“My girls,” he says with a smile, his hands coming up to rub my shoulders.
“She really is something,” Ali says to me, his vision latched onto Rosie. Em runs her hands through Rosie’s golden curls as everyone glances over.
“What can I say? I lucked out.”
“I want one,” Stana says in a dreamy voice.
“Me too,” Em replies, and I try not to laugh. Reeve looks slightly panicked, but I know from personal conversations with Em it’s definitely on the table, just not yet.
“You think you’ll have any more, Lottie?” Ali asks.
I shrug. “Down the line, I’d like for her to have a little brother or sister, but for now I’m happy. I mean, I never imagined I’d have her at twenty-six, but now she’s here, I can’t imagine being without her.”
“What was life like before Rosie?” Em whispers. “Sometimes I can’t even remember.”
“It definitely wasn’t as good,” Stana throws in, sending a wink my way.
“I second that,” Owen says from behind me. His warm hands stroke up and down my arms. As if Rosie doesn’t want to miss out on all the action, her big eyes shoot open, immediately spotting Owen.
“Looks like someone is happy you’re back,” I tell him as Rosie begins to pull away from Em, her hand reaching out to Owen. He’s quick to jump up and reach for her.
“Hey, little girl,” he coos, taking her in his arms. She grabs his cheeks, and both of them stare into one another’s eyes.
“You’ve got some competition, Lottie.” Em laughs as she watches them.
“Oh, there is no competition,” I say. “This little girl has everyone wrapped around her finger.”
Owen brings her over to me, then sits down on the spare spot by my side. Her back faces his front as she begins to play with her toes.
“Hello, my darling girl, did you have a good sleep?” I ask her, leaning down to rub her little cheek. She gives me a small smile before her attention is redirected to her toes.
“So, when’s the big move?” Reeve asks from next to Em, who is now situated in his arms.
“Next week,” I confirm before looking around the room. “Still a shit-ton to do, but it will be worth it to get out of this miniature flat and give Rosie her own space.”
“That’s so exciting, Lottie!” Em says, her lips melding together right afterward. “Well, I’ve also got some news of my own. Well, Reeve and I do.” Em places her hand over Reeve’s, and I swear Ali’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. What the hell is their news? Stana turns her head to the side, clearly also unaware.
“Reeve and I are moving in together!” She grins as Reeve laces their hands together, a small smile playing on his face. They deserve this; they didn’t get an easy go to begin with, but they well made it.
I hear Ali exhale, clearly his mind along the same lines as mine. Pregnancy. Em wants to be a mum for sure, but she still has so much to do before she’s ready. Her words, not mine.
“Congratulations, guys, that’s so exciting.” I smile before turning to Owen. “I’m assuming you already knew?”
He nods. “Reeve told me this morning.”
Owen and Reeve have lived together for a few years now, and my mind instantly veers to where the hell Owen is going to live. Or is he keeping their two-bedroom flat?
My hand instinctively rests on Owen’s leg and gives it a squeeze. I guess now more than ever it’s time to reconsider what our plan is moving forward.
“Do you know when it will be?” I ask, trying to suss out the situation.
“Our lease goes for another month and a half, plus Em’s roommate, Cora, is already planning on moving next month, so I’d say some time in November,” Reeve answers.
So, I have a month to get my shit together enough to ask him to move in.
Fuck.
“Jesus Christ, Lottie, who let you hoard this much stuff?” Em says as she pulls out another pair of leather pants. Shit, maybe I do have too much stuff. It’s the day after moving day, and Rosie is with Evie. The boys are handling building the new furniture, although I don’t know if that’s going so well, and I’ve recruited the girls to help me organize my room. Apparently I have too much stuff.
“Seriously,” Stana says, shaking her head, “I didn’t know one girl could own this many sequined dresses.”
I laugh, thinking that I should to pull those out again. Despite Rosie being my world, I still need to have “me time,” and expressing myself through fashion has always been an outlet. Now I just have to do something about my overgrown bleach-blonde hair. That’s next on the list after we get all this shit unpacked.
“Did you really need all these tights?” Stana says, holding up a hot-pink pair. Okay, maybe I can get rid of those.
“You think she has a lot of tights,” Em cuts in, holding up a pair of my lace-up heeled combat boots. “You have six pairs of black shoes that look like this. I mean, I know I have a lot of clothes, but Charlotte!”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “Guys, it’s no secret I have a shopping problem. Plus, those boots are all different. See, this pair has zippers and these don’t.” I grab the shoes from Em’s hand and shove them into the back of my new closet.
“Oh, they have zips. Did you hear that, Stana?” Em says sarcastically. I playfully shove her side before going back to the chest of drawers I’m attempting to organize. “Attempting” being the key word as I’ve got no idea how to be tidy.
“How are you girls doing?” Owen peeks his head into the room. “Need help?”
I burst out laughing. “Have you already failed at building the bookshelf, puppy?”
He looks around sheepishly. “I may
