“My mom isn’t too bad. But her big belly is gonna get in the way,” she giggled and poked her mom with a tiny finger. Cleo gasped and looked down at her stomach. She was just starting to show. She looked like she had eaten a lot at breakfast.
“Here, Mom you can sit down. I’m gonna go find Dallas.” Jimmy jumped up and said goodbye to everyone before quickly running off. I stepped further into the room and watched them get into position.
Mark grabbed his microphone begrudgingly and waited for Adrian and Derek to start playing their instruments. They warmed up with some fun songs from their old albums. It was hilarious and kind of cute hearing Mark try to sing them. He looked miserable the entire time.
I figured the next week would be rough. They took him off the painkillers. Even he admitted that the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it once was. He was going to start physical therapy on Monday, and I did not envy his future therapist. Mark was already a hothead, so now he was extra moody.
I stuck around until I had to leave. I blew him a kiss and took my exit, not wanting to disrupt their work. When I arrived, Erin, Stacie, and Gabby were already inside and mixing things in bowls. They all brightened when I stepped into the kitchen.
“Yay, you’re here. You can make the margaritas.”
* * *
By the time dress rehearsal rolled around I had drank at least five strong drinks. I had made about seven batches. Stumbling into the dressing room I could barely pin my hair back to put the Jackie-O wig on. Thomas, who had shown up only minutes ago came in and helped me. Gabby giggled as she struggled with her own costume.
“It smells like a bar in here. Have you guys been drinking?” He asked which set us into a fit of giggles. He groaned.
“Are you serious? I really don’t want to play this game.” He gave me a pointed look, but I didn’t really care. I stifled my laughs and slipped my black cocktail dress on.
“Well then catch up. Drinks in the kitchen,” I murmured as I set to work on my makeup. With a giant sigh he left the dressing room. He returned just as I was finishing my lipstick. He had a tall red drink in his hand. I giggled and he smiled, taking a long drink.
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
We performed the entire show drunk or buzzed. It was a stumbling mess, but we got through it without a single person missing a line. It was the ultimate test. When we were teenagers, we used to play this game. The only difference was back then we did it in the woods in the middle of the night where no one was going to catch us. It was something completely different being on the actual performance stage. Stacie and Erin made us swear never to tell any of the higher ups what we did. They’d never let them direct again.
When it came to the scene where Marty and Jackie-O finally give in to their desires my scene partner was rather bold. He didn’t hesitate to use his tongue. I pulled away and he reigned in his excitement. When the lights went out, his hands went further than they ever had. I felt him harden against me. I adjusted my body away from him as we continued to kiss. His hand tried going under my dress, and even drunk I knew to push him away. He groaned but didn’t try again.
Once we had all sobered up and had a light dinner together, he apologized in private.
“I know no means no, and even drunk I backed off. I’m sorry if I took it too far.”
I gave him a quick hug and apologized as well.
“I was drunk too, but it’s okay. We were kissing. It’s hard not to get riled up when you’ve been drinking. Let’s just have a bang out show tomorrow.” We all stayed until we were all sober. Finally, I started back to Cleo and Ethan’s. Looking at my car’s radio I saw that it was just after eight.
I popped in and was greeted by Tabatha leaving. I walked through the house, peaking in doorways to find my husband and his friends. I paused when I saw Jimmy in the kitchen alone. She was sitting at the island, eating some red jello. I went into the kitchen and joined her.
“Hey girly, shouldn’t you be in bed?” She shook her head. Her jet black piggy tales bounced.
“We have half a day at school tomorrow. Daddy says we don’t have to go to half days if we don’t want to.” I pondered that for a moment as I watched her eat her late night snack. I guess I understood. Back when I was in school half days were a joke. We just came in and played games or watched a movie until they released us. It was pointless.
“Where’s your brother?” I asked and she gave me a irritated look.
“I don’t know. We do stuff without each other you know,” she snipped.
“Oh. I’m sorry. Do you like doing stuff by yourself?” Her face relaxed and she shrugged.
“Sometimes. Dallas won’t play dolls with me, so I have to do that alone. Or he won’t play tea party with me.”
“Does he do stuff that you don’t like to do?” I asked her and she had to think for a minute. After a moment she nodded.
“He likes scary movies. Him and Daddy watch movies without me all the time.” She sounded jealous.
“Maybe we should do a movie night. Me, you, and your mom. We could make it a real girls’ night.” She lit up.
“Can we? I’m going to go ask my mom right now!” she said and leapt off her chair to go find her. She returned quickly, pulling Cleo along. Cleo was laughing.
“What’s this I hear about a girl’s night?”
