“Um, he left.”
Mum pulled back, frowning. “He’s supposed to be helping.”
“Mum, he’s the only man here. I don’t think it’s really fair to ask him to stay when all the other menfolk don’t have to.”
She gave a huff at that but didn’t argue. “Would you help me, then?”
I held up my gifts. “First, where do I put these?”
“Sitting room.”
I wandered into the sitting room as Mum went back to the kitchen and was immediately set upon by my sister and friends. Ellie reached me first. Just as when she’d been pregnant with William, she not only had a fairly large bump but her cheeks were chubby and her lips fuller. She was absolutely adorable, even if she would disagree. “Hannah.” She tugged me toward her and I awkwardly hugged her, trying not to squash her bump.
“You look beautiful, Els.” I kissed my sister’s cheek and pulled back to stare down at the bump. “You’re even bigger this time around.”
Els groaned. “Don’t remind me. Jo makes me feel like a heifer.”
Jo laughed, gently brushing Ellie aside so she could hug me. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” she groaned, giving me a squeeze.
Except for the neat bump, Jo didn’t look much different – she was gorgeous, as always. I wondered how many women in the room hated her for being able to look glamorous while pregnant. “I’ve been so busy. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “I know how hard you work.”
“Right, my turn.” A musical American accent hit my ears, seconds before Olivia Sawyer embraced me. “It’s been ages,” she complained, her eyes teasing so I’d know she wasn’t really grousing about my absence. “Your hair is so much longer than last time we saw each other.”
Olivia, or Liv, as we all called her, was a curvy, attractive brunette who was practically a sister to Jo. Liv’s dad, Mick, had been like a close uncle to Jo when she was young. He left for America to be with a kid – Liv – that he hadn’t known about until she was thirteen, and returned to Scotland seven years ago when his wife, Liv’s mother, died. Liv came with him to rebuild their lives. Mick and Jo worked together in his painting and decorating company, and Dad got Liv a job at the University of Edinburgh’s main campus library. She got her own happy ending when she married one of the sexiest men I’d ever met, Nate Sawyer. He was Cam’s best friend.
The group was so tightly connected we were all like one big family.
“Work.” I shrugged unhappily. “Being a probationer takes a lot out of me.” It didn’t help that Liv and Nate had moved farther outside of Edinburgh to a house that could accommodate their growing family. They had a four-year-old daughter, Lily, and a one-year-old daughter, January. “I take it Nate has the kids?”
“The men have all the kids.” Joss grinned, coming toward me with a flute of Buck’s Fizz. “Honey.” She kissed my cheek affectionately. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too.” I grinned suddenly at the imagery that had popped into my head. “Are all the guys together with the kids?”
Joss chuckled. “Yeah. They took them to the zoo.”
I burst out laughing. “Four men and five young children. The guys are totally outnumbered.”
Braden was dad to the almost-six-year-old Beth and three-year-old Luke. Joss was an American who had come to Edinburgh to study. Tragically, she’d lost her entire family when she was fourteen – her mother, Sarah, her father, Luke, and her baby sister, Beth. Sarah had been Scottish, so Joss decided to start over in her motherland. After graduation she moved in with Ellie, met Braden, and began an affair with him that quickly grew into so much more. They’d been married for seven years and were two of the happiest people I knew.
“We’ll see who comes back in one piece,” Joss muttered dryly.
After joking with them all for a bit, I could hear Mum calling me, so I hurried into the kitchen and gave her a hand sorting out the buffet.
We all settled in the sitting room, oohing and aahing over the presents and laughing when Jo threw the packet of condoms at me.
I let them all chat, sitting there, just enjoying the happy atmosphere and the excitement of the upcoming births. Jo and Ellie were both almost seven months pregnant. Neither wanted to know what the sex of the baby was, so everyone had mostly gone neutral with the presents.
A few hours later, a little buzzed from the Buck’s Fizz and needing some water, I quietly disappeared into the kitchen. I was trailed by Joss.
“Hey.” I smiled at her over my shoulder as I filled my glass with water from the fridge.
Joss gave me an appraising look. “You seem tired. Are you okay?”