Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
He did, however, let us go to his sister Jen’s house for Easter since it was going to be outside, and we had not been to a family gathering and stayed for any length of time since the pandemic began. Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite as well as I hoped, but it had nothing to do with masks this time.
Jen’s house is in Parkridge, which to Sam was a bit of a schlep, but for the rest of us, it was a nice drive. Once we got there, I was surprised at all the people, and Sam wasn’t sure we should even go in.
“It’s outside,” I reminded him. “The kids are all wearing masks, you’re vaccinated, I’m halfway there, and we’ll all stay six feet away from everyone.”
He didn’t look happy, but we went in.
Years ago, Jen had gotten divorced, and then married her second husband, Doug. He has three kids, Jen has two, and as far as I could tell, they were all there. It was funny because Sam was the oldest, but we’d had our kids after his sisters, so our kids were the youngest of the Kage grandchildren.
As usual, people called out Hannah’s name, and, with Jake in tow, she went to greet her cousins. Kola is not the extrovert his sister is, so he went immediately to his grandfather and took a seat beside him. Had Harper been there it would have been better, but he was spending Easter with his family and said he would be over later.
Sam went to talk to his brother and his cousins, which left me to find Jen and give her the bottle of wine I’d brought her, as well as the enormous pan of potato salad. She was at the food table with Rachel, Sam’s other sister, several other women, and her daughters, Ally and Carla.
“Oh, thank God,” she said when she saw me, rushing around the table to take the pan from me. “I told you Jory would remember.”
“Remember what?” I asked as she put the pan down in a place that had been made for it, and I held out the bottle.
“We have an agreement that for all my parties, unless I tell you different, you make your world-famous extra-eggy potato salad.”
“That’s right,” I assured her, grinning behind my mask, noting that she wasn’t wearing one but not about to bother her about it when she already appeared a bit flustered. “And here’s your special happy juice.”
She looked at the label and then hugged it tight. “My favorite red,” she gushed, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. “You’re an angel.”
“I try,” I assured her. “Now, what’s with the vibe?”
She huffed out a breath and gestured at Ally. “She’s pregnant again.”
I grinned at her. “Jen, c’mon, this is quarantine. What else are they supposed to do?”
She growled at me. “You think this is funny? You know, you have a daughter too.”
And I did, but I suspected that it had less to do with Ally having another baby and more to do with the fact that she and her husband and their two-year-old were living in Jen’s basement. It was nice down there, renovated, and it has its own entrance, refrigerator, microwave, and stove. The issue was that it was also where Doug’s mancave was, complete with his monster TV, bar, pool table, PS5, Xbox, and foosball table. His office was also originally down there, but he’d had to move it upstairs to share Jen’s office when Ally and Brad and Gemma moved in.
Taking hold of my bicep, Jen walked me away from the table.
“Doug keeps bringing up the fact that none of his kids had to move back in with us.”
“Uh, Ally is Doug’s kid too,” I reminded her. “Did he forget the part where he said ‘I do’ and all seven of you became one big happy family?”
“Yeah, but Ben is doing great, living in Schaumberg with his family, making a crapton of money at all his car dealerships. Todd is in Phoenix with his husband, both of them making crazy money at their firm. Melissa lives in Manhattan, being a journalist, doing the whole Sex in the City thing. And then you have Carla, divorced, living in Brookfield with her three kids, who just needed to borrow money for her mortgage, and Ally, who’s living with us.”
“Carla didn’t expect to be divorced,” I insisted. “Her husband skipped town with the au pair and moved to Paris with their savings.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“And as soon as Brad gets a new job, they’ll move out. You can’t possibly think they want to live with you.”
“But it’s so thoughtless to get pregnant right now.”
“Do you actually think they planned it?” I asked, holding her gaze.
Heavy sigh from her. “No.”
“Imagine how scared she is getting pregnant during a pandemic,” I offered, taking her hand. “Maybe cut her some slack, huh?”