“Good thing the weather’s nice,” Esther said to me as I followed her. “It gets pretty crowded when everyone has to eat inside.”

  “There’re my girls,” Tommy announced, setting down his beer and striding toward us. “Lookin’ gorgeous. Bloomin’.”

  “I’m huge,” Esther teased as he kissed the top of her head. “You can say it.”

  “You’re perfect,” he argued, kissing the top of my head. “And so are you.”

  He took the platter out of my hand and carried it to the table, but I couldn’t make my feet move. He’d kissed my head. Like it was nothing. He’d just kissed my head and walked away like it was the most normal thing in the world. I couldn’t even be embarrassed about the way I’d frozen in place, because I was so stunned that he’d done it. I couldn’t remember the last time a male had casually kissed me. I didn’t think it had ever happened, actually. My dad had never been affectionate. Racking my brain, I tried to remember if my uncle had ever kissed my head the way Tommy just had, but I didn’t think so.

  “They’re affectionate,” Nova said quietly. She seemed to be the only one who had noticed my small freakout. Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, she led me back toward the kitchen. “Hopefully, you’ll get used to it, because I don’t know that they could stop it even if they tried.”

  “I just—” I shook my head, struggling to put my thoughts into words.

  “One of the best things Grease and Callie taught their children, who then taught their children, is how to show affection. They hug and they kiss and they tease, it’s like breathing. They do it without thinking.”

  “I just wasn’t expecting it,” I said quietly, embarrassment finally kicking in.

  “I grew up with it,” Nova replied. “So, I don’t think anything of it. But I could see that it freaked you out. You looked a little shellshocked.”

  “Don’t tell Tommy,” I blurted, glancing toward the door. “I don’t want him to feel bad.”

  Nova smiled. “I won’t.”

  “We’re having hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, green salad and….something else I can’t remember,” Heather announced, swiping her hair away from her face. “I hope that works.”

  “Diana will eat anything,” I replied, moving toward her. “Ariel’s a little pickier, but she’ll find something she likes.”

  “Oh good,” she said with a little laugh. “I realized about a half an hour before you got here that I hadn’t even asked, but by then it was too late to change course.”

  “It’s perfect,” I assured her. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

  “Of course,” she replied, smiling at me. “We’re glad you’re here. It’s reason to celebrate.”

  “I’m gonna eat all the tomatoes,” Asa bellowed as he ran through the kitchen and out the door, Flora, Ariel, Eloise, and finally Diana, chasing after him.

  “Plus,” Heather mused as the door swung halfway shut behind them. “It gave me an excuse to make everyone come over.”

  “You’re lucky your family is so close,” I said, stacking the napkins she’d been pulling out. Everyone had moved outside and it was only the two of us.

  “Not lucky,” she corrected, shaking her head. “We worked for it. Me and Tommy always knew that we wanted our kids to be close like he and his siblings are. I have a sister, too, but we never had that kind of relationship. I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t really mind when she moved down to California because we didn’t spend much time together anyway, you know? Tommy and his siblings aren’t like that. They talk to each other most days and can’t imagine it any other way.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “It is,” she agreed, crouching down. “I have a feeling that’s how you and Esther will be from now on.”

  “I hope so, especially since I’m living with her. It would be pretty awkward if we weren’t talking,” I joked.

  Heather made a pfft noise, her head still inside the cupboard. “You’ll have your own place soon enough, I bet. Enjoy this time while you have it.”

  “I will.”

  “Where the hell did I put that bowl?” she complained.

  Movement out of the corner of my eye made me turn.

  Titus was standing only a few feet away, unmoving in the middle of the kitchen.

  We didn’t say anything as we stared at each other.

  He was bigger than I remembered. Taller, but also broader. His face was covered in a five o’clock shadow that he definitely hadn’t been able to grow when he was seventeen, and there were laugh lines at the edges of his eyes that hadn’t been there before either. The brackets at the corners of his mouth were deeper and his jaw was more defined, but his eyes were the same.

