If We Were Perfect - Ana Huang Page 0,104
Aiden peeled themselves away from Olivia and toddled toward their godmother with delighted squeals. Farrah smothered them with hugs and kisses while Olivia looked on with an indulgent smile.
“I see how it is,” Olivia said with faux anger. “The minute Auntie Farrah arrives, you forget all about your mom, huh?”
Lily peeked back at Olivia shyly. “Wuv you, Mommy.”
Olivia’s heart melted. “Love you too, sweetie.” She blew her daughter a kiss, which Lily returned. Meanwhile, Aiden was too busy searching for presents on Farrah’s person to join the lovefest.
“They’re only excited to see me because I always come bearing gifts.” Farrah fished two gaily wrapped boxes out of her bag. “No, sweetie, not now. We have to wait until tomorrow or your mom will ki—er, get upset.”
“Awww!” Aiden and Lily slumped in disappointment at the same time.
“But Everett’s out back if you want to—” Farrah didn’t get all the words out before Aiden and Lily flew out of the room as fast as their little three-year-old legs would allow. “—play with him,” she finished. She set the gifts beneath the Christmas tree.
“Now you know how it feels to get ditched,” Olivia teased.
“Yeah, yeah, rub it in.”
They stared at each other for a second before they squealed and hugged like two teenage girls reuniting after a summer apart.
“It’s so good to see you!” Olivia squeezed her best friend tight. “I thought you didn’t get in until five.”
“Our flight landed early. We would’ve arrived sooner, except Blake insisted on stopping for In-N-Out first.” Farrah rolled her eyes. “I swear, he practically lives there every time we visit.”
“In-N-Out is good.” Olivia linked her arm through Farrah’s and guided her out back, where the rest of the guests gathered around the fire pit. “Sammy will be pissed he spoiled dinner, though.”
“Trust me, he didn’t. The man eats like a horse.”
“You talking about me?” Blake drawled when they stepped through the sliding glass door and into the crisp December air.
Olivia and Sammy had moved into a bigger house after she gave birth to the twins, with a proper backyard for Lily, Aiden, and their friends to run around and play in.
No one had been surprised when a second ultrasound confirmed her twins comprised of one boy and one girl—“Like I said, the universe wouldn’t dare give you anything else,” Sammy joked after the reveal—and as Michael had promised, Olivia’s maternity leave hadn’t affected her standing at PHC, where she was now a managing director. She’d filled Michael’s position after he retired two years ago.
Sure, she’d received some side-eyes and passive-aggressive comments while she’d been pregnant—mostly from Logan, who’d finally been fired after another female employee filed a sexual harassment complaint against him—but there would always be assholes.
Plus, she was now their boss, so take that.
“How did you know? I swear you have supersonic hearing,” Farrah grumbled.
“I always know when I’m on your mind, babe.” Blake dropped a kiss on top of her head before he hugged Olivia. “Always good to see you, Liv.”
“Same.” She tapped his bicep in warning. “It’ll continue being good as long as you treat my girl right. She cries, I’ll whoop your ass.”
Blake’s dimples flashed. “A decade and a kid later, and you still don’t trust me?”
“Hell, no. Not with those baby blues and that drawl.” Olivia narrowed her eyes. “I’m onto you, Blake Ryan.”
“Aw, you break my heart, Liv.”
“I’m sure.” Olivia looked at Farrah while pointing at Blake. “Watch out for this one.”
She was joking—for the most part. Blake and Farrah had a rock-solid marriage, not to mention an adorable five-year-old son named Everett. But Olivia would always be protective of her friends, no matter how old they were.
Still, she had to admit she was in a good place. They all were.
Olivia’s chest glowed with warmth as she took in the scene before her. Everett was playing tag with the rest of the kids, including Lily, Aiden, and Ruby, Kris and Nate’s daughter. Ruby was the same age as Lily and Aiden—Olivia and Kris had given birth two months apart. Ruby’s parents were at the fire pit, talking and laughing with Courtney and her husband Justin. Justin used to work at the New York branch of Blake’s bar Legends before he opened his own tattoo parlor. He and Courtney got together when, by chance, they’d gotten stuck in the same B&B during a freak snowstorm; they’d tied the knot last year.
Nardo, Luke, and Leo Agnelli, another friend from study abroad, were arguing over some movie that’d released last week. Well, Nardo