Page 58 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

I laughed. It was like she had materialized behind me. "Not you too? Bee's already worried enough about me. And I'm fine. I don't know how many times I need to keep saying that. Besides, you're pregnant too."

"Just a normal boring pregnancy for me." Daphne pointed to the chair she had escorted me to. "Now sit. And yes, since I am pregnant, I'm sitting too." She plopped down in the chair beside me. "God, these shoes are killing me."

I looked down at the high heels she was wearing. "No one forced you to wear heels." I held up my leg to show off my flat sandals.

"But Rob loves when I wear heels."

I laughed.

"Don't you even start with me, Penny. You cater to James just as much as I cater to Rob. And they're both spoiled rotten."

"You know, I never really thought about it before, but you're right. They are spoiled, aren't they?"

"Extremely." Daphne took a sip of her water. "But they're also loving, caring, kind, thoughtful, romantic..." her voice trailed off. "We're so lucky."

I smiled as I spotted James in the crowd. He was holding a bowl of fruit in one hand and his drink in the other. Scarlett was pulling on his pant leg and he was in the middle of a conversation with Mason's father. James didn't look at all perturbed. He was still in his element despite the balancing act.

"We're the luckiest," I said.

Mr. Caldwell picked up Scarlett and all three of them started walking toward us. "How are the Hunter women doing tonight?" he asked.

"Good," Scarlett said.

He laugh

ed and set her down beside me. "Beautiful as always, my dear," he said as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. "As lovely as ever," he said to Daphne and kissed her cheek too.

"Your fruit, madam," James said with a smile and a bow as he handed me the bowl he was carrying. "Can I get you something, Daphne?" He ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm okay, Rob is in search of pickles."

Mr. Caldwell laughed. "Oh, I remember the pickle phase. My wife couldn't get enough of them when she was seven months along either. I saw some back there. Let me go get you a plate."

"Oh, I'm sure Rob will find them," Daphne said.

"It's no problem at all. I'll be back." He smiled at us and then turned to James. He patted him on the back and gave him a much more tight-lipped smile and a nod.

That was odd. I was about to say something but James broke the awkward silence by kneeling down to talk to Scarlett.

"Say goodnight to Mommy. And we'll go meet Ellen, okay?"

Scarlett made the grabbing motion for me to pick her up. I lifted her into my arms. "Goodnight, Mommy!" Scarlett said.

"Goodnight, Scar." I placed a kiss on her forehead. "Be good for Ellen, okay?" I gave her a tight hug.

"I will, Mommy," she said as she hugged me back. And then in my ear she whispered, "Be careful of the snake."

The now familiar chills ran down my spine. Why did she keep talking about snakes? "Scar, we talked about this. There is no snake. It was just a movie."

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there, Mommy." She squeezed me once more and then jumped off my lap. "I'm ready to go!"

"Okay, pumpkin." James lifted her up. "I'll be right back."

"I should probably go find Sophie so I can say goodnight," Daphne said. "And I need to thank Ellen again for watching her tonight. That was so sweet of her to offer. Save my seat?"

"Mhm." But I wasn't focused on her words at all. Scarlett's warning was going round and round in my head. She was starting to scare me. I needed to search our house for snakes. Or at least tell Ellen to be on the lookout when she cleaned. I ran my hand across my stomach. When you can talk, don't say creepy things like that to me, baby boy.

I plopped a strawberry in my mouth. Screw bananas. Strawberries were now my favorite thing. I closed my eyes to relish the taste on my tongue.

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