Page 31 of Unexpectingly Happily Ever After

″You’re not coming home early. Stay. Have fun. What time do Brit and Morgan get in?”

″Soon.” I glance at the clock radio on the bedside table. I slept for almost three hours. Brit and Morgan’s flight will get in at six.

″You should go meet them at the airport. Take them a big drink.”

″I don’t think I can take alcohol through the airport,” I sniff.

″This is Brit’s party, and hopefully her last one. Make it fun for her. If you sit around missing the kids, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

″Maybe,” I sulk.

″She’s your oldest friend, and she’s getting married. Don’t be sad, Case. You’re there–have fun. Have a great time.”

″I can’t.”

″You can, and you will. Promise me no more pity party?” When I don’t answer, his voice grows louder. “Promise me you’ll have fun!”

″I promise,” Ireluctantly say.

″I love you.”

″I hate you for making me come here,” I growl. “But I love you too.”

Chapter Eleven

Expect all manner of changes after becoming a mother–physical, psychological and social. Your world has adjusted and you must change with it.

A Young Woman’s Guide to Raising Obedient Children

Dr. Francine Pascal Reid, (1943)

Idecide to take J.B.’s advice to meet the girls at the airport because even though I hate to admit it at times, he’s a pretty smart guy. Brit will appreciate me making the effort to go to her, rather than waiting in the room with a bottle of champagne, which was what I had been planning to do.

It would be easy to sit here and wallow in self-pity, missing them all, but I promised J.B. I wouldn’t do that. The kids want me to have fun too.

″I’m here to have fun, so fun I shall have,” I tell my reflection in the mirror before I head to the bathroom.

I take a moment to contemplate how much fun J.B. and I could have in the room before stripping off to stand under the rainforest showerhead.

The soothing water manages to wake me up and wipe away the remnants of my tears. And once I finish my shower, clad only in a thick white towel, I call room service for some champagne.

Brit expects a bottle to be waiting for her, and I would be a bad friend if I didn’t taste test it for her.

Thank goodness for the alcohol, because I soon find that getting ready to go out with the girls in Sin City is like hauling myself up a huge hill.

I used to do this. I used to be very social, with dates, and parties and big groups of friends. Drinking, dancing, meeting new people.

But when was the last time I went to a party that didn’t involve kids? And where the hosts provided adult beverages rather than organic juice boxes? Since I’ve had the kids, my social life has taken a nosedive. And my friendships have, well, dwindled to Morgan and Brit and other couples with kids.

J.B. will still ask me occasionally if I want to go out on one of his nights off. But I know he likes to spend that time with the kids, and honestly, it makes me tired to think about the effort it takes to go out. Finding babysitters, not to mention what it takes me to get ready these days.

Is that what happens when you become parents, or when you get older? Because I’ve noticed Brit’s social calendar is more open than it used to be five years ago. Of course, this could be because Brit is sometimes not a nice person.

I shouldn’t think that. Brit is my oldest and dearest friend. We’ve been together through all my mother’s shenanigans, her parent’s divorce, all of her divorces, my dating disasters, the babies. We’ve been through a lot and no matter what I may think of her at times, I’m still proud to be her maid of honor.

Matron of honor now. That’s another thing that’s changed.

I’ll do my best to dip my toe into the Fountain of Youth tonight. I don’t know if it’s being here in Las Vegas or J.B.’s many lectures about having fun, but I take the preparations for this evening seriously.

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