My eyes almost fell out of my head when I saw the cake sitting perfectly in the middle of the island. It was the princess cake that Brody and I saw in the book at The Great Cakery.
“What the … how did Mom…” I was thoroughly confused.
“I asked your mom to let me handle the cake,” Brody said from behind me.
I spun around to face him. “You did this?”
He grinned and nodded, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “Cool, huh? I just hope my twinkies like Oreo cake because I couldn’t resist.”
I smiled as Lucy and Piper ran over and wrapped their arms around him.
“This is so awesome, Brody. Thank you.” I looked at him with sheer adoration as I walked over to the pantry to make sure we had candles for later, something I’d completely forgot to check before.
I pulled the pantry door open and gasped when I caught my mom and Fred groping each other like a couple of teenagers against the cereal shelf. The girls started to run toward the pantry to see what I was staring at when I slammed the door.
“What was it?” Piper asked with Lucy and Brody standing behind her, just as confused.
“Uh … a really big spider,” I stuttered as my mom walked out of the pantry, smiling like nothing ever happened.
“Gigi, did you kill the spider?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, I got him.” She smiled.
“I bet you did.” I stared at her incredulously before I turned back to Brody. “Can you take them in the family room for a minute while I clean up after that spider?”
Brody frowned, clearly still confused as he led the girls over to the couch and out of ear shot.
I whipped around to Mom, who was grinning at me like a proud teenager. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean what’s going on? It was pretty obvious, no?” She beamed and walked over to the pantry door and opened it, letting Fred out.
“How long?” I looked back and forth between them.
“Well, you’ve been a little preoccupied lately,” she waved her hand toward the couch where Brody was sitting, “and I’ve been with the girls a lot. Fred was helping me out and … you know, it just happened.” Her gaze met his and they smiled sweetly at each other.
“Oh my God … I need a vacation,” I mumbled into my hands in a delirious giggle.
“It’s kinda fun though, right?” she asked.
I pulled my hands away from my face and stared blankly at her.
“Think about it, we can double date.” She winked at me as Fred put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
“I can’t. This is too much.” I chuckled as I walked across the kitchen. “I need to hop in the shower, I’ll be right back, okay?”
I headed toward our apartment as I looked over at Brody, who was sitting on the couch with the girls watching Snow White. He had one arm tucked behind each of their heads as they all focused intently on the TV. I slowed my pace to stare at them for a minute. The sight of my three loves, snuggled up on the couch together made my heart warm.
Since my breakup with Zach, I had tried hard to make our life about structure and simplicity. Brody was the opposite of that. He was carefree and unpredictable; no day with him was the same. Hell, no hour with him was ever the same. He crashed into my life and shook it up like a snowglobe.
I had no idea my life needed him so bad.
Several hours later, Lucy and Piper’s friends had left and the family room carpet was sprinkled with enough confetti and glitter to fill a dumpster. The girls were happily showing Brody and Derek their new toys while Alexa and I cleaned up the kitchen. I had no idea where my mom and Fred were, nor did I think I wanted to know.
“Have you heard from Lauren?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re all settled in their apartment and loving Florence. She said she’s gonna call you tonight to wish the girls Happy Birthday.”
I thought about my friend and her new husband, living in some adorable, cozy apartment in Italy. “I’m so happy for them.” I sighed blissfully.
“Agreed.” She peeked at me while she loaded the dishwasher. “I’m happy for you too.”
“Me? Why?”
“Well, actually, I’m happy for me.”
I stared at her, completely confused.
“You know me—I’m not a super romantic person,” she said.
I laughed. “I know. I always thought that was strange, considering you own a flower shop.”
“Yeah, yeah … whatever. I’m not a romantic person, but boy, do I love to be right.”
“What are you talking about?” I finally cut myself a small piece of the castle cake.
“Here, I scooped this out of the garbage a long time ago.” She walked over and handed me a small piece of paper that was crinkled and worn. “Once again, I believe that belongs to you.”