Elise went to her fridge to grab beers for everyone. They’d finally gotten all the boxes moved into the house, and they could relax. She carried the bottles into the family room where the guys were hooking up her TV, so they could watch Netflix. Thankfully, one of the things she had done the day before was get her internet set up.

Elise handed a beer to Rachel, who was lying on the floor, and one to Heidi, who was sitting next to her, leaning back against the couch. Tera and Kristen were sprawled out on each end of the sofa, and Elise gave them their drinks as well. James had left about half an hour earlier, saying he had other things to do, but Elise was pretty sure he just didn’t want to be around her sister longer.

Elise set Luke’s, Sean’s, and Nate’s bottles on the coffee table and plopped down in the recliner.

She studied Luke for a moment. He seemed to be in a better mood now than he had been after they had sex. She didn’t know what, but something must have happened with Sean in the basement because Luke had not been in a good mood when he came upstairs. She suspected Sean knew about the two of them because he had looked skeptical when he walked into the laundry room. But, when she’d asked Luke what was wrong, he’d said nothing. She had seen he wasn’t ready to talk about it, and she had decided to give him his space.

“Sorry, I don’t have any other alcohol,” Elise told the group. “I can run to the store and get something else if someone wants it. I was just so excited to be able to have beer in my fridge that I forgot about buying anything else.”

Nate, not caring there was little room in between Tera and Kristen, picked up a beer and planted his butt right in the middle of the two before throwing his feet up onto the coffee table. “Why couldn’t you have beer before?”

“Her parents are a little religious. They don’t drink,” Rachel explained.

Kristen snorted. “A little? More like ultra.”

Elise grimaced. “I wouldn’t say ultra. They are quite religious. Their church doesn’t believe in drinking, but I have met people with stricter religions. I worked with someone in Denver who didn’t own a television because their church frowned upon it.”

Kristen’s eyes got big. “I guess it could be worse. But Mom and Dad are pretty bad, especially Mom. Quite frankly, I’m surprised we were ever born, Elise. Mom acts like sex is evil, so the fact that she ever let Dad in her pants is a mystery.”

“She’s actually said that?” Luke asked. “Your mom, thinking sex is evil,” he clarified.

“In Mom’s defense, I think she was referring to sex outside of marriage.”

Kristen wrinkled her nose and took a drink out of her bottle. “Could be. That whole conversation is a bit of a blur.”

“What conversation?” Tera asked.

“The one where I had to tell my parents I was knocked up.”

“Ooh,” Tera said.

“Yeah,” Kristen agreed.

“If it helps, Kristen, Mom and Dad disapproved of Rachel and Sean.”

Rachel bolted upright, spilling her beer on her hand. “What? But we’re engaged.”

“But you’re not married, and you’re living together.”

Sean turned around from where he’d been facing the television and scowled. “That’s BS.”

“I agree,” Rachel said, lying back down.

Elise shrugged. “I agree, too. But it is what it is. They’re old-fashioned. I’ve given up on trying to bring them into the twenty-first century.”

“Yeah, well, they don’t have to make everyone else’s lives miserable, too,” Kristen muttered.

Elise frowned at her sister. Is this because she’s on the brink of divorce and our parents wouldn’t understand?

Rachel’s phone made a noise, so she picked it up from where it was lying beside her on the floor. She looked at the display. “Oh my God,” she said as she jolted upright again. “Shelly had her baby!”

“What?” Heidi said. She worked at the same school as Rachel and Shelly. Heidi scrambled off the floor and grabbed her phone out of her purse. “Oh my God. That baby is so cute.”

Rachel stood up. “I want to go visit.”

“Doesn’t she need to rest?” Elise asked.

“Nope. It says Virginia Rose was born at eleven fifty-two p.m. last night and that mom and baby spent the day resting, so visitors are welcome,” Rachel said. “She said we’re all welcome.”

Elise was excited. She didn’t know Shelly that well, but she really wanted to go and see the baby.

“If you guys go, then I’d better bug out since I’ve never met her,” Kristen said as she stood up.

Elise got up from her chair and walked her sister to the front door. She gave her a hug. “Thanks for coming and helping. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. That’s what sisters are for.”

Elise squeezed Kristen’s hand. “Call me if you need anything. Otherwise, let’s have dinner sometime this week.”

“You’re on.” Kristen hugged her again.

Kristen took off, and Elise walked back to the family room.

Tera stood and stretched. “I’d better go, too. I don’t know Shelly either. But, if you guys come back here and drink some more, give me a call.”

