L E O N I E

10 Years Later.

The  aroma of fresh bread filled the kitchen as Jess pulled out a batch of steaming hot rolls. Ones that she'd just whipped up. Some times I needed to find the oven manual just to know which setting to cook nuggets on.

Covering the marble countertop were salads and fillings, spreads and cheeses. It was another birthday that she was catering but this birthday was the first one in years that I was going to have the entire original six at. Including Amy. We'd reconnected a few months ago when our rescue pup needed her vaccinations done.

We could have a dog now that we weren't in an apartment. Heath and I were recent homeowners. It was a modern build with a big back garden and lots of windows. I couldn't live without lots of windows. White and wood scheme. Minimal decor and open spaces. It was serene. And that was what I needed in a home.

We adopted Jaxi, our black lab about six months ago when she was just three months old. She'd been abandoned with the rest of her litter and she was the last one at the shelter when we went searching. She sort of chose us to be honest. Heath adored her and she had an enormous kennel outside despite the fact that she hung around inside, in front of the windows most of the time. She liked to chase the sun around the house. She moved as it moved. I couldn't blame her.

"This smells so good," I squeezed Jess from behind and tiptoed so that I could whisper in her ear. "I knew that I should have married you."

"You should have," she laughed and started placing the rolls onto a cooling rack. "But you married Heath."

"And you married, Bray," I pretended to gag as I let her go and leaned on the countertop. "No stress though. There's still time to leave them and get hitched."

She giggled and looked as if she was going to agree when a little person came tearing in from outside with Jaxi hot on her heels. "Frankie," Jess shouted. The four year old came to a skidding halt, her big alarmed gaze locked on her mom's, her dimpled cheeks were lifted in a grin.

"No running in Aunt Lee's house. If you want to play with Jaxi, you stay outside."

Meanwhile, Jaxi was busy being almost as tall as Frankie and threatened to knock her over while she licked her face. It didn't bother me a whole lot. If they wanted to run around the house, meh. There wasn't a lot that could get broken. But I'd had to learn that when Jess said something, it was safer not to counter her. Or Frankie used it to her advantage and thought that I'd be the one to go to when her mom was being lame. Which I totally was. But that was a secret and not to be exposed in front of my best friend.

"Where is Bray," Jess mumbled as Frankie ushered Jaxi back outside. Frankie's wild black hair caught the wind and I watched her ringlets wrap around her face while she ran across the deck and jumped off into the grass. That kid had no fear and I loved it. But it also concerned me. Especially when I'd caught her leaning over the staircase banister one night when I babysat.

"I think he's upstairs," I said and pulled on her apron. "Come on. I want to go and look at Alelia again."

Jess smiled and made no argument. The aroma of lunch had drifted upstairs and I was surprised to find Bray in my bedroom, rather than downstairs attempting to eat the entire meal as he so often did. But he was a sucker for a brand new bubba. Which is why he was leaning over the crib beside my bed, watching the little bundle wrapped in her pink swaddle while the mobile above her sung a soft song.

"You better not be waking her up," Jess whisper shouted at her husband.

He stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm not. I'm just thinking we might need to have another one."

"What?" Jess stopped beside him and stared with bewilderment. "So you can leave me at home with two babies while you're on season."

Bray made it to the NFL. No surprises there. It was his dream and he'd worked for it. Harder than any one of us thought that he was capable of. I was proud. So was Jess. But I knew that it could prove challenging at times. More so when Frankie was a newborn. Things were just getting easier and although they could afford the extra care and the nannies and the cleaners, Jess was a hands on mom and she'd put her career on the back burner while she raised Frankie. I think that she'd made it more clear to me, than her husband, that one child was enough for her.

"Come on," he gave her a gentle nudge. "Frankie will be off to school soon. It'll be easier."

Jess rolled her eyes and stared down at my six week old daughter. "I'm thinking that I'll go back to work when she goes to school. Plus if we have more kids, that pushes my plans to open the restaurant back even further."

