“Dinner’s ready, everyone,” Gail calls. The guys help her set bowls of salads and fruits on the long buffet table next to the house, while Steven piles steak and chicken on platters.
The food is abundant and delicious.
“This is the last time this year we’ll grill. Until next summer, we’ll have family gatherings catered. It’s a lot of work to feed all of us,” Natalie tells me as she stands and takes Sophie from me, planting her on her curvy hip.
“I can see that,” I respond and kiss Liam’s head again.
“Meg, you look good wearing a baby,” Luke remarks as he joins his wife, Olivia asleep against his muscular chest.
“So do you,” I wink at him, and he laughs.
“Stop flirting with my brother-in-law,” Will scowls as he joins me. I stand and hand him the baby.
“I’m not flirting. I’m just paying extra attention to someone who’s very attractive.” I reply seriously, my eyes wide and earnest, trying to hold the grin in. Luke smirks and kisses his wife as Will’s scowl deepens.
“He’s not attractive. He’s family.”
I laugh, hard, grab my stomach and practically double over. “Will,” I gasp. “Have you seen your family? You all look like you stepped out of an Abercrombie ad.”
“Do not,” he mutters and kisses Liam’s tiny head.
“Yeah, you do,” Natalie nods. “It’s a nice family to be a part of.”
“See?”
“So getting spanked later,” he whispers to me as we join the others to eat.
“Dude, give me my kid.” Isaac holds his hands out for the baby. “And I know he’s the size of a football, but don’t pass him off to the wrong guy. You seem to have issues with that today.”
“Fuck you, Isaac,” Will growls as he hands the baby gingerly to his oldest brother.
“Mouth!” Gail snaps.
“You’re an asshole,” Will mutters at Isaac so their mother can’t hear them.
“I was just giving you a hard time. Too soon?”
“Too soon.”
“What was the issue today, man?” Matt asks, now that the subject has been brought up, and Will sighs, runs his hands down his face and sits heavily a chair, staring down at his full plate of food.
“It was just an off day,” he mumbles. “I think we took too long off last week.”
I bite my lip. We were on vacation last week.
“Stop it,” he catches my attention, his eyes fierce. “This is not your fault. I just should have taken advantage of the hotel gym when we were gone.”
“It’s okay, bro. Next week,” Caleb claps him on the shoulder and sits next to him with a full plate.
And just like that, the subject is dropped. Conversation continues around us, the twins run and play in the yard, babies fuss.
It’s loving, amazing, wonderful chaos.
And I can’t believe I’m here.
“Hey,” Jules nudges my leg under the table and leans in to chat with me so only I can hear. “Have you heard from Leo?”
“No,” I whisper to her.
“Not at all?” She whispers back.
I shake my head and keep my eyes on my food.
“How long?”
“Three years,” I whisper.
“I’m sure his number hasn’t changed.” I meet her worried blue eyes with my own.
“Neither has mine.”
She nods and takes a bite of potato salad. “Good point.”
I look up in time to see Brynna and Caleb share a look, then quickly turn away from each other. What’s going on there? They’re obviously attracted to each other, but they don’t really interact with each other. They just watch each other.
I’ll have to ask Will later.
“So, let’s talk wedding,” Jules claps her hands and bounces a bit in her chair while the guys all groan.
“Can’t you and the girls talk about the wedding later, when we can escape to watch football or something?” Caleb asks, earning a glare from Jules.
“No. We’re less than a month away. Besides, I don’t have much, Alecia is handling most of it all anyway.” She takes a drink of wine and pulls out a list, causing the guys to all groan again and I can’t help but giggle.
“The date, as you all know, is October twelfth. Six in the evening. You have invitations with the address and all that crap.” She takes another drink as we all listen, the guys fidgeting. “Since it’s just Luke and Nat in the wedding, this is going to be easy on all of you. Dress nice, don’t give us any gifts, and come ready to party.”
She tucks the note back in her pocket and resumes eating.
“That’s it?” Matt asks.
“Yep,” she replies with a smile.
“You didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know.”
“I know, I just wanted to talk about my wedding for a minute.” She’s smug as she takes a bite of steak and smacks her mouth as she chews. “Oh! And the bachelorette party is next Sunday night.”
“Why on a Sunday?” Sam asks with a frown.
“Because we have some stupid business thing on Saturday.” Jules rolls her eyes and Nate chuckles. “So, it has to be on Sunday. Every other weekend is full of wedding and football crap.”
“I love you too, sis,” Will throws a roll at her, and she blows him a kiss.
“So, everyone just take Monday off work to recover.”