“The baby? Oh em gee. Can we please come over? Please, please, please!” Lola squealed into the phone. I groaned but told her it was fine.
Twenty minutes later the girls plus Rosa’s boyfriend Ben came through the door. Lola was my Uncle Mark’s daughter, while Rosa was my Uncle Adrian’s. They were thick as thieves. Nothing seemingly could come between them, even Ben.
We picked up Ben during the legacy tour. Rosa and Lola’s band was one of our openers. Lola was a little shy, preferring to keep her love life under wraps. If she even had one. I couldn’t really recall her having a boyfriend. Rosa on the other hand was the wild child of our family. Much like her dad, from the stories our parents told us.
Rosa, seventeen now, was the baby of the group but much more mature for her age. I was confident she had a higher body count than I did at twenty-seven. A much higher body count. Men, women, it didn’t matter. Rosa loved everyone. Well, until she met Ben.
Ben was just some kid we picked up on tour. He was handsome, her age, and just as smitten for her as she was for him. They fell hard and fast and she brought him home afterwards. Now, the duo was a trio.
The group of teens crowded around the baby bed and ooh’d and awe’d over her sleeping form.
“I can’t wait ‘til she wakes up and I can hold her!” Lola squealed.
“Can she do stuff yet?” Rosa asked.
“Like what?” I tilted my head in confusion.
“Roll over,” Ben explained. I swear, they were two people with one shared brain.
“Not yet,” I told them. “She can laugh kind of. And smile. She smiles a lot.”
“I bet. She’s got a lot to smile about,” Lola beamed.
The front door clicking and opening moved our attention from the baby to whoever was coming in. My stomach lurched hard when I saw that it was Ronny, carrying a bunch of shopping bags. He set his keys down on the table by the door and froze when he saw us all staring at him. He dropped a few bags on the floor. He raised an eyebrow and waved slowly.
“Hi. What are you all up to?”
“The baby’s here. We’re just checking her out,” Rosa told him.
“Baby?” He was confused for a moment before understanding hit him. He started looking around with coldness in his gray eyes.
“Where’s the dad for it?” he demanded.
“He had to go do something for his job. He’ll be back in a few hours. She’s no bother,” I told him. I wasn’t sure why I cringed away from his angry face. She had every right to be here. I shouldn’t be embarrassed to have my daughter here.
“Well, if I had known you would be stuck with the kid then I wouldn’t have planned for dinner.” He motioned to the bags on the floor.
“Dinner? I can eat,” Rosa interjected. Her friends all commented in agreement.
“Yeah, we were going to get some food after we looked at your guys’ equipment, but we can eat here,” Lola shrugged.
“What are we having?” Ben asked. Ronny and I gave them a look of incredulity. He wasn’t inviting them. He had implied that he wanted the two of us to have dinner alone. That was odd in itself. Since he regained his ability to walk, he hadn’t wanted to be around me.
“I hadn’t planned for a group. I bought stuff for me to cook for Jimmy and Me,” Ronny told them.
“Who cares? We’ll just order something. I haven’t gotten to see the baby yet and I’m not leaving until she wakes up and I get to play with her,” Rosa smirked. I silently thanked her. She probably didn’t realize what she was saving me from, but I thanked her nonetheless. Ronny scowled but said nothing as he pulled out his phone to do as told.
“We really should call Blue and Rocky. Have they seen the baby yet?” Lola added as we played with Cara. I shook my head, a little sad.
“Blue did send a blanket and some shoes with Dallas right after she was born. He keeps saying he’s gong to come visit but he’s so busy these days,” I explained. They nodded.
“He really is. We hardly see him anymore. He’s always at Evan’s Place. I know he likes doing it, but it’s still weird to hang out without him,” Lola added. Rosa smirked and crossed her arms.
“Yeah, Rocky’s like a lost puppy without him. He doesn’t know what to do.”
“It’s true,” Lola looked up at me with big eyes, and I knew what she was going to ask. I sighed.
“I’ll talk to Blue. Maybe see about getting him away from his new job for a bit.”
