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Even Jude who isn’t blood-related fits in like family. I guess that’s how it works when you’ve been close to the family most of your life. It doesn’t hurt that he married Coco either.
We line up buffet style for muffins, hash browns, and fruit salad.
Dogs—two that look just alike—weave in and out of our line. Princess, I’ve learned is Alice’s dog, and Max I’ve already met. We’re old friends at this point. Still, this kitchen isn’t huge and we are a full house.
It’s loud and foreign and crazy. And I love it.
We don’t use the dining table, but everyone finds a space in the kitchen or a seat on the couch. I am sandwiched between Levi’s mother and his sister, standing at the counter.
“Do you have enough blankets?” Lucy asks.
Coco chews and swallows before answering her. “Mom—Heidimom, made me a dozen receiving blankets. We’re set.”
“And onesies?”
“Yes,” Coco says, forking another bite of cantaloupe. “But they’re tiny. I’m not sure any human is that little.” She pulls out her phone and holds it out and around me, showing her mother a photo. I’m listening, but I don’t have anything to add. What do I know about babies?
My eyes lift and drift in the direction I know Levi sits. He’s watching me, which sends a small thrilling sear up my spine. Handsome, brooding Levi Bailey. He doesn’t shy away, just because my eyes have found his. Rather his brows lift slightly, his eyes silently asking if I need to be rescued.
I give him a sincere smile, letting him know that I’m good. I like his mother and his sister.
“What do you think, Meredith? Pink or yellow?” Coco’s holding her phone, this time closer to me. Her Amazon app is open to sheer drapes. The thin material is arranged over a crib and pulled back with ribbon, creating a sweet canopy.
“Um,” I shake my head. “I’m not sure.”
“Her walls are pink,” Lucy says. “So, I vote yellow.”
“Or the white,” I say tapping the screen to view a new color.
“That’s what I said. Jude and Alice think we need color, though.” Coco’s lips purse to the side as she peers down at the screen.
“What if I bought it?” Lucy lifts one shoulder. “I could make the decision. If it doesn’t work you can always return it.”
I listen to the exchange. A mother. A daughter. A new baby on the way.
It all feels so normal and yet so foreign all at the same time. I will never have a conversation like this—not with my own mother. But that doesn’t mean I won’t talk this way with a friend or a mother-in-law one day. It’s a happy thought. A far far away thought. But happy nonetheless.
“Owen!” Coco says, waving her brother over.
Owen stands from his seat across the room and skips over to where we stand.
“Tell Meredith about that movie we went to last week.”
Movies—sure. When did we switch from the baby topic? Is there a reason she can’t tell me?
But then as if she’s answering my silent question, she holds up one finger. “I’ll be right back.” She trades Owen places as she waddles over to sit next to Levi.
Princess and Max wag their tails, both trying their darndest to squeeze their way in to get a magical Coco scratch behind the ears. Levi says she’s the best veterinarian in all of Coeur d’Alene. And it does seem like she’s the girl with the magic touch.
“You like movies, Meredith?”
“Oh.” I blink and refocus my attention. “Yeah. I do.”
“Have you seenDear Mrs. Robinson? It was a flashback cinema, so an old flick they brought back to theaters.”
“Huh.” I try to focus, really, I do. But I’m finding it difficult. “Uh, no. I haven’t.”
“I’ve seen that one. It’s been years, but I remember it,” Lucy says.
