“Kids.” Cade glowers. “Who let Medusa into the house?”
“She needed to go to the salon, Daddy. Doesn’t she look beautiful?” Maysie asks excitedly next to me, making me giggle.
“Outside. Now, Maysie.”
“I’ll get her,” I say, pushing away from the table.
“Baby, you don’t wanna do that. She will bite your face off,” West says, placing a hand on my arm.
“Jade isn’t a baby, Uncle West.” Little brows furrow on Maysie’s face, and the table chuckles, making my cheeks heat.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it,” I say, getting down onto my hands and knees.
“Hey there, sweet girl,” I say to the cat that’s curled up under Wren’s chair.
“If that cat bites her, it’s dead,” I hear West tell his brother, and I roll my eyes, focusing on getting closer to Medusa. She sniffs my hand and then nudges it with her head. I stroke her fur until she purrs, and then I scoop her into my arms, and pull her out from under the table.
“You aren’t so bad are you sweetheart?” I coo into her fur.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Beau says.
“Jade, don’t trust that thing,” West says, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Awe, she isn’t so bad. Just looking for attention,” I tell the table.
“The kids are the only ones she allows to pick her up,” Wren says, looking at the cat in my arms. “I once had to get stitches from trying to pick her up.”
Hayes reaches out to pet it, and the cat curls into my chest, hissing.
“See!” West shouts.
“Okay, I’ll put her outside.” I chuckle, sliding the glass door open and setting her down.
Once I’m seated back at the table, Hayes speaks up. “So, baby, hey?”
“Hayes. You leave your brother alone,” Astrid scolds her youngest son.
“Why does everyone keep saying baby?” Maysie asks, her little face scrunched in confusion. “Does Jade have a baby in her belly?”
If my cheeks weren’t red already, they are definitely scarlet now.
“No, sweetie. It’s just a term of endearment. Like how Papa calls me hunny,” Astrid explains to the little girl.
She thinks about it then shrugs, already over it. “Did Uncle West tell you I get to be a flower girl at his and Jade’s wedding?”
All eyes around the table go wide as they look between me and West, who’s rubbing his hands down in his face.
“Maysie daisy, we already talked about this. Jade and I aren’t getting married right now.”
“Right now? So there is a chance?” Hayes drawls, holding back a laugh.
“Knock it off, bonehead. Your brother is going to have a stroke here. Leave him alone,” Beau scolds, smacking the side of Hayes’s head.
“So, what’s for dessert?” Wren asks, saving West and I from this awkward conversation.
“Jade brought pie,” Cade says, getting up.
We all help clear the table and put away the dirty dishes before sitting back down for pie.
