Page 113 of Under Ground

“Me either.” She walks to the couch and places the bowl on the table. “I love my kids, but boy, do I love it when they’re asleep at the same time.”

“Casey was the worst sleeper as a baby.”

Delaney sits beside me. “Both of mine have been pretty good. Addison’s been teething again this week, though, so she’ll wake up at some point. But in the meantime …”

“We’re here.” Pania’s voice comes from the door. “Shove over.” Pania walks to the couch and stands between Delaney and I, and we both move to either end of the couch to make room for her.

“I thought you were staying home tonight?” Delaney asks.

Pania pushes her long hair back over her shoulders and holds up her palms. “I was. But then Reece told me who’s guest starring on Grey’s Anatomy and I had to come and watch it with you.”

“Who?” I ask.

I’ve never seen her smile so broadly. “Reece.”

“What?” Josh laughs.

“He’s a sneaky one. He shot his scenes in two days while telling me he was on set with you. Apparently they were days he had off,” she says.

Josh’s eyebrows rise. “He didn’t tell me about it either.”

“If I told you, I’d never have gotten away with it. You would have been pissed I thought of it first.” Reece’s voice comes from behind us, and while Alex is only in my peripheral vision, I don’t miss his shoulders stiffen. This is the first time they’ve been together in a social setting since the craziness his mother dumped on them.

Josh laughs. “You’re right. Anyway, let’s watch this. What sort of character are you playing?”

“A really annoying one, probably,” Pania says.

“Oh ha, ha.” Reece walks around the couch and sits on the arm of Josh’s chair. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

He looks across at Alex and lifts his chin. I swallow hard and turn to see Alex responding in kind. It’s progress.

“I already made the popcorn. Your timing is great.” Delaney scoops out a handful and drops a piece in her mouth.

“Shhh it’s starting.” Pania waves her arms.

Reece is incredible. It’s not a huge role, but he plays a minor character featured in one of the medical storylines. I’m sure that is how he kept it quiet. But his character flirting with the doctors has us all laughing.

He’s sitting on the arm of Josh’s chair, a proud smile on his face. He knows how much Pania loves this show, and he’s done this for her. It’s the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever seen.

He meets my gaze, and I chinlift in an attempt to tell him he did good.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Josh says in an ad break.

Reece chuckles. “It took a while to set up. But I wanted to do it for my girls.”

Josh rolls his eyes and leans back in his seat. “You’re such a suck-up.”

“Yeah, but this is worth mega brownie points.” Delaney drops another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

“I guess I’ll have to come up with something even bigger.” Josh winks at her, and she coughs, waving her hands in the air. Tears fill her eyes, and Pania pats her on the back to help as she struggles to swallow the popcorn.

Delaney sniffs, giving her a nod in thanks. “Much, much bigger.” She croaks.

“You two are disgusting.” Pania shakes her head.

“You’re just as bad.” Delaney swats at Pania. “Now, be quiet. The ads are about to finish.”

By the end of it, the three of us are laughing while Josh goes to get more drinks for everyone.

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