“We had such a great time up at the lake with all of you this past summer,” Sophie said. “Jake wants to head up to Seattle to show the kids the Space Needle. And since he refuses to accept that they might still be a little young to remember anything about the trip,” Sophie said with a laugh, “I’d expect us to be knocking on your door any day now.”
When Mia had first heard that her soft-spoken librarian cousin Sophie had hooked up with tattooed Irish pub owner Jake McCann—and had gotten pregnant from a one-night stand, no less—she’d been pretty shocked. Especially since Sophie’s nickname was Nice, and nice girls didn’t usually seduce tattooed bad boys. But though they seemed very different, obviously they were an absolutely perfect fit.
Just as with Nicola and Marcus, Mia had learned from watching her cousins fall in love over the years that love didn’t always make sense on paper. But it didn’t have to. The only people love needed to make sense to were the two people falling for each other.
“Definitely sign me up as your tour guide for the visit. Although,” Mia clarified, “I’m afraid my guide duties won’t include diaper duty.”
“You get used to changing them after a while.”
Mia scrunched up her nose. “Right...you just keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.”
Her cousin Gabe’s wife, Megan, sat down on a couch facing them. “Believe what?”
“That changing these little beauties,” she pointed at Jackie’s bottom, “isn’t totally gross.”
“I honestly don’t remember, it’s been such a long time since the diaper days with Summer. Funny,” Megan said as she looked down at her about-to-pop-any-second-now stomach, “I thought I was done with all of that after she was finally potty trained. But I never bet on meeting Gabe.”
Seriously, Mia thought as she sat with the girls in the setting Napa Valley sun, there was so much freaking love in the Sullivan family. All of her San Francisco cousins, and her brother Rafe, were either married or engaged. It was fabulous. She was super happy for all of them. And, maybe, just a teensy bit jealous about how perfectly all of their lives were working out.
Especially when hers was such a mess.
Mia was watching Chloe out on the grass holding Emma’s hand while her daughter jumped on a mini-trampoline, when Valentina appeared around the corner. Her fiancé, Smith, was holding her hand, and before he let her go, he pulled her back into him for a lingering kiss. One that had everyone watching from the outdoor couches sighing at how sweet they were together. When Smith finally let Valentina head over to the rest of the girls, he took over trampoline duty with Emma.
Mia’s cousin Smith was one of the world’s biggest movie stars, but he’d never played the star with his family, and Mia often forgot that just the sight of him sent most other women into cardiac arrest. He and Valentina had met when Valentina’s sister, Tatiana, starred in the movie Gravity with him. From what Mia had heard, Valentina had tried her hardest to resist him, but in the end she hadn’t had a chance of keeping her heart safe. Considering the kinds of crazy things Smith had to deal with in Hollywood, it was great that Valentina was such a steady, solid person who wasn’t at all interested in the spotlight.
Valentina had her cell phone to her ear as she walked past the pool onto the patio where everyone was sitting. After a really quick conversation, Mia heard her say, “Sounds great, T—see you soon.” Valentina slipped her phone back into the pocket of her elegant dress. “My sister will be here soon. She says her interview ran a little long, but she’s just about to leave the hotel.”
Mia loved Tatiana Landon. Only in her early twenties, she was an actress on the rise, especially after her star turn with Smith. But somehow, instead of turning into a vapid shell under the harsh spotlights of Hollywood, she remained totally sweet and unaffected.
Valentina looked great in a yellow linen dress that skimmed her curves and floated around her calves. “It’s great to see you again, Mia,” she said before pressing a kiss to sleeping Jackie’s cheek. “I call dibs on the baby for her next nap,” Valentina informed everyone as she grabbed a glass of wine from a circulating waiter and sat down beside Gabe’s wife. “As long as that’s all right with you, Soph.”
“Of course it is,” Sophie said with a smile. “What parent wouldn’t want their kid to have more than a half dozen of the coolest aunts in the world who can’t wait to spend time with her? And speaking of cool, here comes the woman we’re all celebrating.”
Nicola appeared from within the house and came out to the patio. In perfect pop-star fashion, her hair was streaked with light pink and blue, but Mia was amazed at how elegant it looked on her.
“Can I squeeze in?” She shimmied her hips into the space on the couch between Mia and Sophie. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright enough that Mia easily guessed she’d just been off on another little meet-up with Marcus.
There were more women laughing together over by the fountain, including Mia’s mother, Nicola’s mother, Brooke, Sophie’s twin Lori, Ryan’s fiancée Vicki, and Zach’s fiancée Heather. Mia knew she’d get a chance to spend time with all of them later, but for right now, this group of women she was sitting with was just the perfect size so that they could all easily talk together.
Nicola was stroking a gentle fingertip back and forth across the bottom of one of baby Jackie’s feet as she gave each woman sitting with her a big smile. “I’m so happy that you’re all here.” Her blue eyes grew damp as she said, “I love having all my favorite women in one place. What do you say we get together like this every weekend?”
“There are certainly enough Sullivan weddings coming up,” Mia said, “that I think we could probably pull it off.”
“There’s so much love everywhere in this family,” Nicola agreed as everyone laughed, “that when I want to write a good breakup song, I end up having to harass my band and dancers to mine whatever messy things are going on in their lives.”
“You could always just call me,” Mia blurted before she realized what she was saying. She’d said it in a joking voice, but of course every pair of eyes landed on her.
“Do tell,” Sophie encouraged.
Mia forced a grin she didn’t completely feel. “You know the story—if he’s bad news, I’ve got to have him.”