Billy's Baby - Annie J. Rose Page 0,67

a health shake.”

“Toss in some chia seeds and it’s a superfood smoothie,” I joked.

We mixed up the margaritas and made a nonalcoholic one for Karin. I sipped at mine while Elise got out a pile of stuff and heated up spicy cheese and made us a big plate of nachos.

“Thank God for wood floors,” Brandi said later as Lilly slopped cheese on the floor. “If this was carpet, we’d owe them ten thousand dollars by the time she’s done spilling.”

I looked up an old kiddie song on my phone and taught Lilly and Olivia to do The Ants Go Marching. I led them up the stairs, around all the bedrooms and the home gym and the dressing rooms and back again several times. Karin jumped in and marched Lucas around and sang with me. We wove in and out of the rooms and halls of the palatial estate. We kept at it long enough that Lilly announced she was tired and wanted some juice and her blanket. Ten minutes later all three kids were asleep. Olivia and Lilly were sprawled on the massive sectional couch and Lucas dozed in his pack and play.

“You’re a fucking genius with that marching,” Karin said from her spot collapsed across a big chair. She raised her nonalcoholic margarita to me in a toast.

“Bren, you’re on duty,” Elise said, “I’m getting in the hot tub.”

“Me too!” Brandi and I called after her.

Minutes later we were in our bathing suits and carrying our margaritas to the indoor hot tub. It was big and steaming, the bubbles gurgling as we started the jets up. We piled in and stretched out.

“Oh, this is the life,” Brandi sighed. “Why don’t you stay here all the time, Elise?”

“Because. It’s not my house. And because the only time Bren and I tried to come here for a weekend, we missed Olivia too much and came back early.”

“Did you at least use the hot tub?” Brandi demanded.

“Oh, well, yeah. We used the hot tub. And the pool table that’s upstairs. And the steam shower with the view of the cliffs,” she said.

“Too much information,” I laughed.

“No way. There’s a steam shower?” Brandi said. “I call that next.”

“So what’s the wildest place you’ve done it with Connor?” Elise asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, the storeroom, I guess. We did it on the minivan the night we got it.”

“The backseat of the minivan? Really? That’s wild?” Elise asked.

“No, on it. Like on the hood. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it was fun. What about you, Morgan?”

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat. “Storeroom.”

“It’s early days yet,” Elise said. “But here’s a pro tip. Never eat off Karin and Mickey’s kitchen table. Or the counter.”

“I’m sure they wipe it off,” Brandi said.

“I’m not. She’s been pretty clear that it can happen anytime with them. Just bend over the table and bam.”

“Bam?” I said, laughing, “that sounds romantic.”

“Oh, it’s totally romantic with them. I’m pretty sure they did it in his cabin the night they met. I was there to see Brendan for our first date, I brought her along, and like five seconds later Mickey takes her with him to like, go get ice for the party or something, and I swear they hooked up right then,” Elise said.

“There’s some serious chemistry,” Brandi said. “Whereas I wasted a ton of time just ogling Connor and thinking how big and sexy he was, not acting on it. We nearly missed our chance.”

“He was never going to miss his chance with you,” I said. “I’ve barely talked to the guy, but he’s referred to you as his beating heart and the only thing that makes life worth living.”

“Awww,” she said, smiling and draining her glass. “He really is the sweetest. You’d never know it to look at him. He looks like somebody who’d knife you in a biker bar for cutting in the bathroom line.” We all laughed.

“So, is Billy the first time you’ve ever been serious about somebody?” Brandi asked me.

“I was engaged a couple years ago,” I said. “He was—a cheater.”

“Then you’ve paid your dues and earned yourself an O’Shea,” Elise stated. “My boss was a creep. Karin got a picture of a drug deal going down on the island in the background of a promo photo she took—Brandi was waiting tables while she was knocked up when Connor finally found her.”

“I couldn’t get a teaching job while I was obviously pregnant,” she protested. “And I didn’t tell him I was pregnant because I thought he didn’t