Luke stands with Bella hanging from his neck and holds out a hand, gesturing for me to follow. Bella peers at me over Luke's shoulder as we head out of the living room. Her green eyes sparkle when she spots me. "Hi! I'm Bella! What's your name?"
"I'm Sophie." I smile back at her.
"Are you my family or are you my friend?" she asks me.
"Sophie is my friend," Luke interjects, responding for me. He kisses the top of her head and, turning his head, winks at me.
I'm fairly sure I ovulate right then and there.
We walk through the entry hall of the house and Luke asks Bella if she brought any toys to play with. She wiggles out of his hold and sprints down the hall with Luke and I following. We end up in a casual living area on the opposite side of the house with a view of the back yard. I can see a pool closed up for the season surrounded by more immaculate landscaping with a wooded area beyond that.
There's a TV in this room and a big sectional couch. Huge wooden beams cross the vaulted ceiling. It's almost cozy in here. There's a few toys strewn about and a pink blankie on top of the couch. I assume this was where Bella was napping when we arrived. Bella runs to the other side of the couch and scoops something off the floor.
"Found her!" She beams and cradles the toy to her chest as she walks it back to us. "This is my baby. Her name is Lili. You hold her?" This is directed at me.
"I'd love to hold her, Bella, thank you."
"You have to sit down," she tells me. "You can't hold the baby if you're standing."
I sit on the couch and cuddle the baby doll while Bella hovers over me, tucking a blanket around the doll and offering me her bottle so I can feed her. She offers a lot of tips about how I should handle the baby and I'm wondering if Luke's sister is having another when Bella climbs up on the couch next to me and wraps her arm around mine and snuggles close. I'm about to melt, that is how sweet she is being, when she pats my tummy with her tiny hand and asks me if I have a baby inside my tummy.
"No."
That came from Luke. If there's a way to say the word no that is more unyielding than the way Luke just uttered the one syllable I've never heard it. He pinches the bridge of his nose and addresses Bella.
"Bella Love Halliday, you are not to ask women if they have babies in their stomach. Do you understand me?"
"Mommy does." Bella giggles. "It's a see rat."
"What?" Luke is staring at both of us like we've lost our minds. I'm not sure what I've done, and Bella is three so I think Luke's the one who might need to reassess.
"It's a see rat! Mommy is having a see rat!"
"I think Bella means it's a secret." I look at Luke. For a guy who's as in love with his niece as he clearly is he could use a toddler dictionary.
"Yes! One of those! That is what Mommy is having. I no tell anyone," she adds, shaking her head.
"Have you been practicing being a big sister with Lili?" I ask her, indicating the doll.
"Yes!" Bella is ecstatic that I understand the connection. "I pray ice with Lili!"
Mrs. Estes stops in then to tell us dinner is ready. Luke scoops Bella up and we go ahead to the dining room to find Meredith sliding a chair into the table next to her husband and placing a Disney sippy cup on the table.
"Really, Mother? You thought a three-year-old would eat Thanksgiving dinner alone in the kitchen?"
Mrs. Miller has no reaction to that other than to respond, "No, I thought she'd eat dinner at home with her nanny, but you gave her the day off."
"We gave her the week off, actually," Alexander interjects from his seat to Mrs. Miller's left. "We enjoy spending time with Bella."
Luke places Bella on the seat between her parents before escorting me to the other side of the table and pulling out a chair for me between him and his dad, who is seated at the opposite end of the table from his mom.
I notice Mrs. Miller's seating arrangement has Luke sitting between me and Kara. Our side of the table is me, Luke, Kara, Mrs. Hollett and Mr. Hollett. Across from me is Luke's aunt, then his uncle, Meredith, Bella and Alexander. I look longingly towards Meredith's end of the table, wishing I was closer to friendly faces. Then again, I'm about as far as I can get from Mrs. Miller so I'll take what I can get.
"Lucas, how are things at Baldwin?" The elder Dr. Miller ignores me completely and starts questioning Luke about the hospital. "I saw Dr. Tan last week at a conference. She said your department profits are the talk of the hospital."
Luke's face is expressionless, but his jaw is doing that tick thing he does when he's annoyed.
They go back and forth with this oddly polite bickering until the food is placed before us. Placed, on individual plates, like in a restaurant. No carved-up turkey or casserole dish of sweet potatoes covered in mini-marshmallows on this table. I wonder what Mrs. Miller would do if I wiped my plate clean of mashed potatoes and asked for more. I have to suppress a giggle, that's how ridiculous the thought of asking Mrs. Miller for seconds is.