Chapter 1617 - Christmas 2020 (7)

"Do you know what is going on there?" Emma asked Ellie when she approached the table where Elie and Jasper are sitting.

Emma would ask Jasper, but she is much more comfortable talking to Ellie. And this might be a sensitive topic. That is why Emma waited for Jeff and JoAnna to walk away from their seats. Now it's only Ellie and Jasper, so they can talk openly.

Ellie turned toward the direction Emma pointed to and saw Angelo and Melissa dancing. They are chatting, and both having smiles on their faces.

"Dancing?" Ellie responded with a question and glanced at Jasper.

"They are there for more than half an hour." Emma voiced her observation.

Ellie understood that this is a topic for her husband. She nudged Jasper. "Any comments?"

Jasper shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know what to say. It seems they are having fun."

Emma saw that Jasper is uncomfortable and she regretted not approaching the topic in a more subtle way.

Emma smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. It's just that recently I found out that I have a father and then he divorced my mother, and now I see him dancing and smiling with a woman, and I can't help from overthinking things."

"No. It's OK." Jasper responded. "I don't remember the last time my mom looked this happy. Things between her and my dad are strained, and she has a lot of things on her mind."

Ellie saw that Jasper's gaze softened. He is happy to see Melissa laughing and having a good time.

Ellie turned to Emma and said excitedly: "Maybe we will be related!"

Emma's eyes darted nervously. "What? How can you say that? They only met today."

Ellie nodded confidently. "That is why I said it. Look at them hitting it off right away. The chemistry is undeniable."

Emma exhaled. "My dad is handsome…"

"What did I miss?" Charlie asked when he approached the trio with two glasses of wine in his hands.

"Ellie thinks that we might be related." Emma said while accepting the glass Charlie offered her.

Charlie frowned in confusion. How can they be related to Ellie and Jasper? His sight moved in the direction Emma pointed to.

It took a second for Charlie to notice Angelo and Melissa.

Charlie and Emma are not married, but it's only a matter of time before that happens and he considers Angelo to be his father-in-law. Charlie wondered, if Melissa ends up with Angelo will she be his mother-in-law? Technically, that will make them related to Ellie and Jasper.

"There is nothing wrong with expanding the family with a few good people." Charlie said and lifted his glass, requesting a toast.

Jasper, Ellie, and Emma joined, and their glasses clinked.

Emma observed Ellie's glass. "You are drinking juice?"

Ellie smiled slyly and Emma's eyes widened.

"Are you pregnant?" Emma guessed. Why else would she miss her favorite alcoholic beverage? There is a bar with a bartender who can mix anything they want. And Emma noticed that Jasper is super-attentive toward Ellie.

Ellie lifted her finger and touched her nose, indicating to Emma that it's a secret. "About seven weeks. Three days ago, we had our first checkup and heard the heartbeat."

"Who knows?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"Me, Jasper, and the two of you now…" Ellie responded.

"And the two of us…" JoAnna's voice drifted from the side.

Ellie turned toward the voice robotically and she faced JoAnna's smug smile.

JoAnna bobbed her head while taking her seat at the table. "If you want to have a secret, try whispering that you are seven weeks along…"

"Shhh!" Ellie shushed JoAnna in panic.

JoAnna laughed and then her expression turned serious. "Five weeks or fifteen. You need to tell me. I am a doctor. You are sitting next to me the whole evening and keeping mum about this?"

Ellie made a silly face.

Jeff shook Jasper's hand. "Congratulations. Get a lot of sleep while you can. And prepare for the food cravings they don't stop after the baby comes."

JoAnna rolled her eyes. "Why are you making it sound like I'm torturing you with food cravings? And what was that about the sleep?"

Jeff cleared his throat awkwardly and continued talking to Jasper. "It is a great joy to be a father…"

"Why are you giving Jasper lessons on fatherhood?" Sarah asked when she approached them with Aiden one step behind her.

"There is only one answer to that." Aiden said and glanced at Ellie's abdomen.

Sarah patted her chest dramatically. "You are pregnant?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "So much for keeping it a secret."

"Pregnant?" Sophia's voice came from behind Ellie. "Why would you keep that a secret from us?"

Sophia and Felix are at the next table, and her back was against Ellie's. Ellie forgot about it.

Sophia and Felix stood up and joined the table with Ellie and Jasper.

Ellie looked at everyone present and shook her head helplessly. "Yes. I'm pregnant. Seven weeks."

"Why is there a party within a party without us?" Penny asked when she joined with Ben. They sat at the last two empty chairs at the table.

"I am…" Ellie paused when she saw that Leah and Pam are also coming. Ellie looked at Jasper. "Can you call Bridgette and Steve to come here, so I don't need to repeat?"

When everyone gathered, Ellie announced officially: "I am pregnant. If all goes well, we will welcome our baby Kiani in July."

Pam, Leah, and Bridgette squealed, and congratulations followed.

This got attention for several other people, Melisa and Angelo included.

"What is going on there?" Melisa asked when she noticed that the noisy group is around Ellie and Jasper.

"If I'm not mistaken, you will be a grandmother." Angelo said.

Melisa's eyes widened in slow motion and her face exploded in a big smile. "I need to confirm!"

"Mat, come here!" Melisa called Mathew. How can he sit on the side and miss the excitement? Are those desserts so good? She does not know because she is dancing for a while and she didn't get a chance to taste the food.

"Is it true?" Melisa asked while her eyes darted from Ellie's face to her abdomen.

Ellie looked at her father and Melisa and she smiled when Jasper's arms circled around her. "We wanted to have a big reveal tomorrow at lunch to tell you that you will be grandparents."

Melisa bobbed her head. "It does not matter. We will be happy to have the reveal tomorrow. I can't wait to see my granddaughter."

Mathew does not have preferences between boys or girls, but the fact that Melisa is pushing for a girl is rubbing him the wrong way. "There is nothing wrong with grandson."

"Kianis make girls."

"I see that Jasper grew up into a fine woman." Mathew said smugly. He loves provoking Melisa with the fact that she (the proud Kiani) didn't give birth to a daughter. Actually, that is the only thing that gets Melisa upset.

Melisa narrowed her eyes at Mathew, ready to fire back when Jasper got in-between them. "Whatever the gender, we will welcome our child with love." He turned to his mother. "We will talk more about it at home. I believe that you had fun dancing."

Jasper's words reminded Melisa that she left Angelo behind. And she was having fun dancing with him. He is a charming man. She glanced at Angelo and met his gaze. "Can we continue where we left off?"

Angelo smiled. "Of course…"

"I'm sorry. I usually don't just leave people hanging without an explanation." Melisa said apologetically.

"No need to explain. You don't find out that you will be a grandmother every day." Angelo said and glanced at Melisa top to bottom. "You will be a fine, young grandmother."

Melisa burst into giggles while enjoying the compliment.

Jasper cringed. He never saw his mother act like that.

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