The Culmination Read Online Free PDF

right?” Josh laughs. “Okay, my official guess is two boys, exactly five weeks from today—”
    “Stop,” Jonas says, much more forcefully than necessary. “No predictions. No guessing.”
    Josh’s smile vanishes.
    “Just stop,” Jonas says, looking distressed.
    “Okaaaay,” Josh says, shooting me a look that plainly says, What the fuck is he freaking out about now? “Looks like someone isn’t a Neil Diamond fan.”
    Jonas looks anxious. “Sorry. I just don’t want to get too attached to one particular outcome, that’s all.” He shifts his weight. “Just... please don’t do a pool, Josh. Just... don’t.”
    The hair on my arms stands on end. What the hell is going on inside my sweet husband’s (anxiety-ridden) head?
    “No problem,” Josh says, sounding earnest. He stares at his brother’s intense face for a long beat, apparently trying to figure him out. “Come here, Little G,” he finally says, and Gracie crawls into her daddy’s lap. “Gracie, tell Uncle Jo Jo not to worry so much. Tell him, ‘It all works out in the end, Uncle Jo Jo.’”
    “Itsouadluda end, Unkie Jo Jo.”
    “You see, Jonas?” Josh says. “Listen to Gracie. She’s the wisest Faraday of us all. Right, Gracie?”
    Gracie nods and sticks her finger in her mouth.
    “Life happens whether you worry about it or not, bro—so you might as well not worry about it.”
    Kat’s been studying Jonas during this entire exchange. “Hey, Gracie,” she says. “Have you given Uncle Jo Jo his kisses yet? I think Uncle Jo Jo could use some extra kisses today.”
    “Yeah, she gave ’em to me,” Jonas says, obviously trying to smile (but failing). “And they were really good ones this time.”
    “Unkie Jo Jo want kisses.” Gracie waddles over to Jonas and plants a huge kiss on his cheek. “Unkie Jo Jo.” She leans her cheek against his tattooed forearm and pats his knee. “Unkie Jo Jo,” Gracie purrs.
    Jonas smiles down at Gracie and then shoots an annoyed look at Josh. “Why do you guys keep teaching her to call me Uncle Jo Jo? Can’t I please just be Uncle Jonas like a normal person?”
    Josh laughs. “Be grateful you’re ‘Uncle Jo Jo’—I’ve been trying to teach her to call you ‘Uncle Jo Jo the Dancing Clown’ for months, but it just won’t take.”
    “Oh, I gotta hear that,” I say. “Gracie, say ‘Uncle Jo Jo the Dancing Clown’ for me.”
    “Unkie Jo-Jo-Dah-Kehn,” Gracie says, and everyone except Jonas laughs.
    “So good, baby!” I say. “I’m gonna give you a cookie every time you say Uncle Jo Jo the Dancing Clown, okay? Sound like a plan?”
    Gracie nods.
    “Say it again for me: Uncle Jo Jo the Dancing Clown.”
    “Unkie Jo-Jo-Dah-Kehn.”
    “Kat, give this girl a cookie.”
    Kat reaches into her diaper bag and pulls out an animal cracker.
    Josh claps his hands together. “So what’s a guy got to do to get a drink around here?”
    “Well, for starters, he’s gotta stop teaching his daughter to call me Uncle Jo Jo the Dancing Clown,” Jonas says.
    “Then I guess I won’t be drinking tonight.”
    “What can I get you girls to drink?” Jonas asks. “Club soda?”
    Kat and I roll our eyes at each other in shared commiseration. “Club soda,” we both say at the same time.
    “Josh? You want a beer?”
    “I’ll come with you and figure it out,” Josh says. “I’m feeling particularly spontaneous tonight.” He grins at Kat and her cheeks flush. “How about you, Gracie-cakes? You want some juice?”
    “Joos!” Gracie says, leaping off the couch.
    “No, she doesn’t need the sugar,” Kat says, holding up a sippy cup. “I’ve got her water right here.”
    “No water,” Gracie says. “Joos.”
    We watch the men disappear into the kitchen.
    Kat reaches into her diaper bag. “You wanna read your farm-animal book?”
    Gracie nods and eagerly takes the book from her mother.
    “How about you drink a little water while you read?” Kat says. “Water’s good for