by J. M. Stone
Before I got to the door, it opened and Hayden, Emma’s now 5 year old niece, came rushing out.
“Cwoey! Guess what? My mommy’s gonna haved another baby!” she crowed, her little pigtails flying behind her as she skidded to a stop in front of me.
I crouched down to her level (she was such a petite, cute little thing) and grabbed her hands. “That’s awesome, Hayden! Are you excited?”
She nodded vigorously and spun on her heel, pulling away from me to run inside again. I followed, looking around to see where the dogs were, but they were conspicuously absent. Emma was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher, Allie was sitting cross legged on the couch, nursing Liam, and Jenna was sitting in the armchair, Everly in her lap. She was looking down into the baby’s tiny little face and asking, “What am I gonna do? Huh? Uncle Noah is an asshole and knocked me up and my God, this is nuts!”
“Hey, Chloe,” Emma called from the kitchen before adding, “Jenna, quit cussing at my child. You want to cuss at a kid, do it to your own. God knows they probably have a worse vocabulary than all of us combined,” she finished, drolly.
“Ha ha ha,” Jenna said, her tone heavy on the sarcasm. “I didn’t even get a chance to tell Noah myself, or you. I mean, I didn’t even get to tell Chloe because Hayden has a big mouth!”
“Mommy…” Hayden scolded. “You hafta tawk nicewy now that you have a baby in your bewwy. And my mouf isn’t big. Your mouf is big. I sawed it get big when you was in the cwoset with daddy and you had his-”
“Jesus, Lord, ohmigod, Hayden go outside!” Jenna shrieked, startling the baby who started wailing. And of course, once Everly started, Liam felt left out, so he let go of Allie’s breast to join in the fun.
Emma rolled her eyes, dried her hands on a dish towel and came into the room to take her baby from her sister. Allie was trying desperately not to laugh as she patted Liam’s little bottom and bounced him a bit to calm him before switching him to the other side.
I was biting my lip to keep my own laughter at bay, waiting for Hayden to stomp out of the house onto the front porch before I looked at Jenna and said, “Well, hiding in closets for clandestine blow jobs, are we?”
She dropped her head in her hands and moaned as we all laughed.
We laughed even harder when Leah came in the door, cheeks completely red, sputtering in shock. “Do you know what your daughter just told me?” she asked Jenna, who’d looked up when the opened.
Jenna dropped her head again, this time leaning forward and banging it on the coffee table repeatedly. Emma smacked her on the top of the head and told her to knock it off before she said, “Well, it’s one of two things at the moment; either you now know that our eldest sister is knocked up again, or you have been familiarized with Jenna’s penchant for sucking penis in a hall closet. Am I close?”
“Yes, oh my God! She seriously just told me she saw Jenna with…wait, what? You’re pregnant?” she asked Jenna, incredulity coloring her words.
Jenna brought her head up off the table and gave Leah a pathetic look and a nod. She stuck her lip out and pouted.
Leah just rolled her eyes at her. “Bitch, don’t play me. We all know you are so absolutely in love with your husband and you are so in love with your kids and you’re just as happy about this one as you were Jarrod and Hayden.”
Jenna lost her pout and smiled. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I know. I am happy about it and you’d think Noah was the one giving birth the way he’s been preening. He’s already told everyone down at the precinct-”
Emma’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. You’re telling me that Noah’s cop buddies knew before your family did?”
Jenna laughed nervously, shooting Emma and Leah a sheepish look. “He works with them every day and…” she trailed off. “At least I told you in person and we just found out yesterday. I took ten tests that all came out positive. I’m making an appointment on Monday to go in to the doctor. You wanna come with me?” she asked Leah.
“Yes!” Leah answered, and Emma smiled, her ire at not being told first disappearing.
I looked over at Allie who was sitting quietly, still nursing Liam. She grinned at me and shook her head, glancing over at Emma and her sisters with a fondness that only comes from years of friendship.
“So, where’re the dogs?” I asked in the comfortable silence that had descended.
