"Where is she?" Maya asked impatiently.
"She's probably stuck in traffic - the roads get pretty bad this time of year," Kurt said.
He, Maya, and Blaine were at the St. James family house for a belated Hanukkah/Christmas/New Year celebration. They were also having somewhat of a belated birthday party for Olive and an early one for Maya. Shelby had been sick recently so she hadn't been able to participate in any festivities lately. Since the families had already had their respective gatherings - Shelby was the only one bringing gifts…or so she thought.
Rachel and Jesse had purchased a print for Shelby to put up on her wall. The plan was for Maya and Olive to present it to her together.
Soon, the doorbell rang.
Olive jumped up and let out a small scream. This startled Maya who nearly spilled her hot chocolate. Maya glared at her half-sister who just smiled awkwardly and apologized.
Rachel went to answer the door, and soon she entered the room with Shelby.
"Hi everybody!" Shelby greeted. Olive and Maya got up and each eagerly gave her a hug.
"Girls, do you want to give Grandma Shelby her gift now?" Rachel asked.
Maya and Olive nodded enthusiastically.
"I thought I was the only one bringing gifts," Shelby said. "I don't need a thing!"
"Shelby, please. When I saw this online I knew you just had to have it and the girls are so excited to give it to you!" Rachel insisted.
Maya and Olive went over to the gift and each picked up a side. Carefully, they brought it over to Shelby who was trying not to laugh at the way they were carrying it.
"Happy Hanukkah!" The girls chorused in unison once they reached their grandmother.
"Thank you, girls," Shelby said, taking the present. She sat down and gingerly began removing the sparkly blue snowflake wrapping paper. Once the paper was completely off, it revealed a picture of three flowers. At the top of the image it said "Grandma's Garden." The first flower which was blue said "Maya Elizabeth," the second flower, which was pink said "Olive Maria," and the final flower, which was yellow, was blank.
"It's beautiful!" Shelby exclaimed. "You were right, Rachel. I can't wait to hang this up!"
Rachel excitedly sat down next to Shelby. "They said that in June I can bring it in so they can put the third name on that last flower," she explained.
"Third name?" Shelby asked. What third name?
"Shelby," Rachel said. "You know how Jesse and I have been wanting for years to have a second baby?"
"Yes!" Shelby said. She knew where this conversation was going and she just couldn't believe it. It had been a decade of them trying to no avail.
"Well - we're going to!" Rachel went over to Jesse and put her arm around him, tears coming to both their eyes.
"Surprise!" Olive exclaimed. Her hesitance at becoming a big sister was temporarily pushed aside by the excitement stemming from her grandmother's reaction.
Surprise indeed.