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Her son took a beignet and succeeded in getting powdered sugar all over his face. The women laughed as Maggie signaled the nanny who had come along to get Tina.
“Let’s get rid of these kids for a bit, shall we?” Maggie said, winking. “We need to plan for Twelfth Night.”
“Oh yikes, your Twelfth Night Party two years ago is where Alfie and I got serious.”
“That started a record year for you,” Annie said. “In a year, you got a new lover, ditched him, got another new lover, and had a baby.”
“Ha! It was over two years,” Katrina said. “All of those events took place in two years. Whew! I almost passed out.”
“Yes, well, to get back to my initial statement, it’s almost that time again. Twelfth Night! I’m excited this year!”
“We’re going to the Joan of Arc Parade,” Annie said. “Chris doesn’t know what it’s like here over the holidays and it’s my job to teach him.”
“He’ll never be the same,” Katrina said, laughing. “Look at the three of us. We are transplants, but we’re more bayou than the people who were born here.”
“Well, maybe,” Maggie said in her best Cajun accent.
“If it was finished, I’d have a party in the new house,” Annie said. “We’ve spent every weekend painting since we bought the place. Or I mean, since Chris bought the place. Boy, it didn’t take me long to be entitled, did it?”
“You deserve it,” Katrina said. “Tell me, what is everyone’s New Year’s resolution?”
“You first,” Maggie said, pointing at Katrina.
“Well, I already quit my job. Getting my freelance slash consultation company established is a big numeral uno. Also, getting pregnant is big. We need to focus on getting knocked up next month—all of us, right before Lent. Mark it on your calendar.”
“We should stagger it so someone isn’t left alone. Maggie, you really got the short end of the stick last round.”
“I don’t feel that way at all,” she replied. “But it might be easier if we didn’t overlap so closely this time. We need to make a calendar with fornication dates for each of us, just to be sure.”
They roared with laughter. Maggie had a way with words.
“I vote for letting nature take its course,” Annie said, wiping tears of laughter off her face.
“Speaking of nature, I have news.”
“Oh God, what now?” Katrina asked.
The children were handed off to the nanny and the babysitters who accompanied the women on their trips to the park.
“I’m almost afraid to hear what it is,” Annie said. “I know Justin and Chris have been in cahoots and it’s making me crazy.”
“It is about Chris, but I’m not sure how you’ll respond,” Maggie said. “Gird your loins.”
“Oh no,” Annie moaned. “Hurry up and tell me.”
“Chris should have told you so I feel guilty telling you. But you have a right to know,” Maggie said. “Chris’s ex-wife is sick. I mean, real sick. It sounds like she’s on her last leg.”
Annie’s hand covered her mouth, shocked. “With what? I mean, is it something new? Because he never mentioned anything about her to me.”
“I think he might have just found out himself. It’s something with her heart. Evidently, she had an aortic aneurysm that she didn’t know she had and it just sprung up out of nowhere. She needs surgery but Chris told Justin there are complications. He asked Justin to look into it for him and Justin found out that the aneurysm is in a bad place, like close to her heart, and difficult to treat. It’s like she’s a walking time bomb.”
Annie sat down at the picnic table bench, feeling sick. “I wonder why Chris didn’t tell me. It feels like he’s having second thoughts about me.”
Maggie reached out and petted Annie’s arm. “No, honey. He didn’t tell you because he wasn’t sure there was really anything to tell. He wanted to find out first from Justin if it was really something worrisome, and evidently it is. Big-time.”
“Like, she could die?”
“Yeah, that’s what it sounds like. She’ll need surgery, but she was a heavy smoker and has some other issues that make her high risk.”