Ahh my best friends. Nothing was private. Nothing. I'd been ear to conversations about their sex life. Their finances. Their jobs. But that was fine. I didn't care. Once in a while I would interject with an unwanted opinion. It annoyed them and then they shut the hell up. The oversharing wasn't an issue. It was the incessant bickering. To be honest, if Heath wasn't such a private person, I'd overshare too. But I'd had to learn how to rein it in since it made him uncomfortable when I talked about our wild sex in front of the guests.

So instead I did it when he wasn't around. I mean, I wasn't bashing him. I was boasting. About our wonderful sex life. That wasn't a bad thing.

"Ooh look," Jess quietly gasped before Bray could continue arguing with her. "She's stirring."

I knew that I wasn't supposed to wake her up but if she was starting to come around on her own, I wouldn't object to getting her out for cuddles. I loved her little smoosh cheeks and big pillow lips that smacked with her gurgles and yawns. Precious.

The sound of feet padding up the hall made me turn around and I found Heath wandering in with Frankie on his hip. He was on call at the hospital and had been called out about an hour ago. We lived close though. For that purpose. It was about four minutes down the road. My man was a peds Doctor. He healed the little babies and children. It was the hottest thing ever. And of course I noticed how the mothers of his patients would swoon over him too.

They could keep having fantasies over their little Doctor affairs. Dreamers.

"This one was stealing cucumber out of a bowl on the bench," he set Frankie down and spoke with a whisper. "What's everyone doing up here?"

"We're just talking about how much your daughter looks like you," Bray taunted Heath.

Heath rolled his eyes and sidled up beside me, pressing a kiss against my cheek. "That's a good joke. Haven't heard it before."

Yeah our little girl was never going to get my blue eyes or Heath's olive skin. Instead she was a deep sable with thick black hair. We'd adopted her from a small village in Africa after a long gruelling process of IVF failed. It seemed that I couldn't conceive children or hold a pregnancy. The doctors were pretty sure that the D&C would have caused long term issues but that there was a pre existing reason for the uninhabitable womb. Especially because I'd miscarried before.

We could have used donors and surrogates. But we knew that there were babies in need. Ones that we could offer a better life to. We would have taken them all home if we could have. As it was, we planned on adopting again soon. We weren't getting any younger and we wanted a few children. Plus, in the end, adoption seemed like a good tribute. One that we should have thought of earlier. A tribute to the sister that Heath lost. The aunt that Alelia inherited her middle name from. Alelia Sarah Gilmore.

"Oh," Jess tutted under her breath. "She's gone back to sleep."

"Can I see the baby!" Frankie shouted so damn loud that Alelia startled and inhaled one of those lip quivering breaths that babies did when they slept. Bray scooped his daughter up, fast, and gently reminded her to use her indoor voice as he carried her out of the room. Jess, Heath and I followed behind. The baby monitor was in my back pocket, so I'd know when Alelia needed us.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, we found Ethan sitting at the breakfast bar. I would never get over what a muso he had become. Tall, thick black hair and stubble coating the bottom half of his face. He wore tattered shirts and jeans and stunk of cigarette smoke all the time. He had this natural brood about him. I always thought that he'd be a more classical musician. But nope. He poured his soul out on the stage of grunge bars while he strummed an electric guitar with major sex appeal. He was on the up and up though and had some big opening act gigs lined up this summer.

"Hello, hello," he stood up with a broad smile. "Happy birthday, Lee." A round of hugs commenced. Frankie got the longest cuddle. Uncle Ethan might have been her favorite uncle after Heath. The two of them chatted about new song ideas. Ethan loved to pretend that all of his inspiration came from her. She was full of ideas but most of them related to food or pooping. Frankie wasn't the most ladylike but I wouldn't have her any other way.

"Gig tonight?" Bray questioned as he sat down beside Ethan. Heath gave me a quick kiss and whispered that he was running upstairs to get changed. Jess started arranging the table.

"Na, no gig tonight. I have Prati this weekend."

"Oh. I knew that."

As I began getting glasses and cold water out of the fridge, there was a light tap on the door and it opened and closed a moment later. There was no way to guess who would have been showing up next. We were expecting more than usual. But I knew that it wouldn't have been Amy. She hadn't been here before and I couldn't imagine her letting herself in. But the sound of feet running towards the kitchen gave me a fair idea and that was when Prati appeared, beelining straight for Ethan with her long black braids bouncing behind her.

