“What are you guys doing to her?” I hear a woman ask. I look up to see a beautiful woman with long brown hair coming in to stand next to Asher; his arm goes around her and he kisses the top of her head.
“Hey, baby. This is Lilly. Lilly, this is November, my wife.”
“Hi, I'm so sorry about this mess,” I say, pointing down at the pie that is being scooped up off the floor by Nico.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Lilly.” She smiles, making me feel better about being here. “Let me show you the bathroom and you can wash your legs off.”
“Nice to meet you too. And that would be good.” I look down at my legs; one has smeared chocolate all over it from where Nico tried to wipe me off.
“I’ll take her; I just need to set this stuff down,” Cash says, and Asher takes the bags from him.
“Let me take those,” Trevor says, grabbing the ones out of my hand as well.
“Thanks.” I look up to see everyone watching me closely, then another beautiful woman comes in with long blonde hair, and she has a very obvious baby bump. I feel like I stepped into the world of beautiful people.
“Liz, this is Lilly. Lilly, this is Liz, Trevor’s wife.” Now my hands are free, I reach forward and shake her hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I was just coming in to see where everyone disappeared to,” Liz says, and Trevor comes back over, wrapping his arms around her waist, setting his chin on the top of her head.
“Well, baby, you see, Lilly here is a bit of a klutz.”
“No, I'm not.” My eyes narrow on Trevor and I hear him laugh.
“I think Trevor is right. Who waves while holding a pie?” Nico points out my stupidity.
“It’s polite to wave.”
“When you’re passing someone on the street,” he says.
“I didn’t think about it,” I mumble, looking at the ground and feeling like an idiot.
“These guys are all big bullies,” Liz says, tilting her head back to look at her husband.
“I think when they pick on you it means they like you,” November points out.
“Can you watch the kids for a second? I’m gonna take Lil to the bathroom and help her get washed up,” Cash asks the room of siblings.
“Is that what we’re calling it today?” Asher asks, and my already red face burns hotter. I feel someone watching me, and my eyes go to the kitchen to see Nico dumping out the pie, his eyes on me. I don’t know why, but I feel like he is judging every move I make.
“Mommy, they hab a puppy!” I hear Ashlyn yell as she runs into the house right to me. Her hair is a mess, with grass and twigs sticking out of it, and dirt is covering her clothes. There is another little girl following close behind, but she has blonde hair. When Ashlyn reaches me, her arms go out for me to pick her up. “Mommy, they hab a puppy and he’s so cute!”
“They do?”
“Yes, and his name is Beast.”
“Beast?” I wonder why they would name their ‘cute puppy’ that.
“Can we get one?” she asks, giving me her best pleading face.
“I, um...we can’t get one now.”
“Oh.” Her bottom lip pops out, and I know what’s coming.
“No pouting, what did we talk about?”
“But he’s so cute,” she says, that pouty lip trembling.
“I know, baby.” I laugh, pulling her head to my chest and kissing the top of her head.
“You know, you can come visit Beast whenever you want.” Ashlyn lifts her head to look at November. “Plus, I'm sure July, June, and May would like you to come over and visit.” I looked at Cash, wondering if this was some kind of strange test. Who would have the name November, and then name their children after the other months of the year?”
“Yes, those are their girls’ names,” Trevor says reading my face. “I think they’re trying to make a calendar.” He shrugs, making Asher hit him upside his head while November and Liz roll their eyes at the same time. Ashlyn wiggles, wanting down.
“I will be out in a few minutes. You be good until then, all right?” I tell her, not yet releasing her to run off.
“I know,” she says, completely annoyed with me. So just to annoy her more, I kiss her all over her face, making her scream with laughter.
“See you in a few minutes.” I kiss her one last time then release her. When I stand back up, everyone is staring at me, but Cash’s eyes are so warm that my pulse starts to race.
“Um…” I look around.
“Let’s get you washed up,” Cash says, grabbing a bag from the couch. I would have gone anywhere with him at that point, just to get away from the strange vibe I was getting from everyone.
“Is everything okay?” I ask as soon as the bathroom door closes.
“More than.”
“Oh, it just that I felt like everyone was waiting for something to happen.”
“My ex wasn’t the easiest person,” he mumbles, closing and locking the door behind us.
“What do you mean?” I slip off my sandals.
“She would start fights over everything under the sun. She always made it seem like everyone was out to get her.”
“Were they?” I mean, I don’t know this woman, but I do know women, and we have a tendency to band together.
“Nah, my family’s not like that; even if they didn’t like her, she would never know it.