by Sian Ceinwen
“Not really. Heather is married to Harrison, and Sebastian isn’t going to sleep with her. Anyway, we’re not together, and he’s still sleeping with other people, so…” Lita shrugged at her.
“I can’t believe Seb’s still sleeping with other people even though you’re having his baby,” Evangeline said from across the table.
“You must be the only person who didn’t see the Reddit timeline, Evie,” Ariana said. “Somebody very helpfully made an entire list of women.”
“In his defense, he did say that he hadn’t actually slept with all of them,” Lita added quickly. “I guess they just added every woman he was close enough to for them to assume it.”
Ariana rolled her eyes and said darkly, “That sounds about right.”
Lita could see there was still some judgment from the other women around the table. “Sorry, I should also clarify that he and I were literally just friends with benefits. He was free to sleep with whomever he wanted to.”
“That’s…an odd arrangement,” Vanessa frowned. “Were you free to do the same?”
“Yes. I just haven’t done it because working full-time and being pregnant is hard enough. My spare time is spent sleeping, not trying to find more things to take up my time,” Lita laughed.
“What about now?” Dina asked. “You said ‘were’?”
“Oh, well, yeah. There are no ‘benefits’ now. Just friends, apparently.” Lita hated how sad this realization made her.
“Why no benefits?” Celeste asked, then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that’s rude. You don’t have to answer.”
Lita sighed and shrugged. “Sebastian told me that he’s in love with me, but I’m not in love with him, so it’s not fair to keep having sex with him if that’s the case.”
She assumed that the band members’ families must have spent some decent amount of time together in the past from the familiarity between them. It was still uncomfortable to have them talking entirely about her and Sebastian’s drama, though.
She turned to Ally and asked, “So, how do you know Ariana and Heather?”
“I directed Heather’s fashion show; shit, it was pretty much exactly a year ago now!”
“Oh my god.” Lita couldn’t stop herself from gasping. “You’re Ally Morrison?”
“Yes, I am.” Ally gave her a quizzical look. “How did you know that?”
Lita cringed. “Oh, I have a good memory. If I’ve read something, I pretty much always remember it. There were a few articles about Heather’s fashion show at the time that mentioned you.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Ally said with a smile. “Yeah, we met last year when we were doing that and became friends. I was kind of seeing Hayden until recently as well.”
Lita couldn’t stop herself from glancing over at Hayden’s sister, but there was no reaction, so she went ahead and asked the question she was curious about: “Apparently, you guys are still friends. Is that true? Most people just say that.”
“Lita specializes in awkward conversations, Ally,” Heather laughed and leaned over to hug Lita as she said it.
“Sorry, I should mind my own business,” Lita said.
“No, it’s fine,” Ally laughed. “Hayden and I were only ever a casual thing. I live in New York, and he’s here in Chicago. We always said that if we found someone in our own city, we’d end it. I met a guy who I really like, so we stopped.”
“I get that.” Lita smiled at her. “Like, if you’re living in different cities and you know that neither of you is going to move, then why turn down the orgasms in the meantime until something else comes along?”
“Exactly!” Ally laughed. “Man, I didn’t think anyone would ever get that.”
“You’re talking to the person who recently had to explain to her very traditional Italian family that she was knocked up to a man who was sleeping with other women, so if anyone was going to get it, it would be me,” Lita told her.
“I bet that conversation was fun,” Charlotte cringed.
Lita turned to look at her. She seemed to be about Ariana’s age and was cute with short, black hair and pale skin. “Oh, definitely. My sister-in-law is a Cruise Control fan too, and as soon as she accused him of sleeping with other women, I think Seb shat bricks.”
“What did he say?” Charlotte asked, looking curious.
“He was honest. My dad told him to leave his house.” Lita laughed. “I told him to sit his ass down and said to them that if Seb left, I would leave as well.”
Evangeline whistled through her teeth. “You’re braver than me. My dad would’ve killed me if I’d ever hooked up with Sebastian.”