Nate stood. “Same here. She probably wouldn’t appreciate some strange guy showing up in her hospital room.”

Elise walked the two of them out, thanking them for all their help and promising to call later.

“Is it really okay if we go visit?” Elise asked when she rejoined the rest of the group. “And should we shower and change first since we were working all day?”

Rachel waved off her concern. “Nope. I told Shelly we were coming, and she can take us as we are.”

Luke stood from near Elise’s entertainment center. “Just in time, too, seeing as how we finally got the TV set up.”

Luke smiled as Elise fawned over Virginia Rose.

“She is so precious.” Elise ran her hand over the baby’s head as Rachel held her. “And look at all this red hair.”

“I told you I couldn’t wait to see their little ginger baby,” Rachel said. “And look at those blue eyes. I know they’ll probably change, but they’re so beautiful.”

Shelly and Joe laughed.

“I knew we’d have a redhead, obviously,” Shelly said, “but I had no idea she’d be born with so much hair. I figured she’d be bald until she was two. And we thought the same thing about her eyes. I’m secretly hoping they stay that way.”

Elise held out her arms. “Can I hold her now?”

Rachel pouted. “Okay, fine,” she relented as she handed the baby over.

“Hi, sweet pea,” Elise said. “I haven’t held a baby in a long time.” She looked up at Shelly. “You know, anytime you need a babysitter…”

Shelly smiled. “Good to know.”

“Me, too, of course,” Rachel said.

Elise bumped her hip into Rachel’s. “We can do it together.”

“Yay! We’d have so much fun.”

“What about you guys?” Joe asked. “Are you going to offer to babysit, too?”

Luke and Sean looked at each other.

“Uh…” Sean said while Luke didn’t say anything.

“I’m kidding,” Joe said.

“Whew, because I have no idea what to do with a baby.”

“Well, you’d better learn soon.” Rachel kissed the top of Virginia’s head.

When she looked up, everyone was staring at her.

Elise spoke first, “Rachel, are you trying to tell us that you’re—”

“What?” Rachel looked confused at first until realization dawned. “No. I’m just saying that, as soon as the ring is on my finger, bye-bye goes the birth control.”

Luke and Joe laughed at Sean’s deer-in-the-headlights expression.

“You might as well start preparing yourself now, man,” Joe advised him.

“It’ll be entertaining for sure to see Sean with a baby,” Luke said.

“Me? What about you?”

“I can handle a baby just fine,” Luke bragged.

He didn’t have any nieces or nephews yet, despite having three siblings, one of whom was older. But he’d grown up with a lot of cousins, and he’d had to do plenty of babysitting of them and his younger siblings.

Everyone looked at Luke like they didn’t believe him, which kind of chapped his ass. First, Sean had thought he was going to use Elise, and now, everyone thought he was a baby hater. Today was not Luke’s day.

At that moment, Virginia started to fuss, and Elise’s attempts to calm her weren’t working. “Is she hungry?”

“I don’t think so,” Shelly said. “She just finished nursing right before you guys got here. She’s been doing this on and off, and we can’t seem to calm her down.” Shelly sat up better on her bed and winced. “I can take her.”

Luke stepped closer to Elise. “Give her to me.”

Elise doubtfully looked at him. Luke tried not to let her uncertainty bother him, but it still rubbed him the wrong way.

He made a come-here motion. “Let me hold her.”

Elise looked to Shelly, who nodded, and then Elise gave him the baby.

Instead of cradling the baby in the crook of his arm, he placed the baby on his chest. Luke was wearing a V-neck T-shirt, and he pulled it down, so little Virginia’s head was on his skin. He turned away from everyone and began shushing her over and over as he bounced lightly on his feet. After several seconds, she settled down, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

When Luke turned around, everyone was staring at him again.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re, like, a baby whisperer,” Joe said. “I’m calling you first to babysit.”

“Screw that. I’m calling you in the middle of the night,” Shelly added.

Luke smiled. “It’s not that hard to do. I put her on my chest, so she can hear my heart beating, and I moved my shirt down, so she can have skin-to-skin contact. And then either rock her or bounce her as you make a shh noise.”

“Nope,” Joe said. “You’re still a baby whisperer.”

Luke laughed softly so as not to wake Virginia as he continued to bounce her in his arms. He kissed her downy head before looking up at Elise, and when he did, he couldn’t quite read the expression on her face, but she looked like she was in awe.