  I wondered what he saw when he looked at me.

  “Dammit, I think it’s in the stupid dishwasher,” Heather said, rising to her feet. “Oh, hi, honey. You’re late.”

  “Hey, Ma,” he said roughly, the spell broken. “I’m right on time and you know it.”

  His voice was deeper. Why hadn’t I noticed that his voice was deeper?

  “Would you check the dishwasher for my blue bowl?” she asked, picking up the napkins and silverware. “Put that salad in it and bring it out to the table. I think Dad’s almost done with the burgers.”

  “Why can’t you bring it out in this bowl?” Titus asked as she headed toward the door.

  “Because it doesn’t match.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Noel, grab the serving spoons on your way out, will you, doll?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her that I had no idea where the serving spoons were, but she was out the door before I could say a word.

  Leaving me alone with Titus.

  Chapter 5

  Noel

  “They’re in the second drawer,” Titus said, jerking his chin at the cupboard as he strode toward me.

  “What?” I looked at him in confusion. We were alone in the kitchen. Everyone else was outside. I didn’t know what to say. Should I say something? I wasn’t prepared. The room felt too small.

  “The serving spoons are in the second drawer,” he repeated, looking at me oddly.

  “Oh, thanks,” I murmured, shutting down my internal freak out.

  The drawer he’d indicated was filled with hand towels.

  “Um—” I turned to find him bent over the dishwasher, his jeans pulled tight over his butt and quickly spun back around. “I think this is the wrong drawer.”

  The dishwasher door closed with a thump.

  “Yeah, it’s this one,” he replied, leaning past me to pull open the drawer next to the one I was in. “It’s kind of a mess you’ll have to sort through.”

  “Thanks,” I croaked.

  It only took me a minute or two to find a few serving spoons and I was acutely aware of the man behind me. The silence in the kitchen was so thick I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. Pretending that I didn’t notice him putting the empty bowl in the sink beside me, I turned toward the door.

  Just as I reached it, his arm shot past me, his hand gripping the door handle.

  “I got it,” he murmured.

  “Thanks,” I whispered as he held the door for me.

  I squinted as I walked into the sunshine of the back yard.

  “Uncle Titus!” Asa screamed. The swarm of kids raced past me and I reached out an arm at the last minute, snagging Diana as she trailed behind them.

  “You ready for dinner?” I asked, settling her on my hip as she squirmed.

  “I hungry,” she replied, reaching for the spoons in my opposite hand.

  “Diana’s seat is on the end,” Emilia said, turning to grin at me as she reached for the spoons.

  “Oh, thanks,” I murmured.

  “Kids at the little table,” Heather announced, gesturing for the rest of the kids to sit. “Not you, Eloise. You’re over here by Gran.”

  “I sit,” Eloise complained.

  “When you’re bigger,” Heather said, scooping her up.

  “This is cool,” I murmured as I reached the end of one of the picnic tables. There was a little seat that was just Diana’s size latched onto the table. Reaching out, I pushed on it to make sure she wasn’t going to go tumbling to the ground.

  “It’s sturdy,” Otto’s oldest brother Mick said kindly, watching me. “We bought them last year so we didn’t have to keep dragging the high chair outside.”

  “Because for some reason our mother likes to eat while gettin’ swarmed by bees,” Titus added as he came closer.

  I glanced around, realizing that the only seats left open were the two across from each other on each side of Diana.

  “I like the fresh air,” Heather countered from the other end of the table. “Dig in. I’ll make the kids’ plates.” She looked toward the kid table. “Ariel, come tell Gran what you like.”

  Ignoring the lump in my throat at her casual inclusion of my eldest, who was happily soaking in the attention, I focused on putting food on our plates.

  “Juice boxes okay for your girls?” Titus asked quietly, startling me.

  “What?”

