Page 97 of Bolo's Curveball
She had us watching for pain on Dev’s right side, especially in the upper abdomen, severe headaches, blurry vision, and swelling. Devyn had shown her the swelling that had shown up in her feet over the last week. Dr. Natalie had smiled and assured us that some swelling was normal. And that there wasno guarantee that pre-eclampsia was going to take us out, but that it was a risk.
An increasing risk.
Once Devyn had told her mom that, she’d called my mom and they started planning. Since they didn’t know when we were really going to have this baby, we all figured it was better to do a party now.
“Oh, wow,” Devyn said, voice breathy as she tried to hold back tears.
They’d decorated in blues, greens, and browns. Mom had mentioned it was an into-the-woods baby theme and there were pictures of baby animals all over the decorations and even on the cake.
I let go of Devyn’s hand as she stepped forward to start the hugging debacle. I eyed Relay, who was standing next to me. “I’m not hugging you, asshole.”
He glowered at me. “Good. Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Can we maybe not have a bunch of cussing at your baby shower?” my mother muttered at me, arching a brow. “Behave yourselves. I want to make a good impression. Something I haven’t been able to do very often since having the three of you. In fact, this might bethefirst time it’s been possible.”
“Hey!” Isaac said, sounding affronted. “What did I do?”
She eyed him. “Don’t even try to act like you’re the innocent one here.” Then she went over for her turn at hugging my girl.
Dad chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s going to make your lives miserable if you ruin this party. So I suggest you paste some smiles on your faces before she comes back.”
Isaac bared his teeth in a completely fake grin, making Dad laugh again.
Relay huffed out a breath, but managed to erase the scowl from his face. It really was an improvement.
“Congrats,” Relay said.
“You better have gotten me a damn good gift,” I told him.
He was fighting the glower that wanted to return to his expression. “The gift’s not for you, dickhead. It’s for the baby. Or maybe your old lady, but definitely not for you.”
“Bolo.”
Glancing over, I found Devyn watching me with an expectant look. She was standing there with her entire family and there were a lot of curious eyes on me. That was fine. I wasn’t shy. Smiling, I walked up. “Wow. Devyn never mentioned she had five sisters.”
Tossing a grin over my shoulder, I saw Dad, Relay, and Isaac all roll their eyes at the same time. They really didn’t understand the art of getting women to like you. At least Dad had managed to land Mom. The other two were going to be alone forever because they were grumpy assholes.
The women all laughed and Devyn’s dad grinned at me. “Devyn mentioned you were a smooth talker.”
“Did she?” I asked, giving her a pleased look.
“No,” she replied, casting a look at her father that clearly said, ‘shut up’. “Because saying something like that would just give you a bigger head than you already have.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” one of the sisters said. I was pretty sure it was Audrey, the youngest, just based on age. But they were all pretty close in age so I could be wrong. She slapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks going pink.
“What Audrey meant,” another sister said, patience and calmness surrounding her like she wore it as armor, “is that you’re already a big man.”
“I’m pretty sure I liked the way Audrey said it,” Devyn said with a teasing grin.
Laughing, I wrapped an arm around her. “Good thing you like my big head.”
“Yeah, for some reason I do.” She shook her head. “Bolo, this is my father, Mike, my mom, Hope, and my sisters in order of oldest to youngest.” She pointed at the sister who’d tried to explain for the youngest. “Sophie.” Then continued pointing and rattling off names. “Vivian, Shay, and of course, Audrey.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I said, leaning forward and shaking their hands. “You’ve met my mother, Shannon. Those three back there are Chad, Relay, and Isaac. I’ll let them explain who’s who. It might be the only time they talk all night.”
“We have plenty of food,” Mom told everyone. “We made some of your favorites,” she told Devyn.
“Thank you so much for this,” Devyn told her, reaching out and squeezing her hand. “I don’t know what to say.”
