Just a Little Sequel Read Online Free PDF Page B

okay? Whatever it is, it can wait. We can talk about it later. We have to get to the hospital . You’re about to be an uncle again, and I’m about to be a… a… a…”
    “Whatever it is, I don’t think there’s a name for it, Jules,” he smiled. “Come on.”

Chapter Four
    Friday, October 24 | 10:00 p.m.
    We pulled up to the hospital just as Grace and Lonnie arrived with Molly in tow. We’d missed Rebecca by seconds, they told us, and she was already in a wheelchair on her way up to the delivery room.
    Despite their ability to relay all of the necessary details to me and Luke, neither Grace nor Lonnie really knew how to handle the sudden onset of their nerves; their feelings, though, were justifiable in every sense, and had everything to do with the fact that they were about to become grandparents again.
    It’d only been a few months since Rebecca had sat Luke’s father and step-mother down to tell them the truth about who she was and why she’d come to Oakland, and her revelation had hit them like a ton of bricks. Rebecca knew she had no choice but to come clean and spill the beans, especially with another baby on the way. She couldn’t imagine bringing another child into the world without the family it deserved.
    Rebecca’s admission to the Reibecks resulted in a huge wave of relief from Luke. He was finally off the hook—no more secrets, no more sneaking around, no more lying to his parents. While Luke reveled in his newfound freedom, Lonnie and Grace experienced emotions that were a little more traumatizing. Lonnie was in shock for days; I’m not sure he even uttered a single word to anyone for well over a week. And sadly, one person in particular really needed him to open up; the knowledge of Rebecca’s true identity struck feelings in Grace that were something akin to being stabbed in the heart. Lonnie had never told his wife that he’d been married twice before. As far as she knew, she was Lonnie’s second wife… only to find out that she was really number three, and that her husband had been lying about his past for a really long time.
    It hadn’t been an easy pill to swallow for either of them. Maybe that’s why Luke had tried so hard to keep it a secret back when he learned the truth; had he known that Rebecca’s news would cause such an uproar in his family? Had he known that everything would come crashing down, and that Grace would take the brunt of the fall?
    I think so. And maybe that’s why he’d put his heart, soul, and every ounce of his energy into making sure he kept his sister’s secret.
    It took a month for Grace and Lonnie to talk through their problems, but they didn’t reach a successful solution without seeking some help from a couple’s counselor. In the end, Grace accepted it, and they worked through it, little by little. She didn’t see what other choice they had; Rebecca was Lonnie’s daughter, and that made her family. Since, they’d both made an effort to be an even bigger part of Rebecca and Molly’s lives. Despite the fact that neither of them knew how to act about it now, everyone knew they were bursting at the seams to meet their newest grandbaby.
    “Anyone know how to get to the maternity ward?” Grace adjusted her Salt costume as she waddled up the parking lot.
    “No clue,” Lonnie and I said in unison, but Luke was already darting for the farthest set of double doors.
    We followed him, knowing he was probably headed in the right direction, and Lonnie put his arm around my shoulder.
    “Diggin’ the dress,” he gave me a tight squeeze. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but I like your audacity. You’re a real go-getter, there, Julie.”
    “It’s just a joke—”
    “Right,” he smiled bigger, “just a joke.”
    We followed behind Luke as he threw open the hospital doors and exchanged a series of ‘hellos’ with the guards at the front desk. He didn’t linger long, and within a few short minutes, he’d directed us straight to