“Evie had the biggest crush on him when we were younger,” Heather smirked.
“Hey, that man is fire.” Evangeline laughed. “But he wouldn’t have been half as pretty if I’d slept with him and my baby brother punched him in the face for it.”
“I don’t know.” Lita pulled a thoughtful face. “I think a broken nose would give Sebastian some character.”
Everyone laughed at this, and—finally—the conversation moved on to other topics, much to Lita’s relief. They’d been sitting there for about twenty minutes when hotel staff members started bringing out the food.
As they entered the room, Lita could see that each was carrying a three-tiered tray and were taking three to each table in the packed room. When they got closer, she saw that the bottom tray seemed to have sandwiches and other savory food. The middle tray had scones with jam and cream, while the top tray had small desserts on it.
Lita frowned. There was something odd about the food, though. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but the tables who had received their food already had started to laugh and were looking over at them.
“What’s going on, Heather?” Ariana turned to Heather with a suspicious look on her face.
“I don’t have a single clue, darling!” Heather said with a wicked grin, then turned and winked at Ally. “Remember the polyester?”
Ally laughed. “Oh god, what have you done, Heather?”
Heather told Lita, “Everyone else was there and saw it, but at my bachelorette party, Ariana put this tacky as hell sash and tiara on me. I told her that she’d regret it.”
In a few moments, it became apparent what Heather had done as Ariana started to turn red and groaned, “Holy shit, Heather.”
The food had reached their table. Everything was in the shape of penises—sandwiches, cupcakes, tarts, scones—even the tiny dishes that the jam and cream were served in were in the shape of penises. Their entire table burst into laughter as Ariana’s face was absolutely beet red now.
“My grandmother is here, Heather Fletcher!” she exclaimed and put her head in her hands.
“How do you think you came about, Ariana? I’m sure she’s aware of what a penis is.” Celeste was laughing.
Dina wiped tears away from her eyes, picked up her phone and took a picture of Ariana and the food, then announced, “I’m sending this to Gabe.”
“I hate you guys so much,” Ariana laughed.
“No, you don’t,” Heather said and blew her a kiss.
They started eating the food, which was absolutely delicious regardless of its shape. Heather took a photo of the penis-shaped food and posted it online, much to Ariana’s horror. They’d been eating and talking for a few minutes when Heather turned to Lita.
“Oh, did you see Bianca on your way in?” Heather asked her.
“Bianca’s here?” Lita was surprised.
Ariana leaned around to face her and pointed to a table on the other side of the room as she said, “Yeah, all the moms are here. We should take you over to say hello; I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”
“Oh, god. No time like the present, I guess?” Lita cringed.
“You don’t have to.” Ariana smiled. “I mean, given everything that’s going on with you and Seb, I can understand why you might not want to. They’ll meet you next weekend anyway.”
Lita shrugged, then a
sked the question she’d been wondering about, “You guys all seem really close. I don’t know what I was expecting today, but I didn’t think that I’d be meeting Gabriel and Hayden’s sisters. Hell, I thought I’d be at some table at the back.”
“No way,” Ariana said in apparent shock. “We couldn’t put you at the back of the room. Seriously, I made sure you’d be sitting with us as soon as I knew you were coming.”
Heather then added with a smirk, “In answer to your question, though, yes, we’re all like family. Don’t be surprised if the other moms know all about you. Bianca will have told them everything.”
Like the band’s siblings, Lita had seen pictures of all of their mothers over the years. Despite her dislike of meeting new people, she was definitely curious to see what they were like in person.
“Okay, well, we might as well go see them. It’ll be nice to see Bianca again.”
Heather and Ariana both stood, while Lita took her cue and followed them with butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being introduced to this group of women. They made their way to a table of older women. One was Bianca, and five more were women her age. She recognized three of the women, immediately, as being the mothers of the other band members. The remaining two women at the table were older, and Lita guessed that they must be Ariana and Gabriel’s grandmothers.