"Dad!"

Ethan stood up as the tall thin ten year old bounded into his arms. I would never get over how gorgeous this girl was. Not that it was much of a surprise considering who her parents were. Jade followed a moment later with an over night bag hanging from one arm. She dumped it on the ground and gave the room a collective wave.

"Hey everyone. Happy birthday, Lee."

"How's it going?" Ethan gave her a hug but was quick to return his attention back to Prati who wanted to tell him all about how her music lessons at school were going. I think it made him exceptionally proud that his daughter was following in his footsteps.

Jade found out that she was pregnant with Ethan's baby around the same time that Sarah died. They kept it a secret for as long as possible but she couldn't exactly hide the protruding bump for long. Ethan wasn't interested in a relationship with Jade. It made things difficult considering how much she claimed to love him. There was a lot of tension in the beginning. A lot of threats and nasty behavior from both sides. But things had come right and they were in a place where they could co parent and spend time together without a fight. Which was what Prati deserved. The sweet little thing that she was.

"Look at that bump," I grinned and held onto Jade's stomach with both hands. "Do you know what it is yet?"

"They confirmed that it's definitely a baby," Jade nodded. I gave her a light slap on the shoulder. "It's a little man."

"Aw," I cooed and gave her stomach another caress. I wasn't in the habit of touching pregnant women. But Jade didn't care and we were close enough for it not to be weird. I was at peace with the cards that I had been dealt. But that didn't mean that sometimes I didn't wish I could cradle my own baby bump. Sigh. Never mind. For now I would have to settle for bugging the hell out of Jade with stomach rubs.

"Is Jonah excited?"

"So excited," she nodded. Jade met her current partner through her work. She was a therapist for some hot shot clinic here in Miami. He'd posed as a patient but he'd really just been intent on getting to know her. She told him that he'd chosen the worst method considering she had a no doctor/patient dating rule. So he dropped out of therapy and asked her on a date. The two had been attached ever since.

Alex arrived next. "Was I meant to bring something?" He stared at the table with alarm. There was a shit ton of food spread from one end to the other.

"No," I laughed. "That was all Jess. You know what she's like."

He relaxed and nodded, wishing me a happy birthday. Frankie and Prati ran past and waved hello, gaining a smile from Alex who gave them a sheepish wave back. Alex was a bit harder for the kids to get to know. He was so quiet and introverted. And those girls had bold personalities. I think he might have found them a bit intimidating. As adorable as that was.

"How was that date the other night?"

Alex pursed his lips and shrugged. "It was alright. I don't know about another one though."

I looked at the wedding band that he'd attached to a chain and wore around his neck. I loved how he had never let the memory of Sarah diminish. But I wished that he'd let himself move on and find someone to love. It had been a long time and he'd never been in a serious relationship.

Wow. Sounded so familiar.

"You ever going to stop comparing everyone you meet to Sarah."

"It's kind of hard not to. I know what that kind of connection feels like. If I can't find that, then I'm not interested in wasting time."

"Well you have to give it more than one date to connect," I said.

He shook his head. "Nope. It was instant with Sarah. It'll happen again when it's supposed to."

I sighed and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "She'll be a lucky girl when it does."

He smiled.

The doorbell rung and I almost missed it over all of the chatter in the kitchen. Heath, who had been on the phone beside the threshold, signaled for me to stay put while he went and answered it. I was in the breakfast nook. Which was more like an all meals nook. The cushioned window seat was long and the table sat in front of it with chairs on the other side. The mid morning sun streamed through the large windows and it was the perfect place to soak up some vitamin D.

Heath returned a moment later with Amy trailing behind him. She had longer hair now. To her mid back. It was disheveled. Her septum piercing remained and she now wore a pair of retro glasses.

