“Thank you, darling. I’ve been taking a Pilates class.”
“That sounds like fun. Is it at the senior center?” Regina asks, sitting next to me.
Mom narrows her eyes. “Do I look like someone who goes to the senior center?”
I shake my head. I think she forgets she’s in her sixties and not her thirties.
“No, Mom. You look like someone that should be in a nightclub,” Regina smarts off. She leans in closer to the table. “I’ve always wondered: do the black lights make the Botox glow?”
I almost spit out my wine as Mom rolls her eyes at her. “Regina, isn’t this my birthday? Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me today?”
“Okay, no more jokes. We’re going to have a fun evening.”
“Good.” She claps her hands together as the waiter comes back and takes our order. “I do have an announcement.” We look at her. “I have fallen in love.” Instantly, Regina and I groan. Not this again. “I mean it this time. This is it. His name Donald. Well,” she smiles. “I call him Donnie, but we’re going to be married. He’s wonderful.”
“Of course he is,” I mumble. Wonderful is how Mom describes each husband she’s had.
“Well, tell us about our new daddy.” Regina chugs the wine down quickly.
“No offense, Mom, but what number is going to be? Eight?”
“Ten,” Regina corrects me. “Number Nine was the Italian guy.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about him.”
“Enough,” Mom says firmly. “I may have been in a few relationships before, but this is it. This is the one.”
“Is he in his nineties and a billionaire? That’s how I’ll know he’s the one for me,” Regina mouths off.
I giggle at her. Regina is all talk. She and I are more alike on the topic of marriage. One and done is our motto. I think that’s why she’s never gotten married. That, and her job.
“I mean it this time,” Mom almost whines at us.
I sigh. “Okay, okay. If this guy means so much to you, then congrats, Mom.” I tip my glass to her.
“Thank you,” she beams, and thankfully, we move off the topic.
The dinner goes more smoothly. Regina tells us all about the hotel business and the promotion she hopes to receive. I have no doubts she’ll get it. She’s brilliant at her job.
“What about you, Avery? How’s the hospital?” Mom asks.
My mouth drops. I forgot to tell her. “Well, I quit and have become Jax’s assistant. I handle the scheduling, finances, and merchandising.”
“Really? I’m surprised. Wait,” Mom gasps. “Are you pregnant?”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes. “No, Mom.”
“Are you trying then?”
I don’t want to say I haven’t been able to since Jax and I aren’t having sex. Hell, he’s barely touched me. “Jax and I agreed a long time ago to wait until Jax’s career slowed down before we have kids. He’s just twenty-seven, and I turned twenty-six a few months ago. I mean, we still have plenty of time to have kids later on down the road.”
I can’t lie; I wished we would have a child. I want to be a mother, but right now, I’m glad we don’t. We need to rebuild us before we add more
to it. We’ve talked several times about it, and we agreed no kids until later. I take my birth control pill faithfully every morning, and we haven’t had any slip ups at all.
When dinner is over, Mom seems happy, Regina is still her same old self, and I’m heading home. Pulling into the driveway, I realize that this house is much larger than we truly need, but this is what Jax’s wanted.
I walk in, shut off the security alarm, and toss my items on the table. It’s quiet. It’s different now that I’m not working at the hospital. It would be nights like these that I would pick up an extra shift or stay over to help, just so I wouldn’t be alone.