and give your opinion on the work that needs to be done if it’ll make you feel better,” Skylar conceded, making it clear she was done talking about Rob.
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Let me know when you get the keys, and we can do a walk-through together. I mean, I did gut my own place and do all the work myself,” I reminded her.
“And he did an amazing job too,” Meg piped up, putting Katie back on the ground.
“Should you be lifting a toddler when you’re pregnant?” I asked nervously.
Meg shooed away my comment. “Not you too. I’m not a damn invalid. Adam has been hovering around me like I’m going to keel over or something. It’s annoying.”
“And sweet,” a voice chimed in from the doorway. “He’s only looking out for you, which is what he should be doing.” Whitney went to the refrigerator and got herself a bottle of water, unscrewing the top before turning to face the rest of us. I noticed how her eyes flitted over everyone, quickly passing me by.
Okay then.
“I guess so, but he doesn’t have to be so overbearing about it,” Meg grumbled, though I could tell there was no rancor to her comment. She smiled slightly. “If he wasn’t so damn adorable, I’d make him sleep somewhere else until I gave birth.”
“Please. You’d rip his arms off if he weren’t attached to your hip and don’t pretend otherwise,” Skylar quipped, taking a beer from the box in my arms.
I dropped the beer on the table, taking a few out and putting them in the already packed fridge. Whitney scooted to the side, making way for me. My arm brushed against hers as I opened the refrigerator. Every cell of my body was tuned into those few points of contact. My skin remembered her skin. It was like muscle memory. It pulled and ached and craved.
I quickly shoved the beer inside and moved back to the other side of the room.
“They’re talking about work, so I’m escaping in here. I don’t know how they talk about that stuff when they don’t have to,” Lena griped, coming into the room, Daisy balanced on her hip. Daisy looked exactly like a tiny Lena, down to the chin. I couldn’t see any of Jeremy on her tiny face. She was beautiful in that baby kind of way that was all sweet smells and soft hair.
“Mimi!” Katie bellowed from the floor, reaching out for another cookie, which her doting ‘aunt’ happily obliged.
“You’re going to give the kid diabetes,” Skylar said.
“It’s a cookie; I’m not injecting sugar into her veins,” Meg protested but looked to me to make sure it was okay.
I put some carrot sticks in a bowl and set them down beside Katie. “You have to eat your veggies too, Katie Bug,” I told her gently, taking a bite of one. “Mmm, yummy.” I handed it to her. She took it and looked at it with suspicion before promptly throwing it on the floor. I sighed, picking it up. “We’re having an aversion to vegetables at the moment,” I explained to my friends.
“How about some stars, Katie?” Whitney said, appearing by my side, sitting down on the floor next to my daughter with a plate of cucumbers cut into star shapes. “I got them from the sky and put them on this plate just for you.” She tentatively put it down in front of Katie, getting back to her feet, making sure not to hover.
Katie picked up one of the cucumbers, looking at it closely, then her mouth stretched into a gummy grin. “Star!” she exclaimed before putting it in her mouth. “Mmm,” she murmured, rubbing her stomach enthusiastically.
“Nicely done, Whit. You’re a natural,” Skylar said respectfully.
Whitney shrugged. “One of the producers on the last movie set I worked on had twins she would bring with her every day. They were about Katie’s age and also going through the whole I-hate-vegetables phase. The on-site nanny would cut them up into shapes, and it worked like magic. I figured it would work with Katie.”
“Pretty smart,” I agreed, though begrudgingly. Not because I had a problem with her helping, but because it was hard for me to hold onto any sort of bitterness when she was being so damn awesome.
Katie happily munched on the cucumbers then miraculously held her hands out to Whitney. “Pease.”
“She’s asking for more,” I interpreted.
“Her vocabulary is amazing, Web,” Lena said, putting Daisy down on the floor next to Katie, who handed the younger girl