All of the women looked sophisticated, and everyone was wearing expensive designer outfits. Lita felt out of place in her department-store dress, but nobody made any comment, and everyone at the table smiled as they made their approach.
“Hi, ladies,” Heather said before asking with a wicked grin, “Is the food to your liking?”
The ladies all laughed, and Ariana shook her head and looked mortified as one of the grandmothers winked at Heather and said, “Tastiest food I’ve had in a while.”
Bianca stood and came over to Lita to give her a hug. “Lita, it’s so lovely to see you again.”
“It’s great to see you too, Bianca.” Lita gave her a smile, genuinely happy to see her again.
Ariana said, “Lita, these lovely ladies are Sarah Fletcher, Harrison’s mom; Josie Knight, my future mother-in-law; and you already know Bianca. This is Lillian York, Heather’s mom, and yes, she’s ashamed of her daughter all the time”—Heather gave Ariana a nudge but grinned when she said this—“Annette Vega, Hayden’s mom. Eleanor Chamberlain, my mom. Irene Chamberlain, my nanna—” She smiled at her grandmother as she said it. “—and Mildred Sweeney, Gabriel’s nan. Ladies, as Heather said, this is Lita, and she’s Sebastian’s friend.”
“Also, the mother of my future grandchild,” Bianca added with a smile at Lita.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, Lita,” Annette Vega said. “Hayden speaks very highly of you.”
“Does he really?” Lita was shocked; she’d only met him a couple of times.
Annette smiled at her. “Yes. Apparently, you’re very good at pool and have helped him a lot.”
Lita wrinkled her nose. “Well, I tried. He’s not very good, though.”
Heather laughed next to her when Lita said this, and she realized that, of course, she’d said the first thing that came to her head.
“Poor Hayden,” Sarah said. “It was nice of you to try and help him, Lita.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” Lita said to Annette. “I like Hayden a lot.”
Annette laughed. “I don’t think the fact that my son is terrible at pool is news to anyone at this table, dear.”
“When are you due?” It was Gabriel’s grandmother, Mildred, who asked this question.
“The fourteenth of March.”
“Oh, Gabriel’s birthday is the fourteenth of March,” Josie Knight smiled at her.
“Yeah, I know,” Lita blurted out, and she had to physically resist the urge to hit her forehead with her palm. Damn fangirl moments.
Lillian York smiled at her and said kindly, “I’ll hope for your sake that you give birth before Gabriel’s birthday. I went over by a week with Heather’s brother, Jake, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“Are you going to find out what you’re having?” Bianca asked her.
“Yeah, I think so. I like to plan and organize. Our next scan is in three and a half weeks; that’s when we’ll find out.”
“You’ll have to let me know when you find out, so I can start buying things.” Bianca smiled.
“Did you ever think that you’d have the first grandchild of our four boys, Bianca?” Annette laughed.
Sarah Fletcher laughed at this as well. “I was sure it would be me. You’ve failed me, Heather.”
“This is a competition I’m glad I didn’t win,” Heather said. “I’ll see how Lita does, then consider whether or not I want to do the whole baby thing.”
“Oh my god, Heather. We’re going to be aunties! We can babysit for them all the time!” Ariana gasped.
“Yes, oh, and I bet the baby is going to be gorgeous too. Sebastian and Lita are both totally hot.” Heather winked at Lita.
Lita thought about it. “I kind of hope the baby gets his eyes. Not my boring brown ones.”
It suddenly hit her that she was having a baby, and that it was going to be some kind of combination of her and Sebastian. She’d known they were having a baby together, of course, but it was just so bizarre to think that it would be a little human with some as-yet-unknown combination of their DNA.
Lita was also hit by a weird longing for Sebastian to be here with her. Everyone had been so wonderful and welcoming to her today, but she felt better in this whole scene when he was with her. This realization and longing hurt Lita; she was terrified that their friendship would never be the same after last night.