  “I’m gonna grab drinks,” he said, his lips curving up at the sides in amusement. “Can your girls have juice boxes?”

  “Oh.” He was so handsome. I couldn’t look away from that little smile. My eyes shot to his. “Yes. Thank you. Yes.”

  Across the table, Mick chuckled quietly. From beside me, Emilia shushed him.

  “You want somethin’?” Titus asked.

  “Oh, uh, you don’t have to get me anything,” I stuttered.

  “Grab me a beer,” Mick cut in.

  “Cherry soda, please,” Emilia ordered.

  Titus was still looking at me.

  “Water?” I asked, my face burning. “Or whatever is easiest. I’ll drink anything.”

  “Got it.”

  As soon as he’d walked toward the porch, Emilia turned to me, her eyes wide, a huge grin on her face.

  “Stop it,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Good grief, Noel,” she murmured. “Take a breath.”

  “I am,” I whispered back. By the looks of amusement on the faces around the table, the seating arrangement hadn’t been an accident.

  “Water,” Titus announced, setting it next to my plate. “Cherry soda.” He tossed a can at his brother. “Beer.”

  Mick scowled at him.

  “Next time get your own drink,” Titus said easily, rounding the table to his own seat. “Hey, princess, you want some juice?”

  “Appoe,” Diana replied, watching his hands as he stuck the little straw in the juice box. “Appoe juice?”

  “I think it’s fruit punch, actually,” he said, gently handing her the box, holding it steady as she chased the straw with her lips. “Still pretty good, though, right?”

  “So, when are you due?” Mick asked me, pointing his fork at my belly.

  “I have twelve weeks left,” I replied, looking back at my plate. I needed to find a midwife soon. It was on my list of things to do the next day. Esther went to an office that was only women and I liked the idea of that but she wasn’t sure if they were accepting new patients or not.

  “Do you know what you’re having?” Emilia asked, smiling over at me.

  “A puppy,” I joked, making her mouth drop open in surprise. “No, I don’t know.”

  “You think it will be another girl?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged. I didn’t have a feeling one way or the other.

  Titus shot to his feet, startling the crap out of me, and less than a second later, I was scrambling to get off the bench as he yanked Diana out of her little seat. Before I could even get to my feet, he’d turned her and thumped her on her back. Once, twice, and then she was spitting out whatever had been in her mouth.

  “Oh my god,” I breathed, finally on my feet as he thrust her toward me. “Thank you. What happened, baby?”

  Diana coughed and cried, stuffing her face into my neck.

  “You gotta cut the grapes, Mom,” Titus snapped, glaring down the table toward his mom. “What the fuck?”

  “I cut them,” Heather replied, shooting to her feet.

  “Well, you must’a fuckin’ missed one!”

  “Watch your tone,” Tommy ordered.

  “I sifted through them,” Heather said apologetically to me, her eyes wide with worry. “I don’t know how I missed one.”

  “It’s okay,” I murmured, rubbing Diana’s back. “It happens.”

  “Fuck,” Titus muttered, running his hand through his hair.

  “She’s fine,” I said, watching as he braced his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. “It happens. She always eats so fast.”

  “I mean, probably not the best time, but…” Emilia said from her seat. “Language, Titus.”

  Titus huffed and shook his head. “Sorry, Em.”

  “What’s wrong with Nana?” Ariel said, running around the table. “Is she okay?”

  “She just choked on a piece of her food,” I replied, crouching down so Ariel could see her. “She’s okay.”

  “Nana, you gotta chew it,” Ariel said, rubbing her sister’s back.

  “I choke,” Diana announced, scowling as she lifted her head from my shoulder.

  “All better?” I asked, running my hand over her head.

  Diana glared over her shoulder at Titus.

  “You should really say thank you,” I murmured dryly into her ear.

  “Can I sit with you?” Ariel asked, leaning against me, her hand gripping my dress as I stood back up.

  “Sure. Go grab your plate.”

