The day that Sarah returned from, err, wherever she had gone, Zac, Kelsey and their kids had gone out for a family outing. When they returned, they discovered Sarah already sitting at the dining table for dinner. Avie and Jacqueline had obviously been chatting with her.
"Hey," Zac greeted. "Sarah! You're back."
"Yep," she smiled.
"I'll just bring dinner in," Jacqueline said, getting up.
"So, how was the holiday?" Kelsey asked.
"Good. How are y'all?"
"Oh, good, good," Zac answered. "We weren't sure when you'd be getting back."
"Neither was I," she laughed. "In fact, for awhile there I was considering not coming back."
They ate dinner and chatted casually. Every now and then Sarah and Avie seemed to share smiles, like they had some private joke.
"You were hungry tonight, Sarah," Zac said after dessert.
Sarah shrugged.
"Well, if no one minds, I think I'll head off to my room now."
"Oh..." Zac trailed off.
"Don't worry about the room, Zac," Jacqueline cut in. "I organised it when she arrived."
"Oh good. Thanks Jackie."
"No problem," then Zac stared as Sarah stood up. "Sarah? Umm... have you just gained a pot belly on tour, or are you... you... you pregnant?"
"I'm pregnant," Sarah replied with a smile, patting her swollen abdomen.
Zac put his hand to his head.
"I, uhh, I thought... I thought that you didn't believe in premarital sex."
"I don't."
"Then..."
"I'm married."
Jaws dropped.
"When? Who?" asked Kelsey.
"Last June. And my husband is Jim. We married on tour," Sarah smiled softly. "We had been kinda joking about the idea, oh, since last year even. And then one day we just... we just stopped joking and got married. We didn't tell anyone because... oh well, I don't know... We weren't interested in the world finding out our personal business at the time. Bobby, Grant and Nick know, of course. Hard to avoid that when we started sharing hotel rooms, and then when Bobby found the pregnancy test. Why she went through my rubbish, I'll never know."
"But you... you didn't even tell us? Your family?" Zac asked.
"I have now, haven't I?"
"Yeah, but, what? Five months later?"
"It's my life, Zac. We didn't tell you just because we didn't tell you. It wasn't malice or inconsiderateness. We never even lied to you. We simply chose to be quiet about it, because that's how we wanted to keep our marriage. Quiet."
"That's going to be hard with a baby."
"It was going to be hard. End of discussion. What can I say? It was nice while it lasted," Sarah paused for a moment. "I hope you don't hold it against me, Zac."
Zac was silent for a moment.
"I'm hurt you didn't tell me. I mean, I can understand getting married just like that - I did that once - but at least I told people," he sighed. "But I won't hold it against you. I value you too much as my sister to do that."
"And I value you too much as my brother," Sarah smiled back. "And now, I'm going to my room. Oh, and my holiday? It was really our Honeymoon."
Kelsey smiled as Sarah walked up the stairs. Zac turned to Avie.
"You knew," he accused.
"Yes, but only when she arrived today. Just a few hours before you found out."
"Oh, who cares?" Hope asked. "The important thing is that Sarah's a happy cookie and I'm getting a new cousin."
"Like you don't have enough already," Kelsey remarked.
Hope joined her adopted mother in her giggles.