Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 174544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
They’ll both be amazing moms. It’s all I can really think while I stroke Ophelia on my lap.
I can feel them staring at me, then exchanging a cagey look, maybe realizing I’m too quiet.
My hermit habits this past week haven’t gone unnoticed by my roommates like I thought they would. After Donnelly and I had sex while wearing masks this morning, I spent most of the day reading comics and rewatching episodes of Beneath a Strong Sentiment. By nighttime, Jane and Sulli whisked me out of my bedroom.
Sulli wanted to go out.
Jane even offered to go to a brewery. “Anything you want,” they keep saying.
Sulli’s threat level is so high being pregnant, and Jane’s has only grown now that the media are salivating over pics of Maeve. When Jane finally left the hospital, it’d been a zoo of paparazzi and press to a dangerous point.
Maximoff and Farrow are now rethinking strategies for Millie Kay Miller, their surrogate, when she gives birth. Everyone is worried about traffic and reaching the hospital in time.
In Maeve’s nursery, I look between Sulli and Jane, realizing they’re ready to brace the world more than I am. I like sneaking out, so I never thought I’d hide away. But it feels safe. Easy. This is also an opportunity for me to be more helpful. If I stay out of sight for longer, then there can’t be any “Luna likes Donnelly” theories in the mainstream media. I’m making Donnelly’s task of infiltrating his family much easier.
Anyway, I told them I’d rather just stay home, so we’ve been hanging out in the nursery. Besides the catnip-stuffed mice I brought in for the energetic calico cats, everything is put away and orderly thanks to her husband.
“Hey, Luna,” Sulli nudges my side on the loveseat. “Camping was just an idea. We can do literally anything for your birthday.”
“Yeah, I know.” I slide a brush through Ophelia’s white fur. “Out of everything we’ve brainstormed, it’s my favorite.”
“Really?” Sulli grins and bumps my arm.
I bump hers back, grinning too. The remnants of our days rooming together in the townhouse are like fairy dust, making me soar higher. I’ve never been closer to Sulli than back then, but times like this remind me that our bond hasn’t totally disappeared or been broken.
“Really, really,” I nod. “No media, just all the people I love in the woods, and we can pretend we’re all on another planet together.”
“So it’s settled.” Jane steeples her fingers like a giddy mastermind. “Camping with an otherworldly space theme for your 21st.”
My excitement gives way to concern. “Are you bringing Maeve or letting your parents babysit?”
“I’ll likely bring her with us since she’s so little,” Jane notes, her hand on Maeve’s head. “I wouldn’t miss your birthday.”
Maeve was too early to be born exactly on my birthday, no cosmic timing after all, but now that she’s here, I thought Jane would pass on birthday festivities.
I think she’s so used to being present for everyone, kind of like Moffy but in a much different way since she has so many siblings. Maybe she’s not ready for this aspect to change. She’s one of the most reliable, dependable people in the family, and I wonder if she’s scared a newborn will make her flaky.
It’s okay if it does.
I start, “If you have to miss it, I understa—”
“No, I’ll be there.”
“Even if you have to change diapers in the woods?”
“Oui,” Jane nods, “even then.”
It makes me feel good and bad. “We could always do it here. Just have a space-themed party in the kitchen.”
Jane looks crestfallen. “It shouldn’t be some ordinary, mundane party. It’s your 21st. It’s going to be as spectacular as you are.”
I try to smile. With the ridicule online, I don’t feel all that spectacular these days, but I do my best to absorb Jane’s encouragements.
Sulli chimes in, “As long as you and Jane are down, I’m fucking down.” She rattles the BB8 toy. “Carpenter! Come here, right fucking now.” The cat has leapt onto the armrest of Jane’s rocking chair, but he springs off to stalk Sulli instead.
Jane wouldn’t want me to alter my birthday plans just for her, I know that.
“Okay, let’s do it,” I smile.
Sulli pumps her fists in the air. “Fuck yeah.”
Jane claps her hands, her bright smile making mine grow. “I’ll make a list of everything we need.”
“My mom probably has enough camping gear for half of us,” Sulli says, then glances to me. “Depending on how many people you invite.”
Jane is already busy typing notes in her phone.
Invites. “I want all of my roommates there,” I tell Sulli, “including Donnelly.” Neither of them look overly suspicious when I name him, and I don’t really feel like stirring drama tonight by sharing my feelings for Donnelly.
Maybe tomorrow.
“And I want to invite Tom, Eliot,” I continue. “…maybe Charlie? If he’ll come and if Farrow is okay with it.” They haven’t exactly mended things, I’ve heard, and if I need to choose between the two, I’d always pick Farrow.