Chasing Him (Dark Love 4)

It seems like the perfect opportunity to point out the obvious. “The psychic said—”

“I knew you would say that. Do not, and I repeat, do not bring that lady up in front of Charlotte.”

I laugh. “Congratulations, bro.”

“I can’t do this, Adriana. Three kids under four?” I can hear the panic in his voice.

“Of course, you can do this. Besides, you don’t really have a choice now. You can’t put the mouse back in the hole. I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunty again!” I squeal.

“Yeah, if only Charlotte could share your enthusiasm,” he mutters, walking off to the backyard.

I watch through the window as he tries to place his hand on her shoulder, but her glare is so icy that he backs off and heads over to where my dad is firing up the grill.

All the guests have finally arrived, including Hazel, Penny, Fred, and Jerry. All four of them are like family to both Julian and me, even though at times, Jerry argues that family is for losers, but to know Jerry is to love him, quirks and all. Around Andy, he changes, becoming a big kid at heart and protects him like a big brother would.

“You’ve done amazing, Adriana.” Hazel smiles beside me.

“You know what?” I say, unable to hide the grin on my face. “I have, haven’t I?”

Hazel embraces me, proud of my willingness to admit I’ve done something right in my life despite my constant need to drag my failures to the surface.

“It’s always there, sweetheart. You just need to fall to be able to look up and see the stars.”

Mom steps outside, and I quickly introduce her to Hazel. They hug it out. Mom’s so grateful to finally meet Hazel and the rest of our friends after I’ve spoken so much about them the last few weeks.

The guests are chatting amongst themselves as the kids play happily in the bouncing castle. Birthdays are so tiring. Between making sure everyone is fed to entertaining the kids with games, I’m ready to bring out the cake.

My mom carries the cake outside, proud of her creation. It’s a three-tiered fondant cake which all the kids gather around, oohing and aahing, not to mention one of Andy’s little friends who has jabbed his chubby finger into the cake already.

We all warm up our lungs and commence the traditional birthday salute, singing loudly at the birthday boy.

“Blow out your candles, Andy.” I nudge him gently.

Andy stares at the cake, frightened by all the attention he is receiving, and buries his face into Julian’s neck. Julian whispers something in his ear convincing him to turn around. He blows out all three candles as our family and friends cheer him on. I clap along with them, posing with Julian and Andy as my mom snaps away with her camera.

My baby is a big boy now.

I grab the knife to cut the cake as a distraction to stop the tears from flowing. Eric stands beside me, his drool almost touching the ground as he eyes off the white chocolate mud cake. Penny is just as bad, biting her nails contemplating whether she indulges in the cake or not.

“I’d be in negative Weight Watchers points if I ate that cake,” he announces.

Rocky pulls up beside him. “Dude, that’s kinda gay being on Weight Watchers, isn’t it?”

“Well, first of all, I am gay, and second, it won’t hurt you to look in the mirror once in a while.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that someone’s carrying around a spare tire.”

I burst out laughing, not the best thing to do with a knife in hand. Rocky has put on a few pounds, but I wouldn’t call him fat.

“It’s sympathy weight,” he tells us.

“Excuse me?” Nikki yells. “Are you trying to say I’m the fat one now?”

“No, babe, all I’m saying is that maybe you should lay off the hormones, you know, estrogen makes you hungry.”

Charlie has joined us at the table and has caught wind of the conversation. We both whistle at the same time, shaking our heads at Rocky. He’s in deep shit now.