Ava looked down, studying her nails as she said, “Not all of us kiss and tell, Em. You could take a page on discretion from my book. I’m sure my brother would be happy if you stopped telling the world how big his—er, equipment is.”

   Mia swiveled her hips as she walked up. “I personally like hearing about pecker sizes. If we could convince the men to do a ‘Studs of Danvers’ calendar, we’d all be rich. I’d even convince Seth to do an honorary appearance.”

   “Oh, brother,” Gwen moaned as she shifted her baby boy on her shoulder. Cameron McKinley Powers was named after Dominic’s two business partners and was simply gorgeous. Instead of Gwen’s red hair, he had his father’s dark coloring. The fact that they were co-workers as well turned out to be a very happy coincidence. “She’s already begged me to ask Dom if he and the guys will consider a photo shoot called ‘GI Joes of Danvers.’ She’s mentioned them wearing camouflage Speedos! Somehow, I don’t think my man and his co-workers would want their other ex-military friends to see them that way.”

   “You’re no fun.” Mia pouted. “I’ve tried to get Seth and the Jackson brothers and cousins onboard because they are all absurdly hot, but he won’t go for it.”

   “What’d I miss?” Suzy demanded as she sidled up with a tiny baby in her arms. Lydia tried her best not to stare, but it was hard. Suzy Merimon was a legend at Danvers. She was a beautiful and hip style icon. Lydia had always figured she could wear a burlap sack and still look like a million bucks. Today, though, she appeared a little frazzled. Her normally flawlessly styled red hair was hanging in a lopsided ponytail, and Lydia wasn’t sure, but it looked almost as if her dress was on inside out. What stood out for Lydia, though, was the utter peace and happiness that seemed to radiate from her. And even as she stood bickering with her sister, she kept darting glances downward at the tiny bundle nestled so lovingly against her body.

   Beth’s lips curved into an affectionate smile as she stared at her sister. It was easy to see that she was thrilled that Suzy and Gray had finally created the family they’d wanted for so long through adoption. After suffering with infertility and miscarriages, it appeared that their prayers had at long last been answered. “I think you’ve got your clothing on the wrong way,” Beth gently pointed out.

   Suzy shrugged as if she couldn’t care less, which appeared to amaze everyone in attendance. “Yeah, I know. We were just coming from the bedroom when John spit up again. So I cleaned and dried the spot and flipped the dress over instead of looking for a new one. No big deal, right?” she murmured absently as she stroked her son’s cheek.

   “Holy shit.” Claire’s sputtered exclamation shocked everyone. When Suzy turned toward her in question, Claire shook her head and grinned broadly at her best friend. “It’s just that I’ve known you for so many years and you’ve always been so particular about your wardrobe. I mean you practically tossed Chrissy out of a moving car while yelling, ‘Get her out of here, she’s going to blow!’ So this is a surreal moment for me. Let me enjoy it, for God’s sake.”

   Suzy pointed toward the leather couches and chairs in the living room and motioned for everyone to follow her. “I’m not going to lie,” she began as she settled on the edge of one of the sofas. “I got pissed on the other day, and I damn near lost it. I was full-on crying and gagging when Gray ran into the nursery thinking something dire had happened. When he finally put together what had happened, he started laughing. I was so angry, I threw a tube of baby butt cream at his head. And he just laughed harder. Then it rubbed off on me and I began giggling. Before long, we were both lying on the floor with our naked baby between us rolling around like loons. And I thought to myself, this is one of the happiest days of my life. I have baby pee on my face and probably in my mouth, but I don’t care. I realized at that moment that it was okay not to be perfect. I don’t have to look a certain way or be mother of the year. The only thing I need to focus on right now is my family and doing the best job that I can as Gray’s wife and John’s mother. Those are my two priorities. Everything else is just icing. So yes, I have puke on my dress, and it’s ass-backward, but big deal. I’ll probably have shit on it at some point tonight—although hopefully not my own.”

   There wasn’t a dry eye in that living room when Lydia looked around to gauge everyone’s reactions. To hear Suzy speak of the epiphany that she’d experienced had moved them all deeply. And every person there could take something away from her words. For Lydia, it was to find the joy in things that could well appear insane to others yet made perfect sense to her. The world might not understand why she was married to a man she hadn’t even known a month ago, but right now, it brought her happiness, and in the end, wasn’t that worth living in the moment for? She didn’t know Suzy very well, but she found herself clearing her throat and saying, “That was amazing. And I think we’d all wear our entire wardrobes inside out daily to have that gorgeous baby you have. Congratulations to you and Gray. I’m so happy for you both.”

   “Hear, hear!” Mia seconded as she walked into the room balancing a tray of glasses and a bottle of champagne. “Hang on while I get the orange juice. This calls for mimosas, ladies!”

   “And sex talk,” Suzy added. “I might be a mother now, but I’m still the resident pervert around here.” Pointing at Lydia and then Crystal, she added, “And you two need to catch me up. I haven’t heard how the honeymoon was with DeStudo, nor have I gotten an update about Jake. I gather from the contented looks on both your faces that there’s been a lot of banging going on. Let’s start with you, Crystal. How was your tropical love fest?”

   “Way to suck the romance right out of it, Suz.” Beth sighed but looked vastly amused.

   Suzy rocked back and forth gently with her son. She dropped a kiss onto the top of his head before snorting. “Nothing says love like being pushed up the sheets by a man.” Winking at Crystal, she asked slyly, “Did Mr. Big live up to your expectations?” Lydia couldn’t help giggling since she was the one who first compared Mark DeSanto to a young Chris Noth from Sex and the City. If the way Crystal was furiously blushing was any indication, her new husband definitely knew his way around a bedroom.