"No, I heard you." Roxie slid onto a stool and crossed on yoga-pant-clad leg over the other. "I'm just surprised. This is so sudden." Only five months? Sure, that was longer than most of Roxie's relationships - Vince and Joe notwithstanding - but still.

For Brooke, especially, who tended to take her time with things that didn't concern a shoe sale, this was practically lightspeed.

Roxie gulped down her water. "Congratulations," she said then, sliding off the stool and hugging her older brother. "I'm happy for you. I am." That he said he'd loved her...well.

Never in Roxie's memory had Alexander ever said that about anyone. Hell, never had Alexander ever seen a woman more than a few times. His track record was worse than Roxie's, and Roxie's past was the stuff of gossip rag legend.

"I'll back you up on this," she agreed. "Of course I will. I'll talk to Daddy. But I'm not faking a pregnancy for you, neither am I throwing my boyfriend under Daddy's chariot."

Roxie was probably the only one of Ares' kids who could get away with calling hm "Daddy."

"Besides. I'm sure he'll adore Brooke. Until she inevitably insults him."