Sarah had planned a backyard barbeque that afternoon and evening for the Bartowskis, the Woodcombs and the soon-to-be Caseys. She and Ellie and Marianne were in the kitchen finalizing the preparations, and Sarah was just putting the finishing touches on a large potato salad when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" she called out, licking her finger then wiping it on a nearby towel. Sarah wondered who could be bothering them so close to the supper hour and was frowning a bit when she peeped through one of the long, thin windows flanking the door. Odd. Casey and Ilsa, who were standing patiently on the porch, usually just popped the lock and walked right in. Oh, yeah, covers.
Sarah unlocked and opened the door for them, and Casey winked as he entered with Ilsa following close behind, but his attention was suddenly diverted when his arms were filled by Ellie, who squealed with delight as she hurled herself towards her former neighbor.
"John! Congratulations! I almost couldn't believe it when Chuck told me!" she cried, her face shining with joy.
"Is that the big guy?"
Devon's voice boomed up from the basement stairs as he took them two at a time to come and greet Chuck's friend, followed closely by Chuck, the remaining four children and Flash, who had all been seeing to the sleeping accommodations for Ellie and Devon in the spare bedroom in the basement.
Casey blushed to the tips of his ears when Ellie squeezed him tightly and gave him an impulsive kiss on the mouth, and he turned his head to glance guiltily at Ilsa, who was observing the encounter with an infuriatingly amused and speculative expression.
Before Casey could recover his equilibrium, he was enfolded in another enthusiastic embrace, this time by Devon, who thumped his back with one hand while exclaiming, "Decided to join the ranks, huh, buddy? Who's the lucky girl?"
Casey managed to croak out, "Ilsa," before he was abruptly released and felt several pairs of eyes on his still-reddened face.
Ilsa stepped forwards and said, smiling, "That would be me."
She extended her hand in Devon's direction but was also treated to a hug instead of a handshake, although not of the bone-crushing variety, and received a sound kiss on the cheek as Devon stated, "Ilsa, whatever you did to tie this guy down, my hat's off to you," and made way to give Ellie a chance to greet the bride-to-be.
"Ilsa, it really is a pleasure to meet you," Ellie said, stepping close for her own hug. "I hope you two will be very happy. You'll have to tell me all about how you met and finally got John to take the plunge."
Chuck decided this was a good moment to rescue Ilsa from the motherly attentions of his sister, who was actually the younger of the two women, and stepped forwards to announce, "Okay, everybody, I think we should go to the backyard and maybe start with a drink. Sis and the kids, fruit juice," and he spread his arms out and turned to herd the families towards the back door.
Everyone started making a move except, Chuck noted, Casey, who appeared rooted to the spot, a look of raw panic on his face.
"Ellie, you're pregnant?" he asked, loudly enough to halt the exodus, then clamped his jaw shut and scowled at the room generally, his discomfort plain for everyone to see.
Chuck, realizing his friend was in some strange kind of distress, turned back around quickly to face his family and guests once again and waved his arms, saying cheerily, "Let's all get outside and discuss it there, shall we?" and this was enough to take the focus away from the agent and give him a chance to recover his composure.
In the meantime, Ilsa had slipped into Casey's arms and was holding him, wondering what the problem was and trying to get him to look at her, which he was studiously avoiding. When he did scowl down at her and saw her concern, his face lightened and he bent his head to kiss her warmly, saying afterwards, "I'm sorry, my love. I think all these families and children and another new baby have got me a bit jumpy. I hadn't figured I'd be in the same situation one day."
Ilsa smiled up at him reassuringly. "We'll talk about it later, okay? Let's go outside right now and enjoy the party."
Casey smiled tenderly and nodded, letting Ilsa walk ahead of him towards the backyard.
When they got there, everyone else had been provided with drinks and were helping themselves to snacks and appetizers that had been set out while Devon checked the temperature on the barbeque. Sarah carried a platter of steaks out from the kitchen and he slapped them on the grill, proclaiming, "It's the only cooking that Ellie will let me do and only then under supervision."
"That's right. You boys keep an eye on him," she said over her shoulder to Chuck, then turned her smiling face towards Casey. She whispered, "Everything all right?" and grasped Ilsa's arm, pulling her to one side, and, with the other hand in the small of Casey's back, encouraged him to join her husband and her brother around the barbeque.
Ilsa nodded and let Ellie sit her down in a wicker chair set in a small grouping with a low table in the middle. She accepted the drink that Ellie had prepared, a mixture of fruit juices and rum, and sipped at the straw as Sarah came over to join them, her own drink in her hand.
Ellie took a sip of her fruit juice, then leaned forwards in her chair, her expression purely one of concern, and asked Ilsa, "Is John all right? He seemed to react very strangely for him when he found out I was pregnant. I hope there's nothing really wrong, Ilsa. I wouldn't want him to be upset right now when he should be so very happy."
"Not at all, Ellie," Ilsa began. "It just shook him up a bit. We haven't talked about children yet but it's obviously something that's on his mind. We're going to talk about it later in private."
The three women turned their heads as one to stare at their three men, who must have felt the female eyes on them and turned to look back. Casey started a bit under their scrutiny, as though he were guilty of something, and Chuck clapped him on the back to divert his attention while shooting Sarah a look that said, Do something to help the guy out!
Sarah picked up on her husband's unspoken signal immediately and tried to change the subject, but Ellie wasn't finished yet. Putting a hand over Ilsa's, Ellie frowned, and said, "Oh, I hope he isn't getting cold feet."
Ilsa smiled slyly at the two wives and replied with confidence, "Don't worry, Ellie, I think I have the cure for cold feet," and the men whipped their heads around again at the sound of the low, indecent-sounding laughter coming from the other side of the yard.