Emma and Allie both grinned evilly, Allie going as far as to cackle-like seriously cackle. I swear I wanted to look around for Nanny when she did, because she sounded just like her. But would I tell Allie that? Yeah, probably. Heeheehee…
“I told Luke that he had to take them to Jacks’ with him since it’s girl’s day,” Emma answered. “So, since the babies have been fed, what do you guys think about going for some lunch?”
Everyone answered in the affirmative. Jenna got up and called Hayden in to wash up because, in the ten minutes since she’d sent her outside, she’d managed to find a mud puddle somewhere (or made one, more likely) and had mud up to her elbows. Miraculously, she’d kept most of the mud off her clothes, which is not the norm, so Jenna did a happy dance to celebrate. Must be the hormones…
We finally made our way into town to Manny’s, Emma’s favorite restaurant. Of course, it had quickly become my favorite, too, once she’d brought me down here for some chicken alfredo and black tie mousse cake. That shit was an orgasm for your taste buds. The first time she’d taken me to Manny’s, she’d told me about the first date Luke had taken her on; how she’d eaten all of her pasta and then made love to a piece of cake. Of course, I was laughing my ass off by the end of the story because of how it ended with Leah’s drunk ass being dropped off by Calland right before they got to the good stuff.
Manny himself came out and seated us, immediately swooping both babies up in his arms and taking them back to the kitchen with him, calling for his wife as he went. Emma and Allie just grinned indulgently, knowing that their babies were safe with Manny. The worst that would happen would be that Manny would spoil them more than they already were, and at four months old, they were pretty damn spoiled.
A waiter came over and took our orders, chuckling when we all ordered the same exact thing; salad with house Italian, fettuccine alfredo with chicken, and, of course, black tie mousse cake. As he walked away to put our orders in, Jenna was talking pregnancy with Allie and Emma, so I took the chance to ask Leah what had happened after we all left last night.
“So are you and Ian good?” I asked, cautiously.
She sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. Apparently she’s an old family friend who he went out with once and never took the hint after that he wasn’t interested. I get the feeling that she’s a little looney tunes.”
I snorted. “Ya think? There’s something not right with her, that’s for damn sure. You and Ian make up okay, though?”
She smiled. “Of course. Hot, heavy make-up sex is the fucking best.”
I pretended to plug my ears and sang, “La la la la,” until she stopped, her words lost in laughter.
I heard Allie pipe up, “Oohh, Chloe is covering her ears, that means there’s juicy gossip going down and I want in!”
Amid giggles, we filled them in on what happened last night, Emma and Jenna becoming properly outraged on behalf of their little sister. She was quick to defend Ian, though, so I guess everything was for sure good with them. I hoped so, anyway. I really liked the guy and he seemed really good to Leah. Only time will tell.
Our salads arrived, along with the babies, Manny holding Liam, his wife cuddling Everly. They both were sleeping peacefully, so they laid them in their carriers, patted each of them on the back, and headed back into the kitchen with Manny winking and quipping, “Gotta make sure your alfredo is perfect!”
An hour and a half later, stuffed to the gills with the best Italian food you could ever ask for, we all headed back to Emma’s house, but Leah and I stopped at the store to get a few girls’ day staples that included the makings of special sundaes (we bought
extra frozen yogurt for the nursing moms and newly pregnant to eat without the added booze), dried beef dip, and buffalo chicken dip. Yes, we all just got done eating, but when we do a girls’ day, it’s an all day thing, and always involves food. Don’t judge us.
We were standing in the frozen food aisle at the store when Leah looked at me, tears filling her eyes. I dropped the carton of fro yo I was holding into the cart and pulled her into my arms. “Leah, honey, what’s wrong? I thought you said everything was okay?” I held her back and looked at her with concern.
