Page 115 of Nave
The laugh burst out of me.
“I don’t see your wife,” I said, looking at the crowd.
“She’s doing business lady shit. She’s coming, though.”
“You gonna save any food for her?”
“Depends on how long it takes her to get here,” he said, sauntering away.
It was a day full of gifts, food, and celebrating Lolly, who was so fucking deserving of the love.
The men eventually showed up to drive their tipsy women home, taking some time to load up their trunks with our gifts to drop at our house on their way.
“You should have opened some with me,” Lolly said, walking up to me when we finally had a moment alone.
“Nah. I had my fun watching you.”
“Also, you’re a big, fat liar.”
“I know,” I agreed, turning her back to my chest, then reaching down to lift up her belly, giving her a break from the weight for a moment.
She let out a low moan as she leaned her head back against me.
“But at least you lied for a good reason.”
“And under Gracie’s orders.”
“Oh my God. She had orders for everyone, I heard.”
“She did. Multi-step plans sometimes too. Right down to your dress.”
“She’s a mastermind.”
“She is. They’ve had this planned since that night I dropped you off at Gracie’s house all those months ago.”
“I love our people,” she decided.
“Me too.”
“But I love you a little bit more.”
Lolly - 9 months
“She’s going to be just fine,” Nave assured me, sensing the direction of my thoughts as we drove away from the house.
“I know.”
“Gracie has been babysitting since she was twelve. She is a babysitting guru. She knows tricks even seasoned moms haven’t figured out yet. And she takes an infant and child CPR class every year to ‘stay fresh’ just in case.”
I shot a smile in Nave’s direction. “It sounds like she’s more qualified to take care of our baby than we are.”
“She is,” he said with a laugh. “She’ll probably have her sleeping through the night and, I dunno, reciting her ABCs by the end of the night.”
“She’s like three months old.”
“That’s how good Gracie is.”
“You’re just trying to make me feel better about abandoning our baby.” Nave shot me a bemused look. “I know,” I said, exhaling hard. “I need to get okay with being away from her here and there.”
