The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 251

O Above My Desk

Chapter 251

Violet

The party seemed to find its rhythm again after Avery arrived. At first, I’d worried the tension would linger. That people would keep staring. Keep whispering. Keep wondering whether she belonged here.

But slowly, conversation picked back up. Someone started laughing near the gift table. A group of employees resumed arguing over the jellybean count. Theo got distracted by someone asking him a question about work, and/just like that the awkwardness began to fade.

I grabbed one of the slips for the baby bump game and walked back toward Avery.

She had settled into one of the chairs near the end of the room with a paper plate balanced on her lap. Two slices of pizza sat untouched while she quietly watched everyone around her. Not participating. Just watching.

It hit me then how different she looked. Not physically. Emotionally. The Avery I remembered had always seemed polished. Perfect makeup. Perfect clothes. Perfect smile. Confident. Maybe too confident. This Avery looked exhausted. Like life had finally caught up to her. Like she’d spent months carrying something heavy and hadn’t figured out how to put it down.

She looked up when I approached. Immediately looking nervous. Like she expected me to tell her she’d made a mistake coming here.

Instead, I slid into the chair beside her and handed her a slip of paper. Her brow furrowed. “What’s this?”

“You still have to play.”

Avery blinked. “Play?”

“The baby bump game.”

For a second she just stared at me. Then she looked toward Camille. Then back

…That’s an actual game?”

at

1. e. Then toward Camille again.

I laughed. “It is today.”

The smallest smile appeared. Tiny. Barely there. But it was the first genuine smile I’d seen from her since she walked

through the door.

I pointed toward Camille, who was currently laughing while Theo tried unsuccessfully to stop three employees from wrapping measuring tape around him instead. “Take your best guess.”

Avery studied Camille for a long moment. Her eyes lingered on

stomach. On Theo’s hand resting possessively

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Chapter 251

against her lower back. On the smile that hadn’t left Camille’s face all afternoon.

Something flickered across Avery’s expression. Not jealousy. Not bitterness. Something sadder than that. Almost longing. Like she was looking at a future she didn’t think she’d ever have.

Slowly, she looked down at the paper. Thought for a moment. Then scribbled a number down before handing it back.

I folded the slip and dropped it into the bowl with the others. “There.”

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. The noise of the party filled the silence between us. Music. Laughter. Conversations. Life.

Avery’s eyes drifted across the room. The gift table. The decorations. The balloons. The people. The families. The employees. The friends. The support system. All the things she’d once been part of. And then lost.

Before I could ask what she was thinking, Devin suddenly appeared beside us. Clipboard still in hand.

www.

I was beginning to suspect the clipboard had become part of his personality. “Boss Lady.”

I sighed. “What now?”

“It’s time.”

My stomach immediately fluttered. The gender reveal. Finally. Excitement erupted through m

I stood quickly. Then turned toward the crowd. “Alright everyone!”

Conversations immediately began dying down. People started gathering. Chairs scraped against the floor. Guests stood. Children ran toward the patio doors. The energy in the room shifted instantly. Everyone knew what was coming. Everyone

had been waiting for this part.

Camille looked ready to explode. Theo looked nervous. Which only made it funnie

I pointed toward the patio doors. “Everybody outside!”

The crowd poured toward the gardens. The afternoon sunlight cast golden light across the lawn while the breeze gently moved the ribbons and decorations we’d hung earlier. Near the center of the grass sat the giant white reveal box. The giant

position. Because apparently I had decided subtlety reveal box that Rowan and I had nearly killed ourselves dragging into

was for other people.

Rowan appeared beside me. “Ready?”

I smiled. “Oh absoluter

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Chapter 251

Together we grabbed the large box and carried it into position behind Theo and Camille. The crowd formed a semicirete around them. Phones appeared immediately. Cameras. Video recorders. At least three people were already crying. We

hadn’t even started.

Camille grabbed Theo’s hand. Theo squeezed hers. Neither of them took their eyes off the box.

I stepped back and raised my hands, smiling, “Alright everybody.”

The crowd immediately erupted. Cheers. Whistles. Applause. Someone yelled for them to hurry up. Someone else yelled that they were too emotionally invested now. Laughter spread through the crowd.

I grinned wider. “Let’s count it down.”

“Five!” The crowd shouted together.

Camille immediately started crying. Theo looked alarmed.

“Four!”

People laughed.

“Three!”

Rowan slipped his hand into mine.

“Two!”

Camille was openly sobbing now. “I already know and I’m still emotional!” she yelled.

The crowd laughed harder.

“One!”

Theo and Camille ripped open the front of the box. For one brief second, everything seemed frozen, and then a flood of bright pink balloons burst upward into the sky.

The crowd absolutely exploded. People screamed. Cheered. Clapped. Whistled. Someone actually jumped up and down.

Theo froze. His eyes followed the balloons climbing higher and higher into the sky. Then he looked at Camille. Then at the balloons. Then back at Camille. “A girl?” His voice cracked.

Camille started

harder. “A girl!”

Theo immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. The crowd melted. Even knowing Camille

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Chapter 251

had known beforehand somehow didn’t make the moment less emotional because Theo hadn’t. And the look on his face when it finally became real?

That was worth everything.

For several moments, the two of them simply stood there holding each other while pink balloons drifted into the afternoon sky above them.

I don’t think there was a dry eye left in the crowd. Eventually everyone migrated back inside where the cake waited. A massive sheet cake. Cream cheese frosting. Pink decorations. Beautiful piping. The second it was cut open and the strawberry filling was revealed, another round of cheers erupted. Because apparently nobody had gotten enough pink yet.

I laughed and grabbed two plates. One for myself. One for Avery.

She stood near the windows now, watching the party from a distance.

I handed her the plate.

She looked surprised. Then smiled. A sad smile. The kind that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

For a moment, she stared down at the cake. Then toward the crowd. Then back at me. Something in her expression

immediately made my stomach tighten. Because suddenly I knew. She hadn’t come here for the gender reveal.

The gift had been real. The congratulations had been real. But there was something else.

“Can we talk?” she asked quietly.

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