“Yeah. Next week.” I’d totally forgotten about it. Typically, we had some sort of party to celebrate, but with everything going on, it was the last thing on my mind.
“I’m planning a party, and we can all meet Kat together,” Max announced.
“Fine.” I gave in. They weren’t going to let the whole Kat thing go until they met her for themselves and realized they were being ridiculous.
“So, it is said. So, it shall be done,” Suzy said and finally relaxed back into her chair.
“Where did all the kids go?” Mia asked after the entire troop ran inside.
“Who knows? Just enjoy the moment of quiet.”
I was talking about the girls more than the kids, but I wasn’t going to say it. My headache from drinking hadn’t waned, and being around my family and their loud voices didn’t do a damn thing to help.
Suzy stuffed a huge bite of flan in her mouth and moaned. “This is amazing.”
“Hmm.” The way I felt, flan would push me over the edge and have me running to the bathroom to hurl into the porcelain goddess. “Glad you like it.”
“I need to get the recipe,” she said as she licked the spoon.
“Suzy.” I rolled my eyes.
“What?” Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned, glancing around the table as we all laughed.
“Let’s be real, sweetie.”
“Shut up, Izzy. I’m a better cook.”
“Yes. Yes, you are. You no longer burn Ragu,” I snickered.
Max tapped on her screen a few times. “Next Saturday night. I posted the party invite online already. It’s set.”
“Well, we didn’t even run it by the guys.”
“I always plan the party,” she said, and she did a bang-up job of it.
Last year, the fire department showed up because we were over capacity. It was one of the biggest parties in our town, and people talked about it for weeks.
“Got the tent too for overflow.”
“Smart,” Mia said.
I laid my head back, watching the overhead ceiling fan swirl in circles before I closed my eyes to enjoy the slight breeze. For spring, it was hotter than Hades on my parents’ lanai. With little wind, the humid air was more stagnant than usual.
I couldn’t wait to get home to the air conditioning and put this day to an end. I wanted my boring life back, getting back to the grind at work and alone time with my husband and kids.
Sometimes it was easy to forget it was the little things and the quiet times that meant the most. Adventure and danger didn’t interest me anymore. I was too old for that shit anyway. I was content with my life, and I decided I’d do everything in my power to keep it calm on the home front. We were at the point where we needed to spend more time together and less time working. Kat would make it happen for me, but what could I do to convince James to dial it back too?
* * *
The third timethe alarm went off, I rolled onto my back and groaned. “Do we have to get up already?”
“I feel like all we do is work,” James said, moving to my side and sliding his hand over my stomach.
I dug my fingers into his hair, twirling it between my fingertips. “I think we need to start taking time off. The kids are growing so fast, baby. We’re missing so much.”
“It’ll be summer soon, and they’ll be off school.”
“Maybe we can cut down to four days a week at work.”
