Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
She seemed as if she would be a natural mother, and I know if I wanted anyone to have my children, it would be her. I could even picture her pregnant, glowing and grouchy–nothing would matter, she would have everything handed to her on a silver platter. I’d give her the world a thousand times over.
Unfortunately, I don’t think my fantasies played into or alongside her goals. She’s made it clear, she wants no part in settling down.
Looking in the mirror, I wipe tirelessly, trying to get the damn red lipstick off my face so the boys won’t razz me all night, but it isn’t budging.
“Damn it, Lex, pregnant women should get first dibs on bathrooms. How much longer are you going to be?” Lily bangs on the door to emphasize the urgency of her words.
Shit! “I’m out! But you have to,” I open the door, so she sees the mess on my face, “save me from the catcaller you married.”
Lily laughs as she yanks me out of the bathroom and slams the door shut. “If your beauty removal regime makes me pee my pants, all bets are off!”
I laugh and rattle-tap-tap the door before I leave and head back to the party. Lily is such a good match for Seb. She is fun and feisty and gives a burst of life to my sometimes mechanical brother.
When I enter the kitchen, I see Maddie waddling between the sea of legs and save her just before she gets away from me, which causes her to erupt with giggles. We are doing the mid-dinner break, where we get up, stretch our legs, and make coffee. While it’s brewing, we slice up the pie and then take it all back into the dining room for round two.
This is our way, and the way it’s been for a few years now. Family has always been important to my father, but it became even more important when my mother walked away.
I listen as the family pummels Jude with questions, wanting to know her better now that she’s had time to settle in.
“So, how did you and Lex meet?” Rem asks as he bounces Kayla in his arms.
“We met at a social outing.” Of course, she is being vague, and I wonder then if she is uncomfortable. I decide to stay close in case she needs me to run interference and get my brothers to shut up.
“Lex does social outings?” Rem raises an eyebrow at me as he makes air quotes with his free hand. “That sounds like what a man wearing lipstick would do.”
I scratch my head with my middle finger pointed, so he knows it’s for him.
He pretends to pick his nose and offers me a booger.
I give him a look, and we both break out into laughter.
“Well, it was maybe more of a bar?” Jude is out of her depth. I’m doubtful she even knows how to read their responses.
“Where did you grow up?”
“What is your family like?”
“Do you have siblings too?”
The questions come out almost simultaneously from Lily and Jules.
Pops walks in and redirects things right as I was about to.
“Ah, quit peppering my muse. She will tell us all about herself when she is ready. In the meantime, let her just get used to all of you,” he wiggles the foot of Kayla, “and you, kiddos.”
Jude looks panicky and grateful as if she just missed getting hit by a train.
I walk toward her with Maggie in my arms. Almost the second we reach Jude, Maggie leans in, trying to get into Jude’s arms and away from me.
“Do you mind holding her? I chuckle. “I think she loves you.”
“Are you kidding? I want to run out the door with her and keep her forever. She and Kayla both! They are beyond cute.”
Maggie wraps her arms around Jude’s neck and squeezes hard, then gives her several pecks on the cheek before squeezing her again. It is as if she knows Jude has been through something rough and needs something a little extra.
Jude’s eyes well up, and she coos against Maggie’s blonde curls and then the two of them lock eyes and share some sort of blonde woman conversation that is at a decibel level I will never be able to hear. Maggie seems to be saying something, and Jude sways the two of them as she nods and queries Maggie about details and specifics. I am absolutely charmed, never having seen Maggie take to anyone like this, or behave in this manner.
I realize I’m not the only one that has noticed. Pops, Sebastian, and now, Lily, who is just walking in from the bathroom, stand with me as we stare together in awe, watching something extraordinary unfold before us. It’s not long before Rem and Jules pause to watch, too.
If I was ever unsure of how I felt about Jude, the doubt dissipates, and in this moment, I suddenly know what I feel is far, far more than protectiveness. But how will I ever be able to convince her that we belong together? She is so afraid, so uncertain.