Page 14 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

Is she trying to get me to invite her? Hell no. Not happening.“Don’t worry. We asked Reagan’s parents to come along, so they’ll be able to help.”

My mom sighed once again. “What did I do to deserve this?”

Seriously?I rolled my eyes at Reagan and her mom who both gave me a knowing smile, then turned off the speaker and left the room so they didn’t have to listen to the fight that was most likely about to break out. “What are you talking about, Mom?”

“You never invite us to do anything. It’s always your in-laws.”

I rubbed my forehead as I contemplated how to answer. The last thing I wanted was to fight with my mom, especially when things had been fairly good between us since the kids were born. At least, as good as they could be with my mom.

“I’m really trying, Charlotte,” my mom said before I could think of how to put my thoughts into words.

“I know. I just… I don’t know. That’s a lot of people, Mom.”

“Just think about it, okay? More hands means more help with the kids.”

More help did sound great, but I still wasn’t convinced I wanted that help to come from my parents, especially not my mom. “Okay. I’ll think about it. The triplets are napping though, so I have to go. I don’t want to wake them up.”

“Of course. Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

I hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where I dramatically threw myself into one of the chairs. “Guess who wants to go to Disney with us?”

“If you say your mom, I’m going to pour this pot of boiling water over my head.”

“Reagan,” her mom said before she swatted her in the arm. Her tone was scolding, but the small smile on her face told a different story. “Be nice.”

“I am nice.” Reagan walked up behind me and began to massage my shoulders, causing my tension to instantly melt away. “In fact, I’m so nice, I think we should say yes. Let them come.”

I swung my head around to look at Reagan. She had to be kidding. Just a few seconds ago, she was threatening to burn herself at the thought of my mom coming. There’s no way she actually wanted her to come. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”

Reagan simply smiled and shrugged. “Why not? More people means more help. God knows we could use it.”

“I can think of about a million reasons why we shouldn’t have my parents come, the main one being that my mom has found a way to ruin every big moment in our lives.”

“You sayruin.I say she gave us memories to look back on and laugh at.”

“It is nice that she wants to be involved,” Mama Cooper added. “Plus, we’ll be there to act as a buffer. You know I’d never let her ruin your first family vacation.”

“See?” Reagan leaned down to place a quick kiss on my lips. “What could possibly go wrong?”

“So many things.”So, so many.

Chapter 4

Reagan

“I’m going to miss you so much. Yes, I am. Mama loves you. Yes, I do. I love you so much.”

“Oh, calm down,” Nana said as she grabbed Patch out of my arms. “He’ll be just fine here with me.”

“And you’re sureyou’llbe okay?” Charlie asked as she wrapped an arm around her nana.

Much to our chagrin, Charlie’s parents had decided to stay at our house the night before vacation and fly out of Philadelphia with us. The only positive was that Nana offered to ride with them to our house and watch Patch while we were gone.Thank god.With his anxiety, I didn’t even want to imagine what he would do if we left him with someone he didn’t know. Luckily, Patch loved Nana, but then again, who didn’t?

Nana waved her hand at Charlie. “I’ll be just fine. I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself. Now, tell me, where do you keep thegood stuff?”

“The good stuff? Like alcohol?”

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