They said goodbye to the women at the table and headed back to their own table. After a while, some bachelorette party games were played, and then a few speeches were made. All in all, it had been a beautiful afternoon, and Lita was surprised by how much fun she had. Gabriel’s sister, Celeste, was a pathologist and had a geeky side. She was very excited when Lita told her that she worked for Silicon Street. They had a long discussion about the recent game release, and Celeste laughed when Lita told her about how much trouble she’d had with that chair.
By the time the high tea was over, Lita was happy but drained. She wished Ariana good luck for the coming week and thanked her for inviting her. They exchanged phone numbers, and Ariana said to text her anytime.
Lita made her way to the lobby to wait for Ben to take her back to Sebastian’s place. As soon as she did, her nerves about whatever conversation they needed to have when she got there returned in full force.
Ben arrived and escorted her across the lobby to the exit. She held her hands protectively on her bump as she ignored the questions from the reporters outside while Ben helped her into the car.
When she got to Sebastian’s, she saw Daryl sitting in the entryway and said hello to him. She found Sebastian sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, playing a video game with a tumbler of whisky in front of him.
“Hi, Seb,” Lita said, feeling sick from the nerves that had only gotten worse on the drive back from the hotel.
He paused the game and placed the controller on the coffee table before picking up his tumbler of whisky. He leaned back against the sofa and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles, and Lita was forcefully reminded of the night they met.
“Take a seat, princess. We should talk.”
He’d called her princess, which was probably a good sign, but Lita’s nerves were still running high as she took a seat on the sofa near him, but further away from him than she would normally sit.
Lita had one question that needed answering before she could continue this discussion. She’d been practicing asking it in her head from the moment she left the hotel. It still took every ounce of strength for her to manage to ask it, though.
“Did you sleep with someone else last night?”
Sebastian looked away from her and down at his
drink before he replied. “Do you really want the answer to that question? I thought I wasn’t meant to tell you about anyone else, or is that another ground rule that you’re changing on me?” He posed the question to his tumbler of whisky before lifting it to his lips and draining it.
Lita was glad that he wasn’t looking at her. He’d slept with someone else last night, and Lita’s heart felt bruised from that knowledge.
“No, you’re right, I shouldn’t have asked.” Lita shook her head.
“I was wondering if we need new ground rules now?” He raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at her.
“I guess so,” Lita said around a lump that was forming solidly in her throat.
“What might those be, Lolita?”
Lita knew them, and she realized that she’d subconsciously been thinking them through since yesterday.
“No telling the other person about anyone you’re sleeping with stays. Treating women like human beings stays. As for new rules, we should sleep in separate beds, and we should also not have sex with each other.”
Sebastian sighed. “So, you meant what you said yesterday. You don’t want to sleep with me anymore.”
“Seb, that’s not fair. You know I do. I can’t do it if you really think that you’re in love with me, though.”
“I’m not in love with you,” Sebastian said it so quickly that Lita actually laughed.
“That’s a very convenient position to take. I don’t believe you.”
Sebastian frowned at her. “Wait, you don’t love me because you don’t think that I’m really in love with you, but you won’t sleep with me because you do think I’m in love with you. Which one is it, princess? Because you can’t have it both ways.”
“I think that you believe you’re in love with me. I’ve told you that I’m not in love with you, though.”
Lita wondered for an instant if she was telling the truth; her heart was certainly hurting more than it would for a mere friend, but she pushed away the thought.
“I’m not interested in trying to change you. You jumped into bed with someone else the first opportunity that you got, and I’m fine with that, Seb, I really am. I can’t deny that I told you to do it, so I would be a hypocrite if I got angry at you for it. The final ground rule that I’m asking for is that you be more discreet when you take women somewhere for sex, though. I got asked by a reporter about it on the way into the bachelorette, and I hadn’t even gotten a reply to my text from you, so that hurt.”