Page 49 of The Forever One
Freya parks her ass beside Lina, no doubt trying to get her to give her the answers because she’s a sore loser. The thing is, Lina doesn’t know which chocolates I put in each diaper, so Freya is shit outta luck.
I’ve got to say, the melted Snickers bar and the Reese’s peanut butter cup look rank.Perfect.
I smile to myself as Petal’s little doll face lights up with excitement and joy at the sight of everyone mingling with each other, smelling and tasting the diaper treats.
“Can you give us a clue on number five, please, River? We literally have no idea on this one,” Ginny asks, holding it up with a mock look of disgust on her face.
“Ooh, I just had that one. It took me forever, but I know what it is!” Lianna tries to look over Becca’s shoulder for the answer, but Becca holds her pad close to her chest. “Nah ah, Sugarlump. Figure it out yourself.” She kisses her on the head and moves to grab another diaper.
“I will say this, they’re all chocolatey goodness and I have unmelted bars in my bag of wonders for afterward.” I shrug my shoulders and laugh as a whole load of yum noises echo around me.
The way Freya is cozying up to Lina isn’t sitting well with me but Lina’s smiling so I’ll leave her to it for now. Today is a big deal for her to be around so many people. She didn’t make it to Marco’s birthday gathering and I understand that; there were a lot of men in an enclosed space. When Petal extended the invite for today to Lina, she practically jumped at the opportunity. She’s as excited about me becoming an aunt as I am and I know she’ll be over the moon when she finds out Petal is planning on asking Lina if she’ll be an honorary aunt.
“Finished!”
“Ooh, nice.”
“Nooo.”
“What? Already?”
“Me too!”
“You’re joking.”
“Me three!”
“Nearly there.”
It’s like everyone is talking at once as they rush to finish so we can get to the answers, because they’re all dying to know what’s inside those diapers. We all sit again while I read out the answers, pulling out a bar of chocolate for everyone to match each one. Nobody gets them all right and it’s hilarious listening to what some of them have written down.
After handing a smaller bag with all the cloth diapers inside to Marie—she’s thankfully washing them before handing them over to Petal—I explain the next game.
“Lina and I have prepared a few vegan meals, perfect for Baby. We’re going to call you to the middle in pairs where you will both sit on these chairs, blindfolded, and feed each other as much as you can.”
We all make a lot of mess, laugh until our cheeks hurt, and bond in a way only a group of loving women—and Freya—can. Petal’s glow is almost iridescent as she grins, vegan chocolate pudding dripping down her cheek from one of the games as she claps her hands together, watching her mom and Ginny chug from baby bottles.
I step away from the circle when I see Marco’s name calling on my cell. He’s with Ev and Kai, having a man baby shower—or just drinking beer and smoking weed, if I’m being honest.
“Hey, Baby. Ha, get it? Baby?” I chuckle down the phone at my own lame-ass joke.
“Tesoro. How fast can you get here?” His breathing is heavy. Something feels wrong.
“What’s wrong? I can leave now, let me just tell Pe—”
“No. Don’t tell them why I’m calling. Not yet. Leave two of your guards behind for the girls and bring Sam with you, Tesoro. Ti amo, with everything I am. I’ll be right here.” He hangs up without waiting for me to say anything else and, if I had to guess by his tone, it’s because he was crying.
Now I’m freaking the fuck out. My heart drops to my stomach and a pit of dread begins to fill my insides. There’s a reason Marco needs me to come alone, leave Lina and Petal here with the others having fun, and I’m not sure I’m going to like the answer.
So I do something that feels so wrong; I lie to Petal.
“Hey, Gorgeous, I’ve just got to go back to your place and get a couple of things I left behind. I won’t be long. Okay?”
“Oh, babe, you really don’t have to. Everything you’ve done already has been amazing.”
“Nope, I’m not done yet. I’ll be back.” Without hanging around for a response, I squeeze her tightly and move over to Lina, who still has a Freya-shaped cling-on basically attached to her hip. “I’m heading home real quick to pick up a few things. I’m taking Sam with me, but the others are still here for you. Okay?”
I expect her to ask me why I’m going or if she can come with me.