Page 97 of Expecting an Argument
“Damnit, Titus!” I jerked my arm into the air to protect my beer. Thankfully, the tidal wave after Titus leaped into the pool stopped just short of me. My beer might have been free since it was part of Tyson’s new sponsorship, but I wasn’t about to waste a good drink.
“That was a close one,” Tyson said. He sat beside me on the pool’s edge, wiping a few droplets of water off his own beer can.
I groaned at my big silly dog. “Boy, have some self control!”
Titus ignored me, happily paddling around the sparkling pool while Kierra and Tarik laughed from their floaties in the shallow end. A square of blue fabric floated toward me and I plucked it out of the water.
“And you ruined your outfit too.” I dropped the sopping bandana beside me. “Olivia isn’t going to be happy.”
I knew as soon as I tied that blue bandana around Titus’s neck that it wasn’t going to last. I had told Olivia that maintaining matching outfits for the twins’ first birthday party was too ambitious, but did she listen to me? Of course not.
The sun started to dip toward the horizon, casting a warm glow over Titus’s fur and making the water glitter as he swam.
Aw, I couldn’t stay mad at the big guy. He had been very patient throughout the day, after all.
Other than some adorable messiness during Annie and Brady’s cake smash, the party had gone off without a hitch. Olivia had chosen a retro theme for the party, so she covered the manor in pastel balloons and ribbons. Annie wore a fluffy powder blue dress and Brady had a very dapper bowtie-and-suspenders combo for the first half of the party. The family had sent the twins an egregiously large pile of presents, my mother being the main culprit.
Olivia’s favorite gifts were the stuffed elephants from Aunt Daphne. I was partial to the tiny motorized cars the twins were too little to drive. I couldn’t wait to watch them race across the pasture the instant they could reach the pedals.
I sipped my very orange beer as I listened to the easy jazz playing over the patio’s speakers and tossed a glance to my wife. Olivia stood on the other side of the deck with Annie on her hip as she talked with Ashley, who floated in the pool below.
Damn,Olivia could work a blue polka dot bikini. The tight knots securing the bottoms created a dip in the curves of her hips. Her stretch marks glistened in the sun across her soft tummy. She tested the strength of the top’s fabric each time she bounced as she talked, and I sure wouldn’t have minded if one of the straps broke from the weight of her breasts.
I tried to limit my shameless ogling since the whole family was still around, but I was a mere man. Besides, Olivia just looked so cute holding Annie, who wore a matching blue polka dot swimsuit with a ruffled skirt.
Did that mean that I was wearing a ridiculous pair of blue polka dot swim trunks to complete the family set? Yep. Happy wife, happy life, after all. Good thing I spent most of thebirthday party taking pictures instead of being in them.
I couldn’t hold back a smile as I looked at my girls. Annie still had pink frosting from her cake smash smeared on her round cheek, but she was still cute as a button. Her auburn hair was pulled into pigtails with white bows and she wore a pair of tiny white sunglasses that had pointed corners, like something my grandma would have worn as a teenager. She had certainly inherited her mother’s love of accessories, but I had started to suspect that wasn’t the sole trait she had received from Olivia.
“So I was getting ready for court and who did I get a call from at the eleventh hour?” Olivia said to Ashley. “Herringbone’s attorney! He started acting like it was the first time he had seen my settlement offer when I had been trying to get a response for months!”
“Wow, what an asshole,” Ashley said sleepily. She rested her cheek on top of her folded arms on the edge of the pool as she looked up at Olivia. “Did you settle?”
“Only after I added another million to the offer.” Olivia held up a finger, her nail painted a pretty delicate blue. “You want to waste my time? You pay for it.”
“Ya!” Annie cried, holding up a finger to mimic her mother.
“Ouch,” Tyson said with a smile. “Olivia is killing ‘em out there.”
I shrugged. “She’s the ballsiest in-house attorney Fontaine Energy has. When your name is on the building, you can do anything you want.”
Chuck came around the deck and handed Annie a juice box. She looked up at Chuck with furrowed brows and let out a string of very demanding babbles.
“More cake it is,” Chuck said with a smile.
“You’re going to spoil her rotten, aren’t you?” Olivia called as Chuck headed toward the snack table.
Chuck turned around. “That’s part of my uncle privileges.Just wait until I teach the twins curse words.”
I caught Olivia rolling her eyes just as I received a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Kierra standing next to me.
“Mr. Beau,” she asked, “do you have any ponies?”
I laughed. “God, no. Horses are giant babies that eat hundred-dollar bills and are only useful to make glue. I have cows—they’re tax write offs that taste delicious.”
Too late did I notice the sparkling rainbow pony on the front of Kierra’s swimsuit. Just as I thought she might cry from my insult to all pony-kind, she instead looked me dead in the eyes and gently placed a small hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll put your name in my prayer journal,” she whispered. She gave my shoulder a simple pat and then left to join her little brother in the pool.
