“No, stay, you’re good.” I move closer. “I’m a little bored though. Vince is out. Room for one more playmate?”
“Sure, have a seat.”
“Who is that?” demands a tiny brunette, standing on a second floor balcony of a play building that exists in this room.
“My friend, Carly,” Mia calls back.
“Okay.”
Apparently she just needed to know. Now she’s dismissed me and she heads inside the building.
“Wow. This playroom is… wow.”
Mia nods. “Isn’t it?” Indicating the blonde woman across from her with the tiny baby on the ground between her legs, Mia says, “This is Adrian’s wife, Elise.”
“Hi,” Elise says, putting her Aladdin pen down on the notebook and uncapping a bottled water to take a sip.
I look at the baby on the ground in front of her. She’s fast asleep, and boy, is she small. “That is a tiny baby.”
Elise nods. “She was a little early.”
“She just couldn’t wait to meet us,” Mia jokes.
“Yeah, who could?” I shoot back.
Mia smiles. “Probably a different experience for you. If you’re not one of us, it can be a lot to take in.”
“Also helps if your spouse isn’t Mateo’s bitter enemy,” Elise volunteers. “You drew the shortest straw in existence. Mateo hates Vince more than anyone.”
My gaze drifts to Dom. Now that there’s a new person around, he scoots over Mia’s leg and crashes to the soft mat before grinning up at me. I scoot down on my belly so we’re face-to-face. “Hey, cutie. Long time, no see.”
“You like kids, I take it?” Mia asks.
“I do. Big fan of kids.”
“Have you ever been to Disney World?” Elise asks.
I raise my eyebrows. “Me? No. Can’t say I have.”
“We’re planning our first trip this fall. I’m grilling everyone I know for their top to-do list items, but pretty much everyone I know lives here, and none of us have ever gone.”
“Ethan and Willow should’ve had Justine sooner,” Mia says, crawling forward and impressing me with her flexibility as she grabs the notebook and draws it to her, while still in a V. She basically did the splits to grab a notebook.
I bet Mateo is very sexually demanding.
“I know,” Elise agrees. “We could’ve forced them to go with us.”
Mia grins. “Ethan would’ve been so mad.”
“That’s okay. We could’ve just had Mateo hand down the summons. I’m pretty sure Ethan and Adrian secretly love to be mad at Mateo.”
“It’s the basis of their whole friendship,” Mia agrees.
“Nothing brings two people together like a common enemy,” Elise states.
“Is it weird being married to the communal villain?” I ask Mia, as Dom grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks it.
“Dom,” Mia says, dropping the notebook and untangling her baby’s fingers from my hair. “Sorry about that. I guess he didn’t appreciate you calling Daddy a villain.”
I snort, smiling up at her. “No biggie. I’m no stranger to hair-pulling.”
That seems to surprise her. “Really?”
Another small child I hadn’t noticed walks up from behind me, holding up a giant piece of construction paper as he heads past us toward the miniature city. “Rosie, I make picture for you.”
“Wow, you guys have a lot of kids in here, don’t you?”
Mia nods. “A few. We have two older girls, too, but they’ve pretty much outgrown the playroom.”
“You’re basically my age,” I state. “Did you start having babies when you were 12?”
“Step-daughters,” she explains. Then, patting her flat belly, she says, “I have another baby on the way, too.”
“Holy crap. You don’t get a break, do you?”
“Do you and Vince want kids?” Elise asks.
I glance at Mia, feeling a little awkward about answering that question in front of her when she’s the mother to Vince’s existing child. She seems mildly curious as she traps Dom back in her lap, absently bending to kiss the top of his head.
“Um, yeah, we talked about it.”
“He didn’t want kids when we were together,” Mia volunteers.
“Vince is a great guy, but he requires a little handling. A little coaching. Sometimes he’s not sure what he wants until you tell him.”
Elise grins, pointing at Carly. “I like her. Can we trade Meg and keep Carly?”
Mia rolls her eyes. “That’s not very nice.”
“I was going for truthful,” Elise says, innocently.
Chapter Twenty Three
Vince
When I get home, Carly seems to be in a better mood. Immediately upon seeing me, she wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a lingering kiss.
“Well, hello,” I say, leaning my forehead against hers.
“Hello right back. I have an idea.”
“What’s your idea?”
“Why don’t we go see Laurel tonight? We’re allowed to leave, right? We have to stay here, but we’re allowed to go out. We don’t have to remain immersed in the culture of Crazytown all night.”
“Yeah, we’re allowed to go out. We can’t right now, though. We have to get ready for dinner.”
Carly backs up, pointing at a garment bag on the bed. “Is that what this is for? The maid brought it up, she said it was for dinner, but I assumed she meant Easter dinner. Like, a gift.”