Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
I wasn’t ashamed of the fact that Neil and I weren’t monogamous, and I definitely wasn’t ashamed of El-Mudad. We’d landed a hottie, and he was a great person on top of his dazzling good looks. But I would never be able to explain our relationship to my mother. So, the plan was to send her on a trip to Las Vegas to get her out of our hair. We were going to send Tony, too.
The trick would be getting them to accept the gift.
“I’ll figure something out, I swear,” I promised Neil.
“Are you finished in there?” he asked, pulling the shower curtain back. “I have quite a mess to clean up here.”
I squealed and backed away from him as he stepped into the shower with me. “I swear to god, if you get cum on me—”
“I was teasing. But there is a very limited supply of hot water, and it appears I have to crowd you out to get any of it.” He slowly encroached on my personal space until I gave in.
“Fine! Just let me condition my hair, and then, it’s all yours.”
One of the nice things about being around family was not feeling like I had to wear a face full of makeup. I loved makeup—don’t get me wrong. But sometimes, it was nice to just run a comb through my hair, put on some comfy clothes, and go. I slipped on a long-sleeved tee with horizontal navy and cream stripes, my favorite skinny jeans, and my pineapple-print Toms. Neil, on the other hand, agonized about his appearance. He’d done the same thing when we’d packed for the trip. He hadn’t wanted to wear anything “too fancy”, but he’d worried he wouldn’t be able to “blend in”. When I’d pointed out that he usually wore sleep pants and T-shirts all day since he retired, my help had not been appreciated.
The sweatpants thing was a sore point, as my mom brought it up so often.
After a few changes, he decided on a heather gray Henley and blue jeans. The shirt made his eyes even greener than usual, and I caught myself sighing dreamily over him on the drive to my grandmother’s house.
“Is there something on your mind?” he asked, glancing briefly from the road to me in concern.
“Well, yeah, a lot of things. But right now, I was just admiring how cute you are.” I gestured ahead of us. “Don’t miss the turn.”
We pulled into the driveway just behind Mom and Tony.
“How was she?” Neil asked when we got out.
“Good morning to you, too, Neil.” Mom quipped. But I knew she understood his anxiousness. “She was fine. Slept through the night.”
“She got up at four in the morning, though.” Tony groaned, extracting Olivia from the backseat.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she shouted, “Afi!” and ran at Neil, who stooped down to catch her.
“There’s my girl.” He picked her up and rose, planting a kiss on her cheek that she promptly wiped away. To my mother, he said, “I’m sorry, Rebecca. If I had anticipated that she would be going to church, I would have sent more appropriate clothing.”
She didn’t look as inappropriately dressed as Neil thought. I knew he and his family had always gotten spiffed up to impress at the C of E services they’d attended, but his mother had viewed church as more of a social occasion than a spiritual one. In Calumet, bringing a toddler to mass in overalls and hoodie wasn’t something that would turn people’s heads.
“Oh, she looked fine,” Mom reassured him.
“No church,” Olivia interjected.
“She wasn’t impressed,” Mom said with a fond smile. “Sophie was always that way, too. How are you feeling this morning, Soph?”
“Better,” I lied. “It was just a bad headache.”
“I done,” Olivia announced. She pushed against Neil’s chest and wriggled until he had no choice but to set her down, again. She toddled to me and reached for my hand. “You come see.”
I silently thanked her for the change of subject.
“She wants to take you to the wind chimes,” Mom explained, nodding to the porch. Olivia already dragged me in that direction, and I knew where the wind chimes were—various sets had lived on the same corner of the porch since I was an infant—but Mom still followed us and said, “They’re over here.”
“Up!” Olivia demanded when we reached the porch, and I acquiesced, holding her so she could reach the weathered copper chimes. Tony and Neil went into the house, but Mom hung back.
“Sophie, I have the most exciting news!” She checked over her shoulder as though she didn’t want anyone else to hear. Then, she stuck out her left hand.
“Is that an engagement ring?” My brain stuttered to a halt. “Seriously?”
“We’re going to tell everyone today. He just proposed last night.” Mom was giddy. Overjoyed. And oddest of all, suddenly young in my eyes.