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Great, a daughter. I hope she doesn’t turn out like drama llama Ava.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” Ava eyes me dubiously. “I was the perfect daughter, thank you very much. Ask the parentals. I was only hard work in my late teens.”
“Shall we bring up the leaked nude shots?” Millie raises with a smirk. “Or getting knocked up to a one-night stand.”
“I married the one-night stand, and Dad loves Austin. So there,” Ava retorts.
My sisters arguing is nothing new to me, but I abandon them to catch up with everyone else. It’s nice to chat, yet the conversation becomes somewhat repetitive. Everyone is respectful of the whole ‘daddy’ issue. No questions are asked, which I probably should thank Mom for since she probably warned everyone to leave me alone.
My cousin, Jessa, arrives with her little girl, Scarlett. It’s been a long while since I last saw them since they travel quite a bit. Andy has become a successful photographer who has been hired by many big labels, and Jessa is a full-time author now.
“Jessa, she is so precious. She looks just like Andy.”
“I know.” Jessa grins as her blonde curls bounce on her shoulders. “Isn’t it scary?”
“Nah, it’s perfect. Two besties finally together, and now your family is complete.”
“You summed it up,” Jessa agrees happily. “So, I guess we’re not supposed to bring up the giant elephant in the room, but between us, girls, are you okay? Being a single Mom is hard.”
“I don’t know. I guess I will know soon,” I admit, then release a breath. “Is it hard for you to co-parent with Bentley’s dad? Isn’t he in Manhattan, and you guys are here?”
“It was, it is. We don’t see eye to eye on everything and come from two very different family values. For the most part, Bentley’s dad lets me call the shots. We try to schedule monthly visits of either him coming here or us visiting Manhattan. That way, Bentley doesn’t miss out.”
“And Andy, he’s okay with that?”
“He’s an amazing stepfather.” Jessa sighs, followed by a smile. “But he was raised by a good man. It makes all the difference in the world when you’re trying to raise a blended family.”
“Uncle Julian is pretty special.”
“What are you saying about my husband?” Aunt Adriana teases. She grabs Scarlett off Jessa with the biggest of smiles. “My little girl. I miss you.”
Jessa laughs. “Really? After she destroyed your rug with her baby diarrhea last week.”
Aunt Adriana softens her expression. “My grandbaby is welcome to shit on as many rugs as she needs to.”
I scrunch up my face. “Gross.”
Jessa excuses herself to eat while Aunt Adriana smothers Scarlett. My cousins Luna and Willow come over, causing a fight among the three of them about who gets to hold Scarlett. I have to laugh. So much love and Scarlett is just trying to pull on Aunt Adriana’s earrings without a care in the world.
Ava has a whole schedule planned out. It involves games, all of which I lose but have fun participating in. Maybe not so much the one where people had to guess how big I am with a piece of string. Eric’s assumption made me look like a beached whale.
“Sorry, doll,” he apologizes while pouting his lips.
With the games done, Ava sits beside me as I’m instructed to open the gifts. There are so many, and some things I have no clue what they do, like the diaper genie or the nipple shields. Eric has too much knowledge of them for someone who, I assume, has never used them. Ava rushes to tell me what things are if I look confused, saving me from looking like a complete idiot.
And the onesies, okay, they are cute.
How can a piece of little fabric be that adorable?
The day goes by so quickly, and soon the sun begins to set in the distance as my sisters move all the gifts to the upstairs nursery room. The guests have left, bringing peace and quiet after what felt like a long day.
“Did you have a good day, honey?” Mom asks once the guests leave, and it’s just us on the patio bench.
“I did, Mom…” I trail off, then continue, “… It’s just I wonder if this would feel different if Hunter was around. Not romantically, but just being here as a father.”
Mom shifts her gaze to the horizon, admiring the pink sky. It’s not often we speak about Hunter, and I know better than to bring his name up in front of Dad.
“It’s hard to say. I don’t know him well enough to know whether or not he would be a present father figure. Not all men are, honey. I’ve seen it too many times in my career as a family attorney.”