She gave a short laugh and dashed the tears from her eyes quickly. “I am fine. It just…she keeps calling his phone. Her and some other number that doesn’t have a name. I only know that one of them is Victoria because I answered it once. She got all huffy and told me to have him call her, that she wanted to thank him for the night before.” She groaned and moved back, grabbing another carton of fro yo from the cooler, tossing it in the cart as she said, “I don’t know why I get so upset when she says stuff like that. He was with me at my house, we were in bed, and he was fucking my brains out, so I know he wasn’t with her. But…”
She dropped her eyes to her hands, twisting her fingers together agitatedly. “I’m all in on this one. He’s it for me,” she said quietly.
“Oh, Leah…” I answered softly. “That’s a good thing, right? You love him?”
She nodded. “Short and simple. I do. God help me, but I do. Isn’t it too soon?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I told her. “I mean, look at your sister. Emma and Luke didn’t know each other for that long and see how in love they are? You can’t be within ten feet of either of them without getting hit by the waves of lust emanating from them both.”
She let out a wry chuckle. “You’re totally right there. Did I tell you I walked in on them?”
I blinked. “What? Luke and Emma?”
“Yeah. Luke’s so frickin’ hot and all, but he’s my brother-in-law. I didn’t need to see that.” She shuddered. “He had her bent over the back of the couch going to pound town and-”
“Jesus, Leah!” I shouted, cutting her off. “I so don’t need to hear that!”
“Well? How do you think I felt having to see it? I swear if there was a way to bleach my eyeballs, I would have!”
When we finally stopped laughing and moved on to the chip aisle, I asked her, “So why the tears, then?”
She shrugged. I don’t know. I just get so upset because it’s only been months that we’ve been together. I don’t know his past women, not really…he’s talked about them, but…then Victoria pops up out of the blue and he’s never talked about her before. Then there’s this other number but when I asked him about it, he just blew me off like it was a wrong number. I just don’t want to be made to look like a fool.”
I patted her back in sympathy. “I know. But at the same time, if you love him, and he loves you?” I made it a question and waited to see what she would say.
She nodded shyly. “He said it a couple weeks ago. Told me out of the blue that he loved me.”
“See?” I nudged her with my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.” I clapped my hands together. “Now. Let’s get this shit and get outta here so we can get some special sundaes in our bellies!”
Chapter 23
“Holy fuck, this is the funniest thing I think I’ve ever seen!” Allie crowed, squishing closer to me as we all stared out the window into Emma’s back yard.
We’d been back from the store for a few hours now, the babies were both napping, we’d all been snacking, and Hayden was coloring at the kitchen table when we heard shouting outside. Emma had jumped up and made a bee-line for the back door like her ass was on fire, locking the doggy-door shut and slumping in relief.
We hadn’t had to say a word; she’d taken one look at us all staring at her with mild amusement and explained, “I know that sound. That’s Luke’s you-fucking-dog-you-got-sprayed-by-a-skunk-again yell.”
We’d heard a gasp and then Hayden had piped up, “Ahhh…Aun’ Emmy said a dirty word!”
Emma had cringed and mouthed an apology to Jenna who just waved it off. “She’s been in the garage with Dad, Noah, and Calland when they’ve been ‘fixing’ something.”
We’d all nodded sagely. When those three got together to ‘fix’ something, it usually ended up being worse than a drunken sailor/truck driver convention. Every other word out of their mouths was fuck, shit, damn, or asshole. And that’s just when they first get there. I’d walked in with Leah one morning for Sunday breakfast and they were taking apart a lawn mower…let’s just say the air was blue, my ears were burning, and I learned new words that day.
Then we laughed when it hit us, after which we’d crowded around the window to see Luke dragging the plastic pool into the yard from the garage. We hadn’t budged, either, when Brandon had come in the back door near where we were all peeking out the window to get tomato juice from the massive stash of cans in the laundry room.
Emma had started stocking up on it when Doug had decided to become best friends with the skunk in the woods. It was kind of a one-sided relationship; Doug loved the skunk, the skunk hated Doug. And let him know it by spraying him at least once a week. Still.
Luke had tried everything to get rid of the thing, but to no avail. I guess running from the woods gagging about a half dozen times cured him of his ability to try; well, that and Emma laughing her ass off at him each time it happened.
