Page 129 - It Ends with Us

A waitress comes over to take our drink order. I order red wine,

and as soon as I do, Marsha ll practically jumps out of his seat. “Wi ne?”
he yel ls. “You’re in a ones ie! You don’t get free wine with a ones ie! ”
He tel ls the waitres s to bring me a beer, ins tea d. R yle tel ls her to
bring me wine. Allysa want s water, and thi s upset s Marsha ll ev en
more. He tel ls the waitres s to bring four bottles of beer and then R yle
says, “Two beers , red wine, and a water.” The waitres s is ver y conf used

by the time she lea ves our table.
Marsha ll thro ws hi s arm around Allysa and kisses her. “How am I
supposed to try and kno ck you up toni ght if you aren’ t a little
wasted ?”
The look on Allysa’s face cha nges , and I feel ins tant ly bad for her. I
kno w Marsha ll onl y said tha t in fun, but it ha s to bother her. She was
just tel ling me a few days ago ho w dep res sed she is tha t she can’t get

preg na nt .
“I can’t ha ve beer, Marsha ll.”
“Then drink wine, at lea st. You like me more when you’re tipsy.”
He laughs at hi msel f, but Allysa does n’t.
“I can’t ha ve wine, ei ther. I can’t ha ve an y alcoho l, actually.”
Marsha ll stops laughi ng .

My hea rt does a flip-flop.
Marsha ll turns in the booth and grabs her sho ulders , making her
face hi m straight -on. “Allysa?”
She just starts no dding and I don’t kno w who starts crying firs t. Me
or Marsha ll or Allysa. “I’m gonna be a dad?” he yel ls.
She’s still no dding , and I’m just bawling like an idiot. Marsha ll
jumps up in the booth and yells, “I’m gonna be a dad!”

I can’t ev en ex plain wha t thi s moment is like. A grown man in a
ones ie, stand ing up in a booth at a bar, yel ling to who ev er will listen
tha t he’s gonna be a dad. He pulls her up and they ’re both stand ing
in the booth no w. He kisses her and it’s the sweet es t thi ng I’ve ev er
seen.
Unt il I look at R yle and catch hi m chew ing on hi s bottom lip like

he’s trying to blink back a potent ial tea r. He glanc es at me and sees
me staring , so he looks away. “Shu t up,” he says. “She’s my sister.”
I smile and lean over and kiss hi m on the cheek . “Cong ratulations ,
Unc le R yle. ”