I wasn't surprised, disappointed, but not surprised when the room fell quiet. No one was being subtle with their glances between her and Ethan either. It had been ten freaking years for shits sake. But I didn't miss Ethan's blatant staring. And not the 'fuck what's my batshit crazy vegan ex doing here' staring. It was more like 'damn is that my ex? The vegan lifestyle has been kind to her. She looks amazing' staring. That was definitely what I thought when I bumped into her.

Not able to stand the tension for a moment longer, I cupped my hands around my mouth and put on a deep voice. "She doesn't even go here."

Instead of scowling at me, she laughed and moved further into the room. "I just want to bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone will eat and be happy."

Laughter moved through the room and I stood up to give her a hug.

"This is kind of awkward," she whispered beside my ear before I let her go again. But her tone was laced with amusement. There was just something about her that was lighter. More carefree. Her overall demeanor was much more chipper. "I have literally not seen Ethan or Jess or actually anyone since high school."

"Consider this a reunion. It has been ten years. It must have been due."

She smiled and looked at the table top. "Mmm this looks so good."

"Do you eat meat now?"

"No," she laughed. "But there's tons here that I do eat."

"Oh," I couldn't believe that this was the same girl. High school Amy would have frowned and told us that the bowl of cold pork was too close to the lettuce and demanded that we move it. I was aware that people could change and grow. It was just a pleasant surprise. "Jess made lunch."

Jess turned around from her conversation with Alex and gave us a teeth baring grin. "Yep. I knew you were coming so I made those crispy vegan cauliflower wings. They actually look super good."

"They are," Amy looked like she was going to melt when she saw the dish. "Thank you for doing that."

"No problem," Jess pointed out a few other vegan dishes on the table. "Frankie doesn't seem to like meat. At all. It's impossible to get her to eat it so I've had to introduce a lot of vegetarian alternatives."

"Just be sure that she's getting enough iron," Amy told her with a tone that made it clear she was not trying to tread on toes. "Meat would usually be their main source of iron. But there are a lot of other vegetables that it can come from. Let me know if you want some information."

It was sort of amusing considering Jess was a chef and knew all there was to know about vegetables and their iron levels or whatever. But she just nodded and gave Amy a grateful smile.

"That'd be so good."

"Uh. Hi."

We all turned around and found Ethan standing behind us. His death glare was fast and subtle but it was aimed at me and I knew it was because I hadn't warned him that his high school sweetheart would be here. Whoops. Must have slipped my mind.

"Hi," Amy smiled and slipped her hands into the back pockets of her torn jeans. "How are you?"

"I'm not bad. Ya know uh just playing as many gigs as I can— I'm still doing music—"

"I know—"

"Right," Ethan chuckled and ran a hand across his thick black hair. "Yeah well that's what I'm upto. Oh and I've got Prati over there. She's great—"

"She's beautiful," Amy smiled at Ethan's daughter who had her arms wrapped around Jade. From what I could hear, she was dying to know when we'd be eating. Same girl. Reunion time could wrap the fûck up. I was starving. "Her name is interesting. Unique."

"Oh, right. Yeah Jade was kind enough to accept my suggestion. Prati means lover and appreciator of music. We couldn't be sure that she'd take that trait but uh, she's super into the drums. Good at it too."

"Aw," Amy watched her with a sincere smile. When I peeped at Heath, I caught him staring at the food on the table with a look that suggested he was mentally consuming it all as fast as he could. My gorgeous hungry husband.

"Let's eat," I shouted, loud and abrupt so that it startled the entire room. "Sit. I'm starving and I'm about to lose the manners that I gained over the last few years and dig in whether you're all eating or not."

There was a low hum of laughter throughout the room as leg chairs scraped and people took their seats. Parents sat with kids, Heath sat with me and we had a look at the baby monitor to see Alelia still sleeping sound and her heart detector pad in the bottom of her crib let us know that she was well. It might have seemed a bit over the top to some, but we weren't taking chances with cot death or none of that. So we spent a small fortune on an underlay that went in the bottom of the crib so that we could watch her vitals at all times.

Ethan sat between Prati and Amy and I couldn't help but notice the non stop chattering throughout the meal. Last time I'd been updated on what Amy was upto, I'd been told that she was married to a vet that she worked with. He was older. About forty seven compared to her