Brandon had shaken his head at us, smirked, loaded down a laundry basket with about a dozen and a half of the large cans of tomato juice, grabbed the can opener, and walked back outside without saying a word. We’d found out, by watching out of the window, of course, that it wasn’t just Doug that got sprayed this time.
Nope. This time, DJ had gotten it, too. We weren’t too sure how Grady had managed to avoid it, but no way were any of us going outside to ask. Hayden had tried but Jenna had told her no. In fact, I think her words were, “if you want to go outside and smell like a stinky skunk butt, then go ahead. But you’ll have take a tomato juice bath outside just like the dogs.” She’d quickly lost interest then and had gone back to coloring.
“Oh, shit!” Emma shrieked, then laughed uncontrollably (and we did, too) as we all watched Luke make a dive for DJ, who’d managed to get the front half of his body out of the pool, and miss, therefore belly flopping in the middle of the juice-filled pool. Which then, since he was kneeling on the other side of the pool dousing Doug with tomato juice, soaked Brandon with a tidal wave of juice, causing him to let go of Doug.
What ensued after could only be described as gut-wrenchingly hilarious; Luke and Brandon tried to wrangle the dogs back into the pool, rinse them off with the tomato juice, and then wash them with shampoo, while Jackson stood off to the side shouting directions. It ended with Luke, Brandon, and Jacks all dripping wet, their clothes stained red with tomato juice, and covered in suds. I say AND Jacks because Luke and Brandon got tired of him laughing, chased him down, and wrestled him into the juice pool.
And all the while, Grady was sitting in the shade a few feet away, watching everything with a grin on his little doggy lips.
When everything was cleaned up, including the guys (thankfully Brandon still had a few clothes at Emma and Luke’s), they talked us into merging girls’ day with guys’ day. Of course, we were pretty sure it was just so they could chow down on our munchies and didn’t have to fend for themselves.
After they cleaned us out of pretty much everything we’d made, except for special sundae makings, we all sat talking in the living room for a while, passing babies around and petting dogs that would come up for random loving. That’s when the 4th of July party finally got mentioned.
My brother nodded immediately, as soon as Leah brought it up. “Hell yeah!” he said. “I’ve got dibs on fireworks!”
Brandon and Luke both scowled at him. “No, fuck no, you don’t,” Luke hollered. “The last time you picked out the fireworks, you came home with pa
nsy ass smoke bombs and sparklers.”
“Hey!” Emma cried. “What’s wrong with sparklers? I love sparklers!”
Luke turned to her, his face softening. “I know, sugar, and there’s nothing wrong with sparklers.” He turned his head and glanced at Jackson out of the corner of his eye. “If you’re a girl.”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “I was 17 at the time and bought them at the grocery store. It was all they had,” he grated out through clenched teeth.
Obviously, this was an argument that had been ongoing for some time. One I hadn’t heard of, before, either.
Brandon jumped in. “Screw you both, I’m getting the fireworks this time, and I’m taking Calland with me. No way in hell will he pick out anything pansy-assed like you two would,” he smirked.
Geez. Boys and their explosives.
Allie clapped her hands to get their attention and said, sweetly, “How about all of you go together over to Shelton’s and get them? But you better do it soon since we now have four days to get this thing planned.”
She looked over at Leah. “Why the hell did you wait so long to plan this thing, anyway?” she grumbled.
Leah just smiled and shrugged. “Last minute thing, but who cares? Let’s plan this party!”
We all got down to business then, the guys calling Calland to determine the best time to make the trip to get the fireworks, while we discussed food, drinks, and time.
“I say we just plan it for like three o’clock. That way we can still do a cookout or whatever, we still have time to swim if we want,” Emma paused, glancing at Allie for confirmation that swimming in their pool was an option.
Allie nodded. “I was gonna say we could do most of it over at our house then, so we could swim and things.” She sighed and stared off into space dreamily. “I love having my own pool now…”