“Wake up!!” I yell, cupping my hands over my mouth.
Someone above us thumps on the floor to tell me to be quiet.
And Nicola isn’t even moving.
Bram sighs. “Come on you guys, wake up.”
Only now Ava stirs, slowly sitting up. “What…dad?” she asks, looking around the room. “Where am I?”
“You’re in Edinburgh, baby!” I yell at her, running over to her with my tickle fingers out. Even though Ava is seven (or eight, I can’t keep track), she still has much to fear with the tickle monster.
“Kayla!” she cries out and then her eyes go wide as I start tickling her all over. “No, no, no. No fair!”
Meanwhile Nicola is still dead to the world.
“Hey, hey, Ava,” I say to her, wagging my fingers above her stomach. “I’ll stop if you help me wake up your mom.”
“Deal,” she says. Then she gets to her feet on the bed and starts bouncing up and down, Nicola’s wavy brown hair flying around.
I open all the curtains so the bright snowy light from outside floods in, while Bram gets the kettle on, presumably to make her a cup of tea or instant coffee.
“Oh lord, please stop,” Nicola moans into her pillow. “I’m going to hurl.”
I look over at Bram expectantly.
He shrugs. “She may have had a lot to drink on the plane.”
“Yeah mommy kept on asking the flight attendant for more of the little bottles,” Ava says, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing. “She drank them all!”
“I schmav a fer o flin!” Nicole mumbles.
“Is that even English?” Bram asks.
She lifts her head up an inch. “I have a fear of flying, okay?”
Then she rolls over on her side and blinks at me.
“Kayla?”
“Who did you think was here?”
A smile slowly spreads across her face, making the drool at the corner of her mouth and the creases on her cheeks from the pillow case look less noticeable. “Kayla!”
I climb on the bed beside her and pat her on the head. “There there. We don’t need to hug if you’re going to hurl. I just came by to keep you awake. What did I tell you all week long. Don’t sleep when you arrive! Sleep on the plane.”
“I was trying to sleep on the plane,” she says, looking up at me and wincing. “Hence the alcohol. Only it didn’t work. Just give me five more minutes.”
“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” Bram says, tugging on her feet. “If the rest of us are able to stay awake, you can too. Besides, I learned a secret. It’s called beer. And Linden and I found a lovely wee pub around the corner that would be a perfect place for us to start getting our drink out. The only way out is through.”
“Good idea,” I tell him. “I’ll text Natasha and Jessica and let them know where to meet us. Then we can all head over to our place.”
“I’ll let Mal and Maisie know too,” Bram says. I’m not in close contact with those cousins since one is in Glasgow, and the other is in some other place I can’t either pronounce, nor remember.
“Does Lachlan still not know?” Nicola asks, slowly sitting up and wincing.
I shake my head. “Believe it or not, I’m good at keeping a secret.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she says with a small smile.
“So what’s the plan then?” Bram asks, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “We surprise Lachlan after his practice?”
“Yeah. I want you guys to all be there and then like jump out and really give him a fucking heart attack. Then tomorrow night, that’s the party party. I’m sure tonight you won’t be tying one on.”
“Tying one on?” Nicola repeats.
“Getting shitfaced.”
“Hey,” Ava says. “It’s poopface, okay?”
I laugh, hand at my mouth. “Yes, whoops. Sorry. I meant poopface. Don’t say shitface okay?”
“Kayla,” Nicola says sternly but she’s trying not to smile.
“See, you missed me too!” I get up off the bed. “Now, should I go to the pub or wait for you guys. I’m afraid to leave you alone in case you fall asleep again.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Bram says. “You just go get the other McGregors.”
I nod and head next door to them, knocking on the door.
Linden answers it this time, drinking a small beer from the mini bar. “Any luck?”
“Yep, they’re up.” I look around the room. It’s still a disaster zone. “Where’s the girls?”
“Steph is giving Ava a bath.”
“Okay well I’m going to head to that pub you and Bram just sneaked off to. All the rest of you McGregors are meeting us there in an hour.”
He wiggles his lips, thinking that over. Then he goes over to the bathroom and pokes his head in. “Am I officially allowed to go to the pub with Kayla or do you want me to wait for you and True to get ready?”
I can’t see Stephanie, nor do I hear her response, but I’m guessing it’s a look that can kill judging from the fear on Linden’s face and the way he closes the door.
“You know, I’m just going to stay,” he says to me.
“I’ll stay with you.”
“Beer?” he asks me, heading to the mini bar.
“Please.”
Because Lachlan doesn’t drink, I don’t drink when I’m around him. We don’t keep any alcohol in the house, and I won’t even touch it when we’re out for dinner together.
But when I’m with my friends, all bets are off.
So we sit down in the mess of a hotel room while Steph and Ava get ready. By then, Nicola, Bram and Ava are ready too and we get to the pub around the corner with moments to spare.
We’ve just sat down and ordered our beers when Linden and Bram look over my head at the door.
“Well, well, well, look who it is,” Bram yells out across the pub, getting to his feet. Thankfully yelling is the norm here.
I twist in my seat to see Brigs and Natasha strolling in.
Brigs is looking as tall and commanding and handsome as ever, a real
