Thrown by a Curve Read Free Page B

filled with tears. “Oh, shit. Here come the hormones again.”
    Kathleen laughed. “Expect those for a while, honey. I’ve told you they come and go.”
    Tara grabbed a tissue from the box Alicia’s aunt held out for her. “I know. It’s been so long that I forgot what it was like. Poor Mick. As if my pregnancy wasn’t bad enough, now he has to deal with this postpartum nonsense.”
    Alicia cuddled Sam’s warmth against her chest. “Oh, but look at the result. How could he complain?”
    “No complaints here,” Mick said as he walked in and slid onto the sofa next to Tara. He pressed a kiss to Tara’s lips and pulled her against his side. “You can cry all you want, or yell at me anytime those hormones act up.” Mick gazed over at Alicia and gave her a giant grin as he looked with pride at his son. “Because look what you gave me.”
    “Look what we made together,” Tara said, lifting a loving gaze to Mick.
    “Okay, it’s getting all nauseating in here. The room is so filled with love and baby hormones I might have to take a step outside just to get a cold slap of frigid air.”
    Alicia laughed. Leave it to Gavin’s wife, Elizabeth, to break the weepy mood. “Hey, Liz.”
    “Hey, yourself. I see you’re holding my new nephew. And time’s up.”
    Alicia stood. “You want your turn?”
    Elizabeth took the baby from her. “Honey, this baby will likely never have a minute’s peace when he’s over here for family gatherings.”
    “Isn’t that the truth?” Alicia’s mom said, throwing her arm around Kathleen. “I suppose we should go check on dinner.”
    “Might as well,” Kathleen said with a sigh. “I obviously won’t get another turn with Sam for a while.”
    “You’ll get your turn plenty, Mom,” Mick said. “Tara loves that you come over to help. And she needs it. She’s out of practice with this new-mom thing, as you can tell.”
    Alicia glanced over to see Tara’s head resting on Mick’s shoulder. She was sound asleep.
    “Oh, poor thing,” Kathleen said. “Was she up late again last night?”
    “Yeah. Sam eats every three hours, and since she’s breastfeeding, she’s up, too. I get to do the diaper changes, though.”
    “Now, who would have thought diapers and poop would be something you’d be excited about?” Gavin asked as he crowded into the room. He peeked over his wife’s shoulder. “You’re a natural at that, babe. Maybe we should have our own kid soon.”
    “That would require you to stay in one place long enough for me to jump your bones so you could get me pregnant.”
    “I’m not hearing this,” Kathleen said. “Come on, Cara. Let’s go work on dinner.”
    “Making babies, are you?” Alicia asked.
    Liz shrugged. “We’re practicing making babies.”
    Gavin wrapped his arms around Liz. “That’s the fun part.”
    “I don’t want to hear this,” Mick said from his spot on the sofa.
    “Too bad. You’re stuck there with your passed-out wife,” Gavin said. “Is this what happens when they give birth? They sleep all the time?”
    “The wife or the baby?” Alicia asked, nudging Gavin in the ribs.
    “Both,” Mick said with a wide grin.
    Alicia rolled her eyes. “I’m going in the kitchen to help Mom and Aunt Kathleen. Where’s Jenna?”
    “She called,” Liz said. “Said she and Ty will be a few minutes late.”
    Alicia nodded and went down the hall, meeting her mom and her aunt in the kitchen.
    “Where are Dad and Uncle Jimmy?”
    “Tinkering on something in the garage with Nathan,” her aunt said, giving Alicia a knowing look.
    “Oh.” In other words, avoiding the women. Not that she could blame them. It got a little crowded in here when the entire family showed up. “Cole and Savannah doing okay?”
    “They’re fine,” her mother said. “Still taking an extended vacation after the end of football season. I think last time I heard from him they were in . . . What was it I said to you, Kathleen?”
    “St. Lucia? St. Thomas? I