Page 7 of Blizzard Babies
“I’m not miserable, but I love hanging out with you guys, so I’m in,” I say.
“I have no plans the rest of the day,” Whitney adds. “I’m always down for a mani-pedi.”
“I need a facial,” Laurel says, scrolling on her phone. “Let me see if Luna can fit us in.”
“Who’s Luna?” Charli stage whispers.
“The owner of the spa I go to,” Laurel whispers back. “I’m going to make her fit us in.”
I really love these women.
Chapter 4
Charli
There’s nothing better than someone massaging your feet and calves. At least not to me. Laurel’s friend welcomed us to her spa, and we’re all in the middle of various services. I’m having the best foot massage of my life, Laurel is in another room getting a facial, Whitney is next to me also having a pedicure, and Sara is getting her nails done across the room.
This is the most relaxed I’ve had since my first day of morning sickness and though I’m still queasy, I’m feeling better. At least I’m not throwing up at the moment, and that’s a big deal these days.
“The only thing that could make this better would be mimosas,” Whitney laments ruefully.
I smile over at her. “My stomach is too iffy for me to think about alcohol, but yes, in another life I would be drinking a mimosa or a Bloody Mary.”
“Mmm, yum!” Sara calls out.
“Have you thought about baby names yet?” Whitney asks me.
I nod. “I think we’re going to name her Minna if it’s a girl. After Miikka’s maternal grandmother. They were very close.”
“That’s pretty.”
“What about you?”
“Jackson, after his father.”
I smile. “That’s nice. Miikka says he doesn’t want a name that he or she will have to spend their life spelling. Minna isn’t very American, but it’s spelled the way it’s pronounced, because if it only had one N, then it would sound more like mine-uh, instead of min-uh.”
“That makes sense.”
“We’ve decided on Ainsley,” Sara says. “I saw it in a baby book and fell in love with it.”
“Aw, that’s beautiful,” Whitney said. “I like it.”
“And get this—Aaron is teaching Merlin to say it.”
Merlin is Aaron and Sara’s macaw. He curses like a sailor most of the time but has been much better since Sara took over training him.
“What are you going to do when he teaches her to say fuck?” I ask, giggling.
Sara laughs. “I think the guys on the team are going to teach her to curse before Merlin, but I’m not worried about cursing. We’ll teach her what is and isn’t appropriate. She’ll figure it out.”
“You’re already a boss at this parenting stuff,” I say, laughing. “What’s up with that?”
“I’m winging it, but I feel like my parents did it with me and I turned out okay, so it can’t be such a bad plan.”
“I’m not ready for talking and cursing,” Whitney says. “I’m still trying to figure out if I’m going to be able to breastfeed or if I even want to.”
“Yuck.” Sara shakes her head. “That’s a no from me. I know it’s supposedly better for them, but my mom didn’t and I’m healthy as a freakin’ horse. I just can’t imagine being tied to the baby twenty-four-seven for God only knows how long. That’s just not for me.”
