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“Marie, I got a million cookies to decorate. I have to finish the preparations for the ball. I have a wedding to get ready for. I do not have time to babysit them boys. They’re all big enough to get into trouble by themselves.”
“Okay, Mama. But you’re not fooling me. There isn’t a damn thing that happens on this property that you’re not aware of.” Marie walked away, and Claudette looked at her mother, grinning.
“Mama.”
“What?” frowned Irene.
“Mama, you know something. Why aren’t you telling us? Even Jake has been sneaking out. Now, don’t get me wrong, I trust my husband without reservation, but it would be nice to know what he’s doing.”
“Sometimes, you don’t need to know,” said Irene. “Just trust your husbands and be okay with it. They’re not up to anything stupid.”
“Okay, Mama,” smiled Claudette. “You go meet with Sara and George while I finish the cookies.”
Irene wiped her hands on the apron, setting it on the counter, then moved around to the other side. She looked at Claudette, nibbling on her bottom lip as she watched her expertly pipe the cookies. Just like she taught her.
“Claudette? If I haven’t told you lately, I love you, and I’m so proud of the life you’ve created for you and Jake. You’re gonna be a fine matriarch to the family one day.”
“Mama, don’t make me cry,” she sniffed. “I won’t be the matriarch, Marie will be. She’s the oldest. I’ll just be the ring leader of this circus.”
“Well, either way, you’re gonna do a fine job.”
“Mama? Don’t go yet,” said Claudette quietly. Irene stared at her daughter, knowing exactly what she was saying. “It’s not time, Mama. I know how old you and Pops are, but you’re still young in body, mind, and spirit.”
“We’re not goin’ anywhere, baby. Not yet.” She turned and left Claudette still piping the cookies as Suzette, Rachelle, Adele, Camille, and Marie walked back toward her.
“How about some sister energy over here?” smiled Camille.
“I’d say we need all the sister energy we can get,” smiled Claudette.
With more than a thousand cookies to ice, she needed all the help she could possibly get. With everyone working, they’d be done in no time. Even the women who had no skills in the kitchen at all were able to fill the piping bags and hand them to the decorators. Within a few hours, the cookies were done and ready for the holidays.
Marie looked up and noticed that, as usual, the men had all disappeared.
“Where in the hell did they disappear to now?” she asked.
“No clue,” said Rachelle. “It’s after midnight, and none of the lights are on in the cottages. These guys are seriously up to something, but I have no clue what’s going on. Do you think they’re doing something for all of us for Christmas?”
“All of us?” frowned Calla.
“Yea, you’re right. I don’t know what it is, but it’s making me crazy,” said Adele.
“Why?” All the women looked at Mary. “Why is it making us crazy? I mean, I’m sure of the response to this question, but has any of us ever had our spouses do something horrible to us? Cheated. Lied. Stole. Anything?”
All of the women smiled at the older woman, shaking their heads.
“No. Nothing,” smiled Tila. The baby was swaddled to her chest, sound asleep, and the others all smiled at her. Sadie, Margo, and Ramey had their triplets in three-seat strollers, all sound asleep by some strange miracle.
The women looked around at their friends, the little ones either sleeping or wide awake thanks to sugar.
“We have a pretty amazing group of women here, don’t we?” smiled Carsen.
“We do indeed,” said May. “You know, I never really had a lot of female friends. I was the geeky girl who didn’t shop a lot. I wasn’t into cooking or baking. I didn’t want to go to bars and clubs. I was just me. Then I came here, and you all embraced me in such a way that I never wanted to leave. Well, that and Thomas.”
The group of women laughed, hugging one another, realizing that they all felt the same way.
“If you think about it,” said Erin, “we were all misfits in some way. Smart, talented, beautiful, but not quite fitting into the mold of other women around us. It was these men that helped us to feel as if we were perfect. They made us feel loved, beautiful, important for the very first time in many of our lives. I’d say that’s pretty miraculous. We are perfect.”
“Perfect for them,” laughed Katrina.
