Page 9 of Blood for Blood

Aurora and I pick a booth at Ihop and wait patiently for Rae to get here. She texted me a few minutes ago saying she’s close. It’s been a while since we got to go out together, so I was extremely happy this morning when she texted to see if we wanted to meet up for brunch. We decided to drive this far from home so that we can have a peaceful meal, without any interruptions from our men.

Rae’s anniversary is coming up in a couple months, so she asked us to help her do some shopping for Drew. She doesn’t get much girl time anymore since she had the baby. She had the most beautiful baby girl I’ve ever seen, with the brightest green eyes and light brown hair.

“Hey, sorry I’m late, I was cuddling Avery and didn’t want to leave her.” Rae says as she slides into the booth across from Rory and I.

“Awe. How is she doing?” Rory smiles, placing her elbows on the table.

“She’s good.” Rae smiles back, pulling her phone from her purse. “She just turned six months old, and she’s getting so big.” She turns her phone toward us, showing us a picture of her, Drew and Avery.

“Oh my gosh, look at how beautiful!” Rory squeals. “I can’t wait to see her again.”

“I almost brought her with me.” Rae chuckles. “It’s so hard to leave her, but Drew practically tossed me out the door.”

I laugh, leaning back in the booth. “I’m glad she’s doing so well. How is Drew handling everything?”

“I can’t stand him sometimes.” She snorts. “He’s so perfect at everything. When Avery is upset, and I can’t get her to settle down, he just swoops right in and calms her down. He washes and sterilizes the bottles for me, cleans everything for me, hell, I’m lucky if he lets me cook dinner some nights.”

“He’s such a good man.” I smile at her, “A lot of guys don’t want any part of that kind of thing.”

“I know,” she sighs, “He really is the best. I just feel like I don’t contribute to anything anymore.” She frowns before quickly putting her smile back in place. “Anyways. I didn’t invite you guys here to listen to my rambling. How have you been?”

As I’m about to respond, the waitress stops by our table. “Hi, I’m Jazz, I’ll be taking care of you guys today. Can I get you started with something to drink?”

"Can we get three Bloody Mary’s, please?” I answer quickly.

“Absolutely!” She replies. “Are you ladies ready to order, or do you need a few minutes?”

“Can we have a few minutes, please?”

“Sure, take your time. I’ll be right back with those drinks.”

“I think I just want a stack of pancakes.” Aurora says as she looks over the menu.

“That sounds good to me, too.” Rae agrees.

“Three stacks of pancakes!” I slide my menu into the holder on the table.

When the waitress returns with our drinks, we place the order for our pancakes. Only a few minutes pass by before she brings out our plates. Aurora basically chugged her drink as soon as it was placed in front of her.

When her phone rang, I told her not to answer it, but she couldn’t resist. She doesn’t like making the guys angry, she’s always eager to please them. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoy getting them a little fired up. I know full well that we’re going to be in trouble when we get home, but that sounds like a problem for future me to deal with. Current me, wants to have another drink and do some shopping.

“Is there anything else I can get for you ladies?” The waitress stops to ask.

“Another round of Bloody Mary’s, please!” Rae responds, happily.

The waitress gives her a polite smile before looking at Aurora. “Are you sure she should have another one?”

“I’m really fine, I premise.” Aurora slurs, trying to focus on the waitress.

“Okay, as long as you premise.” She laughs and goes into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, Rae. I didn’t realize a Bloody Mary would get her this drunk.” I sigh, running my hand down my face. “The guys are going to be pissed when we get home.”

“I’m sure they’ll get over it.” Rae laughs, “Maybe I’ll have her second drink, though. We don’t need her getting any worse.”

“That’s probably a good idea!”

“No, Peach.” Rory gasps, “I shed I’m fun.”

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