This is Effortless (Checkmate Duet 4)

I smile big, but I want to tell her that I don’t give a damn about him because he’s a liar and a cheater and scum. “No, I didn’t.”

“Christina is going to be having his baby this fall. We’re so excited.”

I keep smiling. “That’s great, did they get married?”

Theresa’s smile fades but she doesn’t let it drop completely. The big fake smile that shows all her teeth returns, and I know I’ve hit her where it hurts. Her beady eyes give all her thoughts away. We live in a small town in West Texas and marriage before children is our tradition, it’s the Southern thing to do. Considering she’s the leader of the women’s church group, I’m sure the gossip has been buzzing. That’s just how the golden girls are—the older women in the church. I can tell she’s seething, but I keep smiling, waiting for her to snap at me. Before Theresa can say a word, Mama becomes my mother hen with ruffled feathers.

“Theresa,” she says, and I’m almost afraid of her tone. She doesn’t smile. She stares Toby’s mother down until she excuses herself.

“I should’ve told her where her lying, cheating son could go, but that’s not the Christian thing to do,” Mama says before returning to her seat next to Aunt Charlotte.

Once Theresa is out of sight, Benita bursts out laughing and it’s so infectious that we’re both cracking the hell up and can’t stop.

“Aunt Rose,” she says, between laughs. “Scary as fuck.”

“Oh my God, I know.” Tears stream down our faces and I start coughing because I’m laughing so hard. It reminds me of our childhood when we’d get so tickled over the stupidest things. After a few minutes, I can’t even remember what we’re laughing about because Benita’s laugh makes me laugh harder. It’s one of those giggles that seems like a joke laugh, but it’s legit. Aunt Charlotte walks up and asks if I’d like to make a list of everything when Benita starts opening gifts. All I can do is nod my head because we’re clearly having too much fun and my tummy hurts from laughing.

Once the baby shower starts, Benita is pulled in a million different directions. Each time someone touches her stomach, she rolls her eyes—hard—and I can’t help but crack up as I drink punch. Mom finally relaxes once the cupcakes are neatly stacked and she’s had punch. I somewhat wonder if she spiked it.

Benita had cute plain white onesies at the door and tons of waterproof markers so we could decorate them. It was such a cute idea and I’ll have to remember that the next time one of my friends gets pregnant. I draw a Dallas Cowboys star on the front because she bleeds blue and silver.

Aunt Charlotte stands up and gives a speech about Benita, her beautiful daughter. I scan the room and everyone is so genuinely happy for her.

“But now it’s time to find out more about my grandbabies,” Aunt Charlotte says.

Mama takes the cue and stands up and helps pass out the cupcakes. She has them split and stacked evenly across the table for the two babies. Before everyone opens them, Aaron walks in and magnetizes toward Benita.

“He’s only here for the reveal,” Aunt Charlotte says. “He doesn’t know yet.”

Aaron grabs Benita’s hand, and since the wedding, I can tell how much their love has grown for one another.

Aunt Charlotte raises her voice above the chatter. “So, the way this is going to work is we’re all going to get cupcakes and on the count of three, everyone will open them up.”

Rustling and electricity fills the room as the countdown begins. We all take bites of our cupcakes and I start searching around to see if there are different colors than the one I have.

Tears of joy stream down Benita’s face as Aaron kisses and hugs her. In this moment, the only two people in the room they see are each other, and I feel my emotions get the best of me as I realize all the cupcakes in the room are filled with blue icing. I stand up and run over to her and give her a huge hug.

“Boys,” she says. “Two boys.”

As we pull away from our embrace, Aaron gives her a big kiss and then excuses himself. Mama comes and gives her a hug. “Don’t cry, honey. Boys aren’t that bad.” She wipes away Benita’s tears, but we both know they are tears of joy.

I give her another hug as people begin to swarm her. “I’ll pray every night they aren’t like my brothers.”

“Thank you! I wished for baby boys the entire time,” Benita says and everyone in the room is full of smiles. Soon people rush to congratulate her and I walk to the back of the room where Mama is wiping her eyes.