  Titus was using Diana’s spoon to sift through her plate when I set her back in her little seat.

  “That happened a few times when Asa was younger,” Emilia told me as I sat back down. “It’s so scary.”

  “I feel like I’m going to throw up,” I replied quietly. “I didn’t even see it.”

  “You would’ve,” Mick said. “Titus moved pretty fast.”

  “Thank you,” I said, meeting Titus’s eyes as Ariel reached me, her plate held firmly with two hands.

  “Come here, sister,” I said, looking down at her. “You can sit on my lap.”

  It was a tight fit, considering that I didn’t have a whole lot of lap to work with, but we made it work. From the moment Ariel settled in with her plate, she barely stopped talking to eat. Between bites she talked about the little playhouse Heather and Tommy had in their backyard, our room at Esther’s house, the last time Diana had choked on a bite of pancake, and how sticky syrup is.

  “Does your mom let you dunk your pancakes?” Titus asked, fully committed to the nonsensical conversation he was having with my four-year-old.

  “What do you mean?” Ariel asked curiously.

  “My mom always cut the pancakes into strips,” he said, leaning forward on his elbows. “And gave me a little bowl of syrup so I could dunk them.”

  Ariel whipped her head around to glare at me. “You don’t do that!”

  “She’s not goin’ to unless you talk to her nicer,” Titus warned nonchalantly.

  “Sorry, Mama,” Ariel said, kissing me on the chin before spinning back toward Titus. “I wanna dip my pancakes.”

  “You don’t even like to dip your chicken nuggets,” I reminded her, watching Diana. She was pretty much just playing with her food by that point.

  “Sauce is gross,” Ariel replied. “Syrup is good.”

  “Can’t argue with that logic,” Mick said in amusement.

  As dinner came to an end, I started scooping up any leftover food from our plates so I could stack them.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mick said, waving me off.

  Then, almost at once, the men got up and I watched in shock as they started clearing the long picnic tables. Even Rhett and Asa had jobs, picking up empty cans and juice boxes.

  The women at the other table moved to ours while I sat there in confusion.

  “We cooked,” Nova explained as she dropped down across from Emilia. “So, they clean up.”

  “I know,” Esther told me as she sat down in Titus’s spot. “I was super confused the first time I saw them do it, too. Is Diana okay? What happened?”

  “She choked on some fruit salad.” I grimaced.

  “And Titus sprung into action,” Emilia added wryly.

  “Someone had to.” I swallowed hard. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “You looked away for a second,” Emilia replied consolingly. “Happens to all of us.”

  Heather’s hands dropped down softly on my shoulders. I hadn’t even seen her get up. “I’m so sorry. I thought I was being so careful.”

  “It’s okay.” I shook my head and looked up at her. “It was an accident.”

  “Still.” Her eyes were on Diana.

  Ariel squirmed on my lap. “I wanna help Asa.”

  “Well,” Heather said dryly, her hands sliding off my shoulders as Ariel ran toward the kid table. “Someone needs to tell her that she’s ruining forty years of training.”

  Emilia and Nova snickered.

  “She’ll learn soon enough,” Myla said, turning to smile at me. “Don’t clean up when it’s their turn, because they definitely won’t be helping when it’s your turn.”

  “I don’t know,” Emilia replied, watching the kids. “I’m betting Asa will be helping the next time Ariel’s cleaning up.”

  “Look at Flora’s face,” Esther said, chuckling.

  Flora was scowling as she watched Ariel following Asa across the yard, plates in their hands.

  “Flora come sit with auntie,” Myla called out.

  The conversation turned to pregnancy and all the things that came along with it. Myla was completely uninterested and played with Flora at the other end of the table, but Nova sat listening to us quietly.

  “You don’t have any children yet?” I asked quietly.

  Nova shook her head. “No, but I raised my brother,” she said with a smile. “Me and Rum would like to at some point, it just hasn’t happened yet.”