Chapter Seventeen

It seemed as if it had been months since the ladies of Danvers had gotten together for a meal. Claire had organized a dinner outing to celebrate Suzy’s return from maternity leave. She’d actually been back for almost a month now, but this was the first date on which everyone’s schedules meshed. Lydia walked the few blocks to the Mexican restaurant with Mia and Crystal. Claire, Suzy, and Beth were a few steps in front of them, and Ella, Emma, Gwen, and Ava were bringing up the rear. If the laughter floating through the air was any indication, all the women were in good spirits and ready to blow off some steam.

After they had been seated, Emma rubbed her hands together and said, “Brant and Mac are running a taxi service for us tonight, girls, so everyone is getting the fishbowl margarita. If any of you have a bun in the oven, speak up now. Otherwise, you’re drinking some alcohol!”

She’d already placed the order for everyone’s drinks when Suzy put both elbows on the table and said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but no booze for me. I’m almost four months pregnant.”

Silence. You could have heard a pin drop as everyone stared at her as if waiting for the punchline. Then Claire turned to her best friend and asked, “Really? You’re pregnant?” When Suzy nodded, Claire snapped, “Well, you know I’m happy for you, but damn, what happened to the whole telling your BFF everything? I just thought you were stress eating.”

As Suzy glared daggers at Claire over the “stress eating” comment, Beth elbowed Claire. “What are you pouting about? I’m her freaking sister and this is the first I’ve heard of it.” Then her expression softened as she asked, “Four months? You made it out of the first trimester.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Suzy groaned as she looked at the teary-eyed group before her. “Can we please not make a big deal out of this? No, we haven’t told anyone yet. With all of the miscarriages we’ve had, we didn’t want to jinx anything. We have plenty of time tomorrow to talk about it, but tonight, let’s just do what we all do best. Talk dirty and insult each other. I’ve spent months covered in puke, poop, and piss. Tonight, I want to be an adult.” Giving Claire a pointed look, she added, “I’m not going to forget that comment about me being a pig.”

“Whoops.” Claire giggled. “I was just a tad surprised at the way you inhaled your donut this morning and then grabbed the half-eaten one from my hand and finished it off too.” Holding her hands up defensively, she added, “No judgment here. I gained fifty pounds when I was pregnant with Chrissy. I have no room to talk.”

“My ass was the size of a freaking tanker truck,” Gwen piped in.

“Oh, it was not,” Ella muttered.

“Really?” Gwen looked at her friend. “Dominic picked me up to carry me over the threshold and had to see a chiropractor for a flipping month after that. He could barely get out of bed the next morning, and we all know the man is in shape.”

“Excuse me!” Mia waved a hand. “Hold it right there.” Staring Gwen down, she asked, “And why would Dominic be carrying you over the threshold? Unless I’m mistaken, that happens after you get married. But to my knowledge, you haven’t made an honest man out of your baby daddy yet.”

Once again, silence descended. Lydia found herself munching on the chips in front of her as if they were popcorn at a movie. This was better than anything she’d seen in the theater lately. “Holy crap,” Crystal whispered from beside her. She noticed her friend was also eating while watching the action.

Gwen’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she released an audible breath. “All right, Dominic and I are married. There—cat’s out of the bag. We went to city hall, so don’t be offended. We didn’t invite anyone.”

“And when was this?” Crystal asked, sounding more curious than offended that she hadn’t known.

“Afewmonthsbeforethebabywasborn,” Gwen mumbled quickly before taking a big drink of her margarita.

As Lydia was trying to decipher what she’d said, Ava blurted out, “You’ve been married since before Cameron was born? That was months ago! Does Mac know?”

Shaking her head, Gwen said sheepishly, “No. I know those guys tell each other most everything, but we agreed to keep it to ourselves for now.”

“But why?” Emma asked, sounding puzzled. “You have a baby together and you’re crazy about each other. Why the secret wedding?”

“It didn’t really start out that way,” Gwen replied. “I’ve felt married to Dom since the day we told each other how we felt. We had so much going on trying to get a bigger place before the baby was born and preparing for his arrival that I couldn’t take on anything else. Then Dom told me one evening that he really wanted for us to be married before Cameron was born. I had no idea that it bothered him. So we got our marriage license the next day and went to the courthouse to make it official. We planned to have a big party and announce it then, but um . . . we’re still planning that party.”

“That’s a little whacked,” Emma inserted but softened the sting by laughing. “You ladies can rest assured, when I marry my stud, you’ll all know well ahead of time and you better damn well be there. I’m going to pick out some of the ugliest bridesmaids dresses you’ve ever seen and you’re all wearing them.” Pointing at Ava, she added, “You’ll be getting the bubblegum pink one with all the lace as my matron of honor.”

