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God. I have no easy answers for that. I have no idea what we have coming for us.
But maybe, if we’re going to do this anyway, maybe doing it together and giving it a chance isn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe. I’m not saying yes for sure. I’m saying that maybe I’ll give it a tomorrow and a tomorrow and a tomorrow and then decide.
“If you think you can handle my family at a gathering, you had best get cake,” I tell Daniel, wilting and shrivelling a little in the face of all that we have yet to surmount.
Because Daniel might actually be my real soulmate, he just grins, and says the one thing that could reassure me, since he knows nothing about my other family tradition. “Cake? Sounds like a deal. I love cake.”
Chapter 9
Daniel
I thought it would be in good fun to get a cake in the shape of a toilet. As it worked out, not everyone was available all at the same time until the weekend. I knew how nervous Leandra was about her family meeting my family- well, probably more about us divulging the fact that we accidentally created new life- so I wanted to do something that would take the pressure off.
I ordered the cake, specially made, from a bakery in the French Quarter. They did an incredible job, going so far as to shape the cake and cover it in fondant, or whatever that icing that looks so realistic is called. It cost a fortune, but I now have a mini 3-D toilet. No two dimensional stuff for me.
I made sure that grandma and Wesley got here early. I wanted them to be here to help me put out snacks and what not, but also so I could basically coach them for hours without actually coaching them about being on their best behavior. I don’t know if I’m more worried about Grandma or Wes. Grandma has been known to divulge a few embarrassing secrets as of late, mostly to Leandra- all to Leandra that day at her boutique- and I’m not sure I can live that down in front of Leandra’s entire family.
She wanted to get there last so she wasn’t tempted to blurt out our secret before everyone was there. She was afraid if her brothers and cousins showed up after her and got her talking, she’d slip up.
Thankfully, its been days since my trip to the hospital and I’m healed up. I haven’t seen Leandra since she dropped me off at her place, since she drove, and actually helped me into the driver’s seat, arranging the ice pack for me and everything. I haven’t wanted to pester her, even though I’ve thought about her every minute of every day since I last saw her. The positive? She’s stayed in touch through texting and when I sent her the bouquet she was supposed to get in the beginning, she sent me one of those email greetings where you fill in the faces of the dancing animals, except she pasted different colored toilets onto all of them as a thank you.
As Leandra’s family starts arriving, I’m so nervous that I could hurl. I’ve felt like I’ve been on the verge all morning. Granma offered to make pancakes when she arrived, but I knew my stomach couldn’t take it, so I lied and said I’d already eaten. Wes just straight up said he’d rather eat bricks. Grandma didn’t take offense. She also made me a cup of mint tea and asked how my wiener was. I regret ever telling her that I got stabbed by my own cactus. Thankfully, Wes wasn’t in the room when she asked. I don’t think I could live it down if he knew because I know that I’d never, even if we lived to be one thousand and eighty-two years old, live it down.
The first group to arrive comes in together, four people that I don’t know. The guys are both scowling at me, and I’m not sure what Leandra told them, but they introduce themselves as Trent and Ash. Their girlfriends are Ellis and Lindy, and they’re much less scowly. I open the door and let them come in to the sprawling living room, which is supplemented with extra folding chairs. Not classy, but then again, neither is sitting on the floor.
“We brought this,” Lindy says, holding out a bottle of wine with a big smile. She’s wearing a beautiful necklace with a big green stone and when I look at it, I can’t help but wondering if it’s cursed. Is it my imagination or is it glowing a little?
“Aren’t you a darling!” Grandma coos, appearing at my side. She grabs the bottle of wine before I can take it, and spirits it off in the direction of upstairs, which is where she left her purse and car keys after she got here.
