In her closet, she sighed. Everything she owned was either out of date or too small. She still had some baby weight to lose—the twins had turned her stomach into the Kingdome; that kind of stretching didnt bounce back easily.
Exercising would have helped, and she wished fervently now that shed fit it into her schedule this winter.
Too late now.
She chose a nice pair of her favorite broken-in Levis and a pretty black angora sweater that Johnny had given her for Christmas a few years ago, right after hed taken the job at KLUE. It was one of her only designer garments.
"Come on, boys," she said, scooping them up with practiced ease. Settling one on each hip, she carried them to their bedroom, changed their diapers, and dressed them in the darling sailor boy outfits Tully had sent for their birthday. Then, because it took forever to let them walk down the stairs, she carried them, plopped them on the living room floor with a pile of toys in front of them, and popped in a Winnie-the-Pooh tape. That gave her twenty minutes if she was lucky.
Locking the child gate at the bottom of the stairs, she went into the kitchen and began setting the table. As always, she kept half an eye on the boys while she worked.
"Mom!" Marah shrieked. "Theyre here!" She thundered down the stairs, jumped over the childproof gate, and ran for the window, pressing her little nose against it.
Kate sidled up to her daughter, pushed the curtains aside. Headlights cut through the darkness. Johnnys car was first; behind it a black limousine crept down the long, treed driveway. The two cars parked in front of the garage.
"Wow," Marah said.
The uniformed driver got out of the limo and came around to the back passenger door, opening it.
Tully emerged slowly, as if she knew she was making an entrance. Dressed in low-rise designer jeans and a crisp white mens-style blouse beneath a navy blazer, she was the very definition of casual chic. Her hair, cut in layers and probably styled by the best hairdresser in Manhattan, was a gorgeous auburn hue that shone in the light from the garage.
"Wow," Marah said again.
Kate tried to suck in her stomach. "I wonder if theres time for lipo-suction. "
Johnny got out of his car and went to Tully. They stood close enough together that their shoulders were touching. Laughing at something the driver said Tully looked up at Johnny, pressing her hand to his chest as she spoke.
They looked perfect together, like models pulled from the pages of a glossy fashion magazine.
"Daddy sure likes Aunt Tully," Marah said.
"He sure does," Kate muttered, but Marah was already gone. Her daughter opened the door and ran to her godmother, who scooped her up and twirled her around.
Tully came into the house like she did everything: in a maelstrom of sound and light. She hugged Kate fiercely, kissed the boys pudgy cheeks, handed out more gifts than a Ryan family Christmas, and demanded a drink.
All through dinner, she entertained them, told them stories about being in Paris for Y2K and the panic that preceded it, about the recent Oscars ceremony shed attended and how theyd taped the dress over her boobs and how the adhesive had failed her at a party when she did a straight shot.
"Everyone in the room got a shot," she said, laughing, "if you know what I mean. "
Marah hung on Tullys every word. "Was it an Armani?" she asked.
Kate was absolutely dumbfounded to hear Tully say, "Yes, it was, Marah. I see you know your fashion designers. Im proud of you. "
"I saw pictures in the magazine. They said you were one of the best dressed. "
"You have to work at that," Tully said, beaming. "A whole team of people work to make me look good. "
"Wow," Marah said yet again. "Thats so cool. "
When Tully had exhausted the celebrity fashion topics, she turned to world politics. She and Johnny debated the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and the press coverage of it in fierce detail; Marah jumped in at every lull with endless questions about teenage celebrities Tully knew personally and Kate had never heard of. Frankly, the boys were such a handful it took all of her concentration and effort to keep them quiet. Kate kept meaning to say something, add a comment or two, but the boys picked tonight to throw food at each other, and she had to be vigilant to keep them in check.
The dinner seemed to last a nanosecond. When it was over, Marah, in a pathetically transparent attempt to impress Tully, cleared the table.
"Ill do the dishes," Johnny said. "Why dont you and Tully get some blankets and sit outside?"
"Youre a prince," Tully said. "Ill make a pitcher of margaritas. Katie, you put Huey and Louie to bed and Ill meet you outside in fifteen minutes. "
Kate nodded and carried the boys upstairs. By the time she was done bathing and dressing and reading to them, it was close to eight oclock.