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“Emma is!” I answered, squeezing her tighter in my arms as Marge leaned over and booped her nose.
“I suppose I had to give up my title sometime,” Alice sighed. “It’s only right Emma wears the crown now.”
Chuckling, I shrugged. “Well, sorry to say, Alice, but you’ve been dethroned, because Emma is absolutely positively the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t argue that,” she responded. “I’m happy to have the honor pass to someone in the family.” She lifted her martini in a cheers, then took a swig.
“I can’t get over those cheeks!” Doris squealed. “They are so big! Just wait until she can eat solid food, and I can start baking her muffins and cookies! Oh, they are gonna swell up so big once she starts getting Aunty Doris’s cooking in there.”
“Easy there, Sugar Pusher. Let’s not give her diabetes at the ripe old age of one,” Marge joked.
Doris waved a hand at her. “A little treat now and then won’t hurt her.”
“When she visits, don’t go shoving her full of sugar before you leave me with her.” I laughed.
Doris giggled and winked.
Emma reached up, and when her tiny fingers wrapped around my pinky, my heart nearly burst. “Oh, I’m going to miss this when I go home. I hate that I’m not going to see her every day anymore.”
It had been a week since Emma was born, and the Widows and their spouses had all stayed in L.A. to enjoy some vacation time in the sun while Tom and I bonded with Emma. They were all flying out tomorrow, and Tom and I had a few weeks left before we’d be heading home too. My heart hurt thinking about being separated from that beautiful new baby girl.
“Pizza’s here!” Tom called from the kitchen. “Let’s go sit out by the firepit and eat.”
“Coming, hon!” I called back, then scooped Emma against my chest and stood.
“It’s still winter back home,” Doris said. “Eating outside sounds good. I want as much sun as I can get before we head back to the cold.”
“I’ll get my sun hat.” Alice set her martini down and stood. “You may love cooking your skin like a fried egg in the sun, but I still have to keep my skin youthful.”
“I like the sun,” Doris responded with a pout. “Don’t make me feel bad about it.”
“I’ll sit in the sun with you, Doris,” I said. “I’m not scared of a few wrinkles. I think they make us look more distinguished. Like we’ve lived a good life.”
“Then I’ve lived one hell of a life!” Marge laughed.
Alice strolled over to the door and grabbed her hat, then the four of us went out into the backyard of the house Tom and I had rented.
“There she is!” Rachel crooned when I came out with Emma.
“Did you get a little nap?”
She gestured to the chaise lounge behind her. “Oh, yes. I fell asleep in that. It was heaven.”
“Good.” I kissed her cheek then reluctantly handed Emma back to her.
Tom came over and gave Emma a little kiss, then slipped his arm around my waist. “I got your weird pizza for you. The rest of us are having sausage and pepperoni.”
“My pizza isn’t weird. A lot of people like anchovies on pizza.”
“No. No they don’t,” Rachel said, and the Wilder Widows nodded in agreement while they pulled faces.
“What? My dad used to eat it, so I started too! They’re good!”
“I’m not kissing you after you eat that.” Tom leaned down and kissed me once. “There. That’s gonna have to tide us over until you brush your teeth.”
I smacked his shoulder. “Jerk.”
“And my salad? Did that come too?” Alice asked.
