“Too soon.”
“What was the issue today, man?” Matt asks, now that the subject has been brought up, and Will sighs, runs his hands down his face and sits heavily a chair, staring down at his full plate of food.
“It was just an off day,” he mumbles. “I think we took too long off last week.”
I bite my lip. We were on vacation last week.
“Stop it,” he catches my attention, his eyes fierce. “This is not your fault. I just should have taken advantage of the hotel gym when we were gone.”
“It’s okay, bro. Next week,” Caleb claps him on the shoulder and sits next to him with a full plate.
And just like that, the subject is dropped. Conversation continues around us, the twins run and play in the yard, babies fuss.
It’s loving, amazing, wonderful chaos.
And I can’t believe I’m here.
“Hey,” Jules nudges my leg under the table and leans in to chat with me so only I can hear. “Have you heard from Leo?”
“No,” I whisper to her.
“Not at all?” She whispers back.
I shake my head and keep my eyes on my food.
“How long?”
“Three years,” I whisper.
“I’m sure his number hasn’t changed.” I meet her worried blue eyes with my own.
“Neither has mine.”
She nods and takes a bite of potato salad. “Good point.”
I look up in time to see Brynna and Caleb share a look, then quickly turn away from each other. What’s going on there? They’re obviously attracted to each other, but they don’t really interact with each other. They just watch each other.
I’ll have to ask Will later.
“So, let’s talk wedding,” Jules claps her hands and bounces a bit in her chair while the guys all groan.
“Can’t you and the girls talk about the wedding later, when we can escape to watch football or something?” Caleb asks, earning a glare from Jules.
“No. We’re less than a month away. Besides, I don’t have much, Alecia is handling most of it all anyway.” She takes a drink of wine and pulls out a list, causing the guys to all groan again and I can’t help but giggle.
“The date, as you all know, is October twelfth. Six in the evening. You have invitations with the address and all that crap.” She takes another drink as we all listen, the guys fidgeting. “Since it’s just Luke and Nat in the wedding, this is going to be easy on all of you. Dress nice, don’t give us any gifts, and come ready to party.”
She tucks the note back in her pocket and resumes eating.
“That’s it?” Matt asks.
“Yep,” she replies with a smile.
“You didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know.”
“I know, I just wanted to talk about my wedding for a minute.” She’s smug as she takes a bite of steak and smacks her mouth as she chews. “Oh! And the bachelorette party is next Sunday night.”
“Why on a Sunday?” Sam asks with a frown.
“Because we have some stupid business thing on Saturday.” Jules rolls her eyes and Nate chuckles. “So, it has to be on Sunday. Every other weekend is full of wedding and football crap.”
“I love you too, sis,” Will throws a roll at her, and she blows him a kiss.
“So, everyone just take Monday off work to recover.”
I giggle to myself. Jules is so not a selfish woman, she just thinks that things are simple. Like, everyone in the world should have no problem taking a day off work to recover from a hang-over.
“You’re coming,” she pins me with a glare, daring me to say otherwise. I quickly run through my schedule in my head, aware that Will’s eyes are on me.
“I believe I have next Sunday night off. I’ll let them know I’m not available for on-call that night.”
“Good,” Natalie grins. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Steven stands, holding his beer in the air. “I want to propose a toast. To my family, which has grown by leaps and bounds this past year. I am a blessed man, to be surrounded by good men, beautiful women, and the most amazing babies ever born.”
“To family!” Luke’s dad agrees, and everyone drinks, and then breaks off into conversation again.
As we’re finishing dessert, the sky opens up. I knew I smelled rain earlier. We are, thankfully, under a covered patio, and most of the food has been cleared away. The four brothers work together to cover the now-cool grill, and we take the babies inside out of the humidity. For the rest of the afternoon, a football game plays on the television and adults play card games with the twins. The babies are fed, rocked, changed and fussed over.
Luke, Stacy and Brynna’s parents all leave.
Will and I are lounging at one end of a large leather sectional couch, watching football, my head in his lap. I yawn and feel my eyelids droop.
“Hey, lazy bones, are you ready to go home?”
“When you are. I’m in no hurry.”
He smiles gently down at me, his eyes soft. “I love you,” he mouths.
I grin up at him, happily, and run my hand down his smooth cheek. “You’re so handsome.”