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Liv took him with a smile, and opened her sweater. The baby fastened onto her breast with hungry suckling piglet sounds, gripping with fat little fists, eyes closed in a state of divine bliss.
Val turned to Tam. “Rachel woke from her nap, too,” he said. “She’s in the kitchen with Zia Rosa. Making biscuits.”
Tam harrumphed. “That woman is going to kill us with food.”
“Yes, but we will die happy and fat,” Val said. “There are worse ways to go. She is preparingosso buco, and roasted rosemary potatoes. And speaking of food. How long has it been since you ate lunch?”
Tam’s eyes were golden slits. “An entirely appropriate interval.”
“Eat a cookie,” he commanded. “You need the calories. The obstetrician said so. Remember? Last Tuesday, at the ultrasound?”
“Don’t fuss,” she said.
He chose a pink frosted star. “You are accustomed to starving yourself. Your perceptions about food are not reliable. Eat a cookie.” He pressed a cookie into her hand, and curled her fingers around it.
“I ate a perfectly adequate lunch,” she said. “I said, don’t fuss.”
He crossed his arms, defiant. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll break both your legs,” she warned.
“Bah,” he scoffed. “That is nothing. Bones knit together. You know that better than anyone. Eat a cookie for Irina.”
A strange look flashed across Tam’s face. “We talked about this,” she said. “Please don’t call her by name. Not yet. It’s bad luck.”
“It’s all right,” he said softly. “Our luck is good, now.”
“Don’t push it,” she said.
He considered that. “I will not push it if you eat the cookies.”
Tam rolled her eyes, lips twitching. “So it’s cookies, plural, now?”
“To buy my compliance, yes,” he said. “Two.”
“One,” she countered. “I will not be bullied. Get out. This is a hen party. No one with a penis is invited. Except for Eamon. He can stay.”
Val looked hurt. “You mean, you do not want to hear the tale of my valiant fight to save you and Rachel from the forces of evil?”
“Out.” Tam leaned over her belly, and gave his hip a shove.
“Two cookies,” he repeated, backing out of the room.
Tam took a bite of the cookie after he left. “He’s very nervous,” she explained to Lily, patting her belly. “We lost a couple, before.”
“I’m sorry,” Lily said.
Tam acknowledged her words with a nod as she chewed. “To be honest, we can’t quite believe we’ve gotten this far,” she said. “I never thought I’d have kids. I wasn’t the type. Then Rachel happened. And I had some organ damage, from the poison, in that incident that I told you about, so I thought, probably nothing, in terms of babies. Which would have been fine. We have Rachel, and she counts for three. Butvoila, here she is. Our little surprise.” Her face tightened. “So far.”
“How far along are you?” Lily asked.
“Twenty-eight weeks.” Tam petted her belly, wincing. “Ouch. She’s a wild thing today. But I like her that way.”
“Twenty-eight weeks,” Lily said. “That’s almost home free, right?”
“Almost,” Tam agreed. “Almost.” She leaned to grab another cookie, but couldn’t reach them over the bulge of her belly. Edie sat up and passed a green-frosted four-leaf clover to her. “Here,” she said. “For luck. I thought you didn’t want two cookies. After all that carrying on.”
“Oh, I’ll probably eat four more. I just say no to him on principle,” Tam confided. “If I give in to him at all, he becomes insufferable. Basic Val management.” She lifted her cookie, as if toasting the women in the room. “To luck.” She took a bite, frowning as she chewed, and directed her next words at Edie. “But wait. You’re psychic. What are you, clairvoyant? How can you believe in luck if you can see the future?”
