“Hey, guys, check it out!” Ben called as he and Mickey came walking up to our group. “They have deep fried Oreo’s.” He took a huge bite and let out a groan. “Best. Thing. Ever.”
“I WANNA DEEP FWIED OREO! I WANNA DEEP FWIED OREO!” Callie shrieked, jumping up and down.
“No more sugar,” I said a little too loudly, drawing the attention of the families all around us.
“All right, rugrats,” Brett spoke up in order to diffuse the situation. “Time to hit up the pumpkin patch. Let’s go find the biggest pumpkin they have.” He scooped up a squealing Cameron and plopped him on his shoulders then took Callie’s hand and led the way.
“Come on, Momma,” Emmy said, throwing her arm over my shoulders. “Let’s go get our pumpkin picking on.” We all trailed after Brett and the kids, laughing and joking around as we walked through the pumpkin patch. Eventually, Gavin and Stacia made their way back to us once the threat of my head exploding had passed.
I’d lost track of how long we’d been wandering around in search of the perfect damn pumpkin. All I knew was that I wanted to cry out in thanks when I heard Cameron shout, “Brett! Look at dis one. It’s HUGE!” We all looked over in time to see him try to pick up a pumpkin almost as big as he was.
“Whoa, little man,” Brett called over as he rushed to where Cameron was huffing and puffing away. Was it possible for a five-year-old to get a hernia? “That thing’s huge, bud. You sure that’s the one you want?”
Cameron’s head bobbed up and down animatedly. With a laugh, Brett stood and went to collect one of the red wagons the pumpkin patch had for the pumpkins that weighed too much to carry. Then the girls and I stood back, watching and laughing as Brett and the rest of the guys struggled to get the ginormous pumpkin into the wagon.
“Luke! Don’t you dare throw your back out!” Emmy yelled. “This baby’s coming soon. I’m not gonna be taking care of it all on my own ‘cause your old butt was trying to show off and slipped a disc!”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, baby girl,” he hollered back, his face so red I was a little scared he was close to rupturing a nut.
I felt a tug on the hem of my jacket and looked down to see Callie standing there, holding a tiny pumpkin the size of her fist. “Mommy, can I have this one?”
“Sure thing, honey pot,” I told her, squatting down to her level. “But are you sure you don’t want to get one a little bigger?”
“Nah, bubby can get the big one. I just want dis baby punkin.”
I placed a kiss on my little girl’s head and smiled brightly. “Well, if that’s the one you want, that’s the one you’re getting.”
She whooped with enthusiasm before asking, “Can I have another funnel cake?”
I opened my mouth to shoot her down just as Trevor made his way over to our little group. “Ready.”
We all turned our eyes his way to see him standing there with a pumpkin twice the size of his head.
“What the hell do you need that for?” Lizzy asked, exasperated.
“Uh…to carve,” Trevor answered, his well, duh face causing laughter to bubble up in my throat.
“Trevor, you’re a grown man with no kids. Why do you need to carve a pumpkin? Especially one that size.”
“It’s not just to carve, cher. You’re also gonna make me a pumpkin pie. Now, chop chop. Callie said something about funnel cake and I want one.”
The ladies and I had a bet going on whether or not Lizzy was going to let Trevor live to see Christmas. I had my money on dead by Thanksgiving. And after what I’d witnessed, I felt pretty confident I was about to be two-hundred bucks richer.
The kids were at daycare and Brett was at work, so I had the house to myself all day long. I was looking forward to complete silence. I had tons of books on my Kindle just begging to be read. I also had a backed-up DVR with hours of shows to watch. If I wanted a bubble bath, I could sit in there for hours. I could possibly put on a facial mask and give myself a mani-pedi. The options were endless.
I’d just finished applying my mud mask and sat on the couch. Criminal Minds was cued up to play and I held a bottle of OPI My Paprika is Hotter than Yours, ready to paint my nails. The orangey color was perfect for Halloween just days away.
I was one coat down on my toes when the front door burst open, startling a screech from me. Lizzy, Emmy, Savannah, Mickey, and Stacia came sauntering in and planted their butts on the living room furniture like they lived there.
“Uh…hi?”
“What up, babe?” Emmy asked as she plopped her pregnant self down on the couch next to me. “Ooh, mani-pedi time. Fun.”