Ava, who was always impeccably dressed, visibly shuddered. “I guess I just assumed you’d plan something like a hog roast where you and my brother would wear overalls and grab each other’s crotches as you said, ‘I do.’”

The first margarita spray of the evening occurred when Ella spewed hers all over the table, and then begin frantically attempting to wipe it up. “Um, sorry about that,” she muttered. Then she slid her hand across to give Ava a high five. “Man, that was a good one.”

Even Emma, who had been the subject of the joke, couldn’t contain her laughter. “I don’t know about the hog part,” she gasped out, “but I’ll certainly have a handful of some part of Brant. I mean, Ava, have you actually stopped to look at your brothers?” Nodding at Ella, she added, “Chuckles over there is married to a man with that brooding, intense thing going on. And now, more often than not, he’s carrying his daughter around, which is holy freaking hot.”

Ella raised her glass saying, “Hear, hear!”

“Damn, I’ve missed you crazy bitches,” Suzy muttered contently. Far from offending anyone, her comment was received by the entire group like a compliment. To be appreciated and accepted by Suzy Merimon was no small thing. She was outspoken and never bothered to temper her words for anyone. She would always be the coolest kid on the playground. The one all the other kids would gravitate toward and hope to become a part of her inner circle.

“I know we’re not supposed to mention it, but how’s the pregnancy treating you?” Beth asked her sister. “Please don’t throw anything at me!” She ducked playfully before grinning at Suzy.

Suzy rolled her eyes as if she’d been expecting the question. “Well, you know that whole pregnancy glow thing?” When everyone nodded, she deadpanned, “It’s actually just gas.”

“Ugh!” Mia gagged. “Women aren’t supposed to admit to stuff like that. It totally kills our mysterious allure.”

“Wait until you have a kid lodged up in there,” Suzy warned. “I spent the first three months scared out of my mind that I’d miscarry, but this last month, I’ve relaxed enough that all of the gross stuff is finally getting through to me. For a while, something as simple as a gas pain sent me into a damn panic attack. Now I know I need to find some private place away from Gray and let ’er rip.”

Claire, Beth, and Gwen were laughing so hard, Lydia was afraid they would fall out of their chairs at any moment. Having children themselves, apparently they understood where Suzy was coming from. Claire even managed to choke out, “Boy, do I remember that. Jason and I hadn’t been together that long and then I was pregnant. So stuff like that really embarrassed me. The few times it slipped out, he’d be all cool about it, but I just knew he was thinking to himself, ‘Steer clear of her tonight!’”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a tough combination with the whole horniness so you’re panting after anything with a pecker,” Beth added. “I’d be wrestling Nick to the floor and have my hand in his pants before—”

“Must we talk about my brother-in-law?” Suzy gagged. “I’ve been lucky enough to avoid a lot of morning sickness, but you’re making me want to hurl.”

“I’m pretty sure that Dominic thought that was the best part of my pregnancy,” Gwen piped in. “Even when I felt as big as a house, I still drooled when he walked into a room.”

“Honey, everyone has a little saliva overload when he’s around.” Emma winked.

“Anyway,” Suzy continued, “there’s the gas, and yes, as you’ve said, I’ve been as horny as a whore at an all-girls’ school.” When a wave of laughter met her last statement, she shook her head and said, “You all really need to get out more. So, as I was saying, my tits hurt, it takes me like ten attempts to go poop, but I can pee every other minute. Everything I eat gives me heartburn, and I want to eat all the damn time. I made Gray go through the McDonald’s drive-thru last night so I could have a freaking snack on the way to dinner. I actually ate a cheeseburger before we got to the restaurant for our actual meal. And probably one of the weirdest things is I love to smell car exhaust now. No shit, I’ll be at a red light behind a big old monster truck and those fumes will be like flipping nirvana.” Shaking her head, she added, “That’s completely whacked.”

“Wait until you get a case of hemorrhoids.” Claire grinned. “That’s when the real fun begins.”

“Oh, hell no,” Suzy huffed out. “There is nothing else weird going on with this ass. I’m already at capacity for crazy stuff right now.” Groaning, she looked around the table and demanded, “Someone talk intercourse, please. I’ve never even enjoyed a good fart joke, so this stuff is killing me.”

Lydia couldn’t believe her ears when Crystal spoke up. “Mark spanked me last night, and it was so hot. He put me right over his lap.”

“And that was so not what I was expecting to hear,” Suzy said in disbelief. “It’s way more than I could have hoped for, though. Boy, you don’t play around, do you, Tinkerbelle?”

“Spanked by DeStudo,” Mia purred, “how poetic. I bet that man gives excellent hand.”

“Well, we don’t call him Mr. Big for nothing now, do we?” Lydia joked. Heck, hearing that from Crystal made her want to go home and ask Jake to put her over his knee. She had a feeling he’d really be into that. He certainly was a fan of changing positions multiple times during sex. This one would probably blow his mind if she suggested it—when she suggested it.

All too soon, several hours had passed and Brant walked in, followed by Mac. Then surprisingly enough, Jake appeared next and headed straight for her. “Hey, baby,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned down to drop a kiss on her upturned mouth.

“I didn’t know you were coming.” She smiled as she took in her sexy husband in his jeans and a T-shirt. The things she wanted to do to that man of hers tonight. She wasn’t sure if they’d actually get out of the parking lot before she had her way with him.

“I wanted to take care of my own woman,” he said possessively, which effectively set her clit on fire.

Jumping to her feet, then swaying slightly as the alcohol hit her, she whisper-shouted to her friends, “I’ve got to go now.” When Jake turned his back to say something to Brant, Lydia made a grabbing motion at his ass, causing the other women to howl in laughter. He flipped back around and gave her a questioning look, to which she replied innocently, “They’re drunk.”

Next to her, Emma appeared to be attempting a tonsillectomy on Brant, much to Ava’s disgust. Lydia had a feeling it was also mostly for Ava’s benefit. Those two certainly loved getting to each other.

Jake held her hand while she made her way around the room to hug each woman good night. Then he walked her to his truck and helped her carefully inside as if she were a breakable heirloom. When he clipped her seatbelt in place, she kissed his cheek before he could pull back. “I love you,” she murmured dreamily.

His answering smile was soft as he replied, “I love you too, baby. Let’s get you home and in bed.”

“Mmm, I’m going to do stuff to you when we get there.” Wrinkling her forehead in deep thought, she added, “I’m not sure what, but it’ll come to me.”

She heard him laughing as he shut her door and walked around to his side. He held her hand as they made the trip home. “It looked like you ladies had a great time,” he remarked in a voice filled with amusement.

“Oh, we did.” She giggled. “One of them is pregnant. It’s Beth. No, wait, that’s not right. Maybe it’s Claire. And she has glow gas. Like really bad.” Attempting to bring Jake into focus through her suddenly blurry eyes, she asked, “Would you still love me if I farted like a mule? Because someone at dinner does that.” Before he could answer, she snapped her fingers together clumsily. “It’s Suzy! She’s the one with something in her oven and she’s got gas.” She thought she heard Jake choking when she added, “And she’s horny all the time.”

“That’s um . . . tough,” Jake said, still sounding wheezy.

“You bet your ass it is.” She nodded. “I want to ride your big stick all the time too so I understand that. When we get home, I’m totally doing that to you. Just wait, it’s going to be the hottest thing ever.”

Patting her hand, Jake said, “I’m sure it will, baby.”

They fell silent for the rest of the trip. At one point, Lydia thought she’d actually woken herself up snoring. She wasn’t sure how that was possible since she didn’t remember going to sleep. Wow, what is Jake doing? Why is the truck rocking so much? Back and forth, back and forth. “Honey,” she said weakly. “I’m not feeling too good. Could you please keep the vehicle straight?”

“Oh shit,” she heard him mutter.

One moment, she was sitting beside him on the way home, and the next, she was bent over a bush in the front yard as her two or maybe three margaritas staged a revolt. Through it all, Jake was right there with her. Holding her up and keeping her hair out of the way. He was her white knight and absolutely the one man she wanted around when she was tossing her cookies. In her drunken state, she had a startling moment of clarity. Real men—the keepers—weren’t there just for the good times or the amazing sex. No, they were there beside you in the trenches when you were at your lowest and they still looked at you as if they were the luckiest bastards alive. Any guy can be a husband, but only a real man will ever use his shirt to wipe your face after you’ve defaced the magnolia bush in clear sight of all the neighbors at midnight. And that same man will carry you in the house, brush your teeth even though your breath smells worse than a dead cat, and then hold you up while he stands in the shower fully clothed himself to clean you off. He will dress your limp body and tuck you lovingly into bed, where he will stay awake to check on you repeatedly throughout the night.

As she felt him kiss her forehead and say, “I love you,” Lydia knew that through all the heartache and loss in her life, she’d found it. The guy who had turned into a man just to love her. It wasn’t that he was better than Brett had been. It was quite simply that when God took one angel from her life, he blessed her three years later with another one. Their beginning might have been unconventional, but in the end, they’d gotten it right, and wasn’t that all any couple could hope for? Each love story takes a different route, but if you truly love each other, you’ll always reach your destination together, no matter what road you travel to get there.