“I only really ever hug my mother. Is this okay?” he asked. I laughed. “It’s hard to get a hug wrong.”

“She reached to give him an awkward hug, and when he hugged her back, his hand accidentallytouched her belly. It was surprisingly hard and something shifted beneath the surface.“Oh, shit!” he yelped, jerking back.“What’s wrong?”“It, uh, moved.”“Feels like an alien, doesn’t it? I swear to God, I have nightmares that it’s going to burst out of my stomach like a monster. But I think it’s prettyharmless.”

“Nick cleared his throat. “Do not  … and I mean do  … not  … take this the wrong way, okay?” He wrapped his arms around Ash and hugged him. “I will always be your brother,” he whispered in Ash’s ear. “And I won’t ever hate you.”

“I think it’s important to hug. It costs nothing and it’s a really lovely way of showing that you care.”

“And then he hugs me. Really hugs me. Like he thinks that there's only one of me and I'm special and I'm enough for him. Like he doesn't need anything else. Like he was alone and then I came along.”

“He hugged her hard. "I love you. My life is so much better with you in it than out of it.”