well between the two of us, we still hadn't really discussed our marriage. Or plans for the future.
When I agreed to marry him, I'd told J.J. that it wouldn't be permanent, but now I couldn't imagine my life without him. I not only wanted our marriage to work but I wanted to give our daughter a brother or sister in the future. I wanted to argue about who was going to take carpool duty. I wanted family dinners together, movie nights on the couch, and vacations that were both wonderful and made me want to pull my hair out because the kids were driving us nuts...I wanted to get dressed up and go on dates with my husband. Something we hadn't really done.
I wanted a real marriage.
Now, I just had to figure out how to tell my supposedly temporary husband that I wanted something permanent.
19
As Cam and I had predicted, our mothers both wanted to do something to celebrate the news that we were having a girl.
However, rather than inundating us with plans or ideas, they did exactly what they had done for our wedding—they hatched a plan between the two of them.
I'd been to Sunday lunch at the McClanes' several times since J.J. and I married, so I wasn't surprised when they decided to have the event on a Sunday and at lunchtime. It was a standing event for the McClane family.
What did surprise me was that my mother insisted the lunch happen at her house and that all my brothers and their spouses and children come. Even Cam and Sierra and their respective husbands were invited.
That was nineteen people crowded into my parents' house. Granted our dining room sat twelve since there were seven of us growing up, but it was still going to be a tight fit, even if the kids ate in the living room at a card table.
I don't know how our mothers managed it, but the lunch was scheduled for the following Sunday, less than a week away. I don't know what my mother threatened my brothers with to get them to agree, but I knew threats had to be involved. Sundays were usually lazy days for them and they didn't like having loud family events with mandatory attendance.
I was also worried that we would arrive and there would be over-the-top pink decorations on everything. I loved that my family wanted to celebrate the new addition, but I didn't want to walk into an explosion of Pepto-Bismol either.
But, since I couldn't control the moms, I decided to just roll with it. If they wanted to hang pink streamers off every available surface, I would be grateful. It could be worse, my family could be the type who didn't care.
With that thought on my mind, I got ready for lunch on Sunday with a smile on my face.
I was going to have an afternoon with my entire family before I had to go to work at Crave, something we hadn't done since Mom's birthday earlier in the year. Both my nephews and my niece would be there and I would get to see my sisters-in-law.
"You realize this is going to be mass chaos, right?" J.J. asked as we walked out to the car.
"Yes, why?"
"Because you're smiling."
I laughed, partly because he was funny and partly because he wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me to the passenger side of the car rather than letting me go to the driver's seat like I wanted.
"I love my family, even if they're loud and obnoxious. And I don't know why you're grumbling, you came over all the time when you were in middle and high school. You know exactly how they are."
"Yeah, but I'm older now and my tolerance for noise has dropped considerably." He helped me settle into the passenger seat and closed the door, so I had to wait before I could voice my response.
As soon as he settled into the driver's seat, I said, "Then, you're in trouble because babies make lots of noise."
I put my seatbelt on as he started the car.
"Yeah, but how noisy can one baby be?" he asked.
I laughed. "Just ask D.J. I'm sure he'll tell you all about when his oldest was born. I don't think that boy stopped crying the first three months of his life."
J.J. stared at me in horror, his hand resting on the gearshift. "Three months of non-stop crying? Do all babies do that?"
I shook my head. "No, but some do, and I just want