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The next twenty minutes are a haze of takeoff procedures and nursing Samuil. He does better during takeoff when I nurse him. The added bonus is that he’s in a milk coma for at least the first hour of the flight.
I settle him into his travel bassinet, which buckled into the plane seat next to Akim. Ashley unbuckles and scoops Benjamin into her arms the moment the attendant tells us we can remove our seatbelts.
“As the bestest godmother in the world, I packed copious amounts of snacks.” She unzips a duffel bag and reveals a stash of mini muffins, cheese crackers, and gummy worms.
Akim frowns and points to a cooler in the corner. “As the bestest godfather in the world, I baked chocolate chip cookies, mixed berry scones, and made strawberry lemonade with basil.”
Ashley wrinkles her nose. “Have you ever been near a child, Akim? Do you have any idea what kids actually like?”
“I know what kids like! I basically raised Benjamin right after he was born!”
Timofey swats the back of his head. “You were atemporarynanny. As his father, I raised him.”
Akim rolls his eyes and turns back to his face-off with Ashley. “Put all the snacks in front of Benji and see which ones he picks if you’re so confident.”
“Oh, you are so on, pretty boy,” Ashley says with a sultry wink.
For a long time, Ashley was almost always drunk or high or both. Her flirting was sloppy. Ever since we asked her to be the godmother to the kids, she’s been stone cold sober.
It looks very good on her.
Akim must think so, too, because he blushes from head to toe. He doesn’t get tongue-tied around anyone—anyone buther,that is.
Benjamin, ever the little people pleaser, politely takes Ashley’s mini muffin and Akim’s cookie from the spread in front of him.
“We tied!” Ashley is outraged.
I laugh. “You know what that means.”
“Your kid needs to be more decisive?”
I pucker up, blowing air kisses her way. “When you tie, you have to kiss.”
Ashley and Akim both turn to me, faces puckered in confusion.
“You know, the kissing cousins thing,” I remind them. “It’s a saying.”
Timofey leans in. “The phrase is, ‘A tie is worse than kissing your sister.’ I don’t think it’s a suggestion.”
“Oh… Well, whatever.” I wave my hand in the air. “Kiss and make up, anyway.”
Akim seems partially interested in the idea. He turns towards Ashley just as she throws a bag of gummy worms at me. “Akim and I are godparents. It would confuse the children if we kissed.”
I’ve known Ashley long enough to know when she’s playing hard to get. And boy oh boy, is she playing with Akim now.
The two of them have been dancing around each other for months. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they’ve secretly hooked up once or twice, but if they have, Ashley hasn’t breathed a word of it to me. Which is very unlike her.
“Nice try,” Timofey mutters out of the side of his mouth.
“They’ll get together one of these days and thank me.”
He kisses my temple. “You’re usually right about these kinds of things.”
I stroke my fingers through his hair. “I am, aren’t I?”
His blue eyes are molten, his gaze dripping over my skin like hot wax. God, I want him.
As the thought solidifies, Timofey turns away and stands up. “What’s the guest list look like, Akim?”
