“Whatever, Josh,” I argue, rolling my eyes in his direction. “I’ll let you do the bridesmaids’ dress shopping next time. See if tulle looks good on you.”
Mina laughs, looping her arm around his neck. “Did you miss me?” she whispers against his ear.
He whispers something back, something I can’t hear over the low rumble of chatter, and I walk away, leaving the betrothed couple to be.
“Hey.”
I turn to see my other brothers, James and Andrew, fingers firmly gripping fresh drinks and sly grins of amusement on their faces.
“Getting the party started?” I ask, gesturing between their occupied hands.
“Josh is picking up the tab,” James, my oldest brother, comments, raising his glass.
“And you know we can’t say no to free alcohol,” Andrew, the baby of our family, adds.
“Well, if that’s the case, order me a chardonnay,” I request coolly. I take a step closer to the row of empty chairs and sink into the soft cushioned seat. Andrew walks away toward the bar, and James takes the seat next to mine.
“Where’s Leo?”
I shrug, peering at James with a look of boredom. “Enjoying the single life?”
James’s brow furrows. “Where’s he staying?”
“At his brother’s, I think.”
“I take it you haven’t told Josh?”
“Nope.” My wedding band suddenly feels like a hot brand, the small diamonds shimmering as I fidget with it around my ring finger.
“You know you can’t keep it from everyone forever,” James comments. “You’re going to have to tell them. Especially Mom and Dad.”
I respond with silence.
“What are they going to say when Leo doesn’t show up to the wedding in a few months?”
I sigh deeply and a little dramatically. “I guess I’ll tell them he got caught up.”Yeah, with his dick inside another woman.
James only knows about Leo’s infidelity, or momentary lapse of judgment as Leo calls it, because my husband also happens to be one of my big brother’s oldest friends. While I decided to kick Leo out at the first whisper of his admittance to his affair, James has tried to keep a neutral ground. He hasn’t badgered me into letting Leo back into the house, but he also hasn’t cut all ties with my soon-to-be ex-husband. And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me even the tiniest bit, but it seems James’s friendship with Leo is the least of my worries in the thick of our separation.
“Where’s your other half?” I ask, changing the subject and even taking a small jab at the fact that I’m not the only one who showed up tonight solo.
“Sophia was running a fever,” he explains. “We think she might be teething.”
My face softens at the mention of my niece, eight months old with chubby cheeks the shape of shiny bao buns and fat Michelin man arms. “How’s Kendall?”
He bobs his head. “Hanging in there.”
He and his wife, Kendall, welcomed Sophia into their lives last year. And while the joys of parenthood have been a wafting presence in their home, postpartum depression has been its loyal companion. It seems all of our homes have been replaced with glass ones. Fragile and vulnerable, cracking with every shaky shift or rumble, disrupting our already frail lives.
“You know, Sadie can come by and babysit any time,” I offer. “She’ll take any excuse to play with Sophia.”
“Yeah,” he answers with a soft, appreciative smile. “I’ll let Kendall know.” After a pause, he looks around the room and adds, “Is she…?”
“At her friend’s house?” I finish his sentence with a knowing eye roll. “She practically lives there now that she’s on summer break. But she’s going to summer camp in a few weeks so maybe I’ll get her back once she’s back home.”
“You did good with her, Teeny,” he says, the low tone of his voice showing how much I’ve grown. How much we’ve both grown. “You and Leo both did good with her.”
“At least we got something right.”
