“Fine, since you asked so nicely, Drake––”
“Wait, where’s the food?” Jade interrupted.
Ember tossed a pillow at her. “Room service takes a while, now hush.”
“Bossy. Just like Joseph,” Jade muttered and leaned back. “Please, by all means, gossip is so much more important than my stomach.”
“Agreed,” Taty snarked.
Jade rolled her eyes and muttered something about being hungry. Jillian disregarded Jade and continued, “Anyway, Drake and Dixon hatched a plan with Jacob last night.”
“Oh, shit. How much is this going to cost me?” Tori hung her head. Her long blonde ponytail swished over her shoulder.
“I’m not sure, but they got Joseph drunk enough that he invited everyone to Aruba for two weeks. The bosses are meeting today to clear everyone’s schedules. I think Gabriel is renting out a house just down from Joseph’s so there is room for everyone.”
Joy snorted. “That explains it.”
“Say what?” Jasmine asked.
Joy shrugged. “Text last night at about one-thirty. Dixon asked if he had a swimming suit.”
“Does he?” Jade leaned forward so she could see Joy.
“Beats the fuck out of me.” Joy sighed. “I’m not into this shit.”
“Yeah, but you and Dixon could do other things and not spend too much time with the family.” Jillian leaned back and kicked her legs out. “I’m going. I’m tired of being frozen.”
“What about Ember?” Tori pointed at her.
Ember blinked and looked from woman to woman. “What about me?”
“Isn’t this your vacation we’re piling on top of?” Tori cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but I don’t care. We’ll have a great time. Seriously, ten bedrooms. Everyone can do what they want during the day and we’ll have a big dinner together. Not a problem.” Actually, she kind of loved the idea. Dealing with Joey when he figured out his two weeks of alone time would not happen, on the other hand… “I really hope he remembers inviting everyone.” She said the words more to herself than anyone else.
A snort came from the corner of the room. “Holy shit. Okay, I’m in.”
Dani leaned over to see Joy. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
Joy shrugged. “I want to see him explode.” She made an explosion with her hands to emphasize her point.
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Jazz hurried to the door, opening it for several wheeled carts of room service. Jasmine hurried to sign the bill while Jade lifted lids.
“Is this going to be too much for you?” Keelee asked in a whisper.
Ember leaned over and replied softly, “No. We have a staff at the house. I’ll call down today and inform them of the change and ask them to get some temporary help. It won’t be a problem.”
“I mean with you expecting.” Keelee bumped their shoulders together. Ember had told Keelee as soon as she and Joseph had told Amanda and Frank. She still talked to her best friend a couple times a day even though several states separated them.
“No, actually, I’ve had no morning sickness with this one. If I wasn’t late, I wouldn’t have suspected.”
“Then it’s a girl.” Keelee smiled at her.
“You can’t know that.” Ember shook her head.
“I’m right.” Keelee shrugged. “I knew Tori was having a boy each time and I knew I was having a girl.”
“She also guessed about Chloe.” Jasmine handed them each a plate.
“And about Royce,” Faith added from the other side of the food-laden tables.
“This baby shit isn’t catchy, is it?” Jade’s eyes grew