Jenna let out an exasperated sound and motioned me over. “Here, take over. Apparently, my ‘boobies’ are required at the moment.” She turned to her daughter. “Hayden, come on. Stay out of Mamaw’s way. And did your Daddy actually tell you to come in here and say boobies?”
Hayden followed her, and we all bit our tongues to contain our laughter at the conversation that followed as they left the room.
Hayden replied, “Uhhh…well, he told me to come get you and tell you that the baby was hungry.” Then she asked her mom, “Can I help feed him?”
Jenna sounded resigned as she answered, “Not right now, Hayden. Remember? You can only help when your brother is drinking from his bottle, but Mommy has to use her boobies this time.”
“I could still help, Mommy. I could hold your boobie like I hold the bottle when I feed him other times. You know, like Daddy holds your boobies sometimes.”
There was a pause and then Jenna said, “Oh, I hear Jarrod calling for you. Is he outside? You better go check to see what he wants…”
I glanced over to see Daisy’s and Emma’s shoulders shaking uncontrollably, same as my mother’s, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. A shout of laughter burst out of me, followed by a snort from Emma, and then we all lost it, laughing until we had to wipe our eyes.
Chloe and her mom entered the chaos of the kitchen, looking at us like we’d lost our minds until I recapped the conversation we’d just witnessed, amid bouts of giggling, until they were both laughing right along with us.
I finished filling the muffin pans and took them to my mom who popped them into the oven. That done, I leaned against the counter beside Chloe, asking, “Where were you when I came in? And where’s T.J.?”
She gave her mom a look that I couldn’t decipher and answered wryly, “T.J. said he had something to take care of but sent his regrets and regards. And I was talking to my mother outside. She was explaining that little slip-up your mom almost had last night at the party.”
I turned my head to look at my mom, who just shrugged. “I made a promise. I kept it. But it doesn’t matter now, anyway. Sarah spilled the beans herself.”
“Ohhh-kaaayy…?” I drew the word out, getting more confused by the second.
Chloe took pity on me. “Did you see the guy in the living room?”
I nodded.
“Well, that’s my mom’s boyfriend,” Chloe said. “My mom was hiding him from us because she was afraid that Jackson and I would be upset. Your mom introduced them at the grocery store a few weeks ago.”
“Who the hell is he, Mom?” I asked her. “I’ve never seen him before.”
“I met him at the doctor’s office when I was there for my checkup. He was nice. Sarah and I were at the store together a few weeks ago and ran into him, and…well, the rest is history,” Mom said, waving her hand in the air like it was no big deal.
Emma jumped in. “So, basically what Mom is saying, is that she was picking up random dudes at the doctor’s office.”
Mom swatted Emma’s ass. “You’re not too old, you know. I brought you into this world and I WILL take you out,” she said, glaring at her, but the twinkle in her eyes have her away.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. How many times did we hear that growing up?” she asked me. “And we’re still all alive.”
Mom smacked her again. “That can change in an instant,” she growled, but ruined the effect by laughing.
Sarah laughed and then took over the conversation. “His name is John, he’s a doctor, and he’s widowed with two grown children of his own, but they live in different states. And he’s very, very nice.”
Her face was beaming, and I caught Chloe looking at her, her gaze soft with happiness.
“I don’t know why she was so worried about us knowing she was dating. It makes me happy to know that she’s got someone of her own now. Jacks and I always hoped she’d find someone. So, no more secrets, right Mom?” she asked firmly, pointing her finger at her mom. She turned to my mom then. “Jan?”
Mom and Sarah shared a look and grinned. We could only shake our heads.
“Alright,” my mom said, changing the subject with a clap of her hands. “Let’s get this shit on the table and feed everyone, yeah?”
Breakfast went as it most always did; loud, chaotic, and loaded with hilarity. Calland did as he always does and aggravated Emma non-stop. But don’t think that he didn’t get Jenna and me just as much, because he did. He just chose to pick on Emma that much more because she always got so pissed off at him, which meant everything ended up being ten times funnier than it would have been. Take, for example, the time that Emma and Calland fought over the leftover scalloped potatoes my mom had made. They ended up in the driveway with Emma stomping her feet and Calland licking the whole bowl of potatoes just so Emma wouldn’t take them. Of course, they didn’t know that there were double the amount of potatoes and I’d already filled and hidden a bowl of my own. I learned real quick to be smart like that as the youngest.
Anyway, Calland took Emma’s bacon, Emma squealed, got more, he took that bacon, too, and so on and so forth. Luke shut it down, finally, by giving Emma the napkin full of bacon he’d already grabbed and stored by his plate. He was smart, too, because he knew how to keep his wife happy. Given the look she sent him, she was planning on making him pretty happy later.
I’d caught Ian’s eye as he sat across the table from me, his eyes warm and bright, enjoying the loud banter and the complete chaos that was my family, and it filled my heart even more, just as it did every time I watched him interacting with my family and friends. And just as always, I counted my lucky stars because I still couldn’t believe that he was mine, that he loved me.
We’d hung out a little while longer once everyone was done eating and the mess had been cleared away, but eventually took our leave when Chloe and Brandon did.
“So, John is nice,” I hedged to Chloe, feeling her out.
“He is. I don’t know why Mom was so worried about Jacks and I. Seriously, our father left a long time ago. I’d have been happy for my mom to have met someone back when we lived in L.A., but she always seemed content with just us. I don’t know, I guess now that we’re all here, and she knows that we’re settled and beyond happy,” she looked over at Brandon and I could see her feeling written clearly across her face, “she can focus on maybe finding that happiness for herself.”
Brandon winked at Chloe, his face echoing perfectly everything that Chloe’s had. They’d had a bit of a rough start, since Brandon and Jacks both were with Allie before Chloe had come to town, but long story short, things worked out the way they should have, and it was clear to anyone who was around them that they were totally and irrevocably in love with each other, same as my sister and Luke, and Allie and Jacks.
“Well, what are you two kids up to now, since you had to change your plans around?” I nudged Chloe with my shoulder to get her attention, but Brandon’s the one that answered me.
“We were going to go down to Newport to walk around the aquarium and get something to eat down there afterwards, but instead, when T.J. gets done, we’re just gonna meet him up at the lake to take out the new boat he just got.”