Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
She took my hand and squeezed it, glancing at her son, who was now playing Barbies with his niece. “Is Joey treating you right?”
Pushing the unpleasant thought aside, I smiled at the way everyone in his family still called him Joey, like he was a little boy. “Yes. He is.” Suddenly, the baby kicked. “Ooh! He’s moving!”
Coco gasped. “Can I?” she asked, a hand hovering over my belly.
I nodded. “Of course. It’s right . . .” I placed her hand where I’d felt it. In just a few seconds, he kicked again.
“I felt it!” She laughed. “He’s strong!”
Joe popped to his feet and came over. “He’s moving?”
“Yes.”
“Sit here, Joey.” Ellie rose to her feet. “I’m going to get another glass of wine.” She smiled at me before heading for the kitchen. “Nice chatting with you, Mabel.”
“You too,” I said as Joe dropped down next to me.
“Mom, you’re taking up all the room,” he complained, trying to find space for his wide palms on my stomach.
Coco sighed. “Fine, I’ll let you. It was over here,” she said, removing her hands. “On the side.”
Joe slid his palms over to where hers had been, and a moment later, the baby gave them a thump. He grinned. “I felt it!”
I laughed. “He’s all hopped up on sugar. I ate so much dessert, he’ll probably be awake all night.”
At that moment, Nick moved to the front of the fireplace and stood with a glass of wine in his hand. “Since we’re all here, I’d like to make a toast.”
The adults in the room quieted, and someone turned down the music. The younger kids continued to make noise, but Gianni shushed them.
Joe sat back, placing his arm along the back of the couch above my shoulders.
“Days like today make me feel so grateful for all that I have,” Nick said, “especially this house, the love that makes it a home, and this family. Four incredible children, the amazing partners they’ve chosen, the five gorgeous grandkids they’ve given us, and those yet to come.” He looked over at me and smiled before his eyes moved to his wife. “And every day, I am thankful to wake up next to the most beautiful woman in the world. I don’t know how I convinced her to choose me, but she did, and I’ll never take it for granted.”
“It was the tattoo,” Coco said, and everyone laughed.
I wondered which tattoo, since he had so many.
Chuckling, Nick raised his glass. “To family!”
“To family!” The voices in the room echoed his sentiment, and those with drinks lifted them up.
I smiled but didn’t move, enjoying the way my left side was nestled beneath Joe’s arm.
Around five o’clock, Joe asked me if I was ready to go home.
“Sure,” I said. “I just need to use the bathroom first.”
“No rush. I’m going to warm up the car.”
He helped me up from the couch and went to find his keys while I made my way to the first floor bathroom. The door was open, but I heard girls’ voices coming from inside. As I got closer I realized it was Claudia and Gabrielle.
“Today I want to go for a natural look,” Claudia was saying. “Not like too bronzed, but more like sun-kissed, you know?”
“I’m gonna use this pink blush,” said Gabrielle.
When I reached the doorway, I discovered them standing in front of the mirror applying the makeup they’d gotten for Christmas and narrating the process, as if they were giving a tutorial. I hid a smile at the garish amount of blush on their cheeks, their thick black eyebrows, and the extreme highlighter usage.
“Oh hi,” said Claudia, catching my eye in the mirror. “We’re just making a ‘get ready with me’ video. Except we don’t actually have a phone, so we’re just pretending it’s a video.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said.
“Are you having a baby?” Gabrielle asked out of the blue.
I laughed and touched my belly. “Yes.”
“With Uncle Joey?”
“Um, yes.”
“But you’re not married,” she said, her expression perplexed.
Claudia slapped her sister’s shoulder. “Gabby, Mom said not to talk about that.”
“But I don’t understand,” the little girl said. “I thought you had to be married to have a baby.”
“You don’t.” Claudia applied more bronzer. “You just have to do it.”
“Do what?”
Claudia sighed heavily. “Never mind.”
“But how did Uncle Joey get the baby in there?” Gabrielle demanded, pointing at my stomach. “I want to know.”
“Um, is there another bathroom I could use?” I asked, eager to escape this conversation.
“There’s one upstairs,” Claudia said.
“Okay.” Turning around, I headed for the stairs and ran into Joe coming in the front door, stomping snow from his boots.
“Ready?” he asked.
“No,” I said, flustered. “Your nieces are in the downstairs bathroom putting on makeup and talking about how babies are made, so I ran away.”
Joe laughed. “How babies are made?”
“Yes! Gabrielle doesn’t understand how you got the baby in there.” I pointed at my stomach. “And I didn’t want to be the one to explain it to her.”