he pecked my lips before taking the glass. "Are you enjoying your birthday so far?"

I frowned. "Twenty-one is making me feel old."

"Does that mean I'm old?" Ethan chuckled, lifting an eyebrow. "We've been together for two and a half years and you're already calling me old."

I giggled as I hugged him tightly. "No. You're not old, Ethan Calaway and I am having a blast at this very, well organised birthday party."

He kissed me on the forehead. "I'm glad."

"Alright lovebirds," Malachi interrupted. "You two are insanely cute, but uh, I'm hungry and I'm going to take that beautiful chicken roasting on the fire."

Ethan gave him a puzzled expression. "Malachi, this is the sixth chicken thigh you're eating."

Malachi huffed. "Well, when you have a wife and two kids, they tend to eat your food, which reminds me, when are you two getting hitched, eh?"

Zunaira strolled over to us. "Oh, quit bothering them. Knucklehead."

Sarah jumped onto Malachi's back as Caleb stood beside Zunaira. "Baby, did you get the chicken? Oh, hey guys, what's going on?"

"Malachi's complaining about you." I spoke in a sing-song voice. Sarah gave Malachi the death glare as Elena and Damien walked up to us.

"Oh, look at you two!" Zunaira squealed. "I'm so happy you two are finally engaged!"

Elena giggled. "He proposed on a boat!"

Zunaira was at awe as she gazed at Elena's mesmerising engagement ring.

"How romantic!" Zunaira fan-girled before glaring at Caleb. "At least Damien is romantic, when are we getting married Caleb?"

I looked around the garden. "Where's Caia?"

Caleb responded. "Currently raiding your fridge."

Ethan and I looked at each other, shaking our heads and smiling. This was the new normal for us. At every gathering, our friends, who surprisingly welcomed Ethan quickly would go crazy. It was the nine of us, always: Zunaira, Sarah, Malachi, Caleb, Caia, Damien, Elena, Ethan and I. Well, it's eleven if you included the twins, who were now nearly three years old.  We had invited Alex a few times, but he always seemed a bit 'off' to me. I don't know...
He had never done anything wrong, except be a little too friendly with me, sometimes flirting. But, I never took it seriously, he was probably joking so I would laugh randomly every time. When I would bring it up to Ethan, he would brush it off and say I was overthinking, which I tended to do quite frequently. I decided it would be better for me to keep a distance from him.

The twins ran over, giggling. Santos wore a white T-shirt with red shirts whilst Sabrina wore a baby blue dress with floral patterns on it.

"Mummyyyy!" Sabrina exclaimed. "Focowate? A focowate?"

"Oh, is she asking for some chocolates?" I asked. "I've got some inside."

Sarah shook her head. "No, don't worry. She's been doing nothing but eating today!"

Santos jumped up and down, tugging at Malachi's shirt as he stared up with those beautiful puppy eyes.

"Daddyyyyy!" He squealed. "Wanna go uppie uppie!"

Malachi bent down slightly, and picked Santos up as he threw him in the air and caught him. Santos erupted with giggles, babbling away. Both of them were the cutest toddlers I've ever seen.

"Aren't they adorable?" Evie coos, watching the twins.

Achilles gave her an eyebrow. "Woman, do you not remember the struggle of growing up Ethan and Elena?"

"Oh Achilles!" Evie growled. "They're our babies! They have grown up so fast, enjoy them whilst they are young, darling. You blink once and they grow into hard-working adults."

Ethan grabbed my hand, lacing my fingers with his as he whispered. "Should we tell them?"

I nodded. "Alright."

I picked up my half-empty lemonade glass, as I took a few sips, before Ethan cleared his throat, gaining attention.

"Zafrina and I have some news for you-" He began. He looked at me, eyes gleaming with joy. "Will you tell them, or should I?"

"I'll do it," I whispered, before announcing. "Ethan and I are ten weeks pregnant!"

Our small crowd of beloved ones cheered and congratulated us. Evie even shed a few tears.

"Have you thought of names?" Sarah bounced.

Ethan wrapped an arm around me, embracing me. "Well, if it's a boy, Zafrina wanted to call him Elijah, Elijah Jackson."

"And if it's a girl, Ethan wants to call her Nailea Rose." I continued. "We're not sure what the last name would be, since we're not engaged yet but I think I'll keep their surnames as Calaway. It suits both names more then plain, old 'Dawn'."

Evie brought me into a tight hug. "I am so glad that my son has made you the mother of his child, I really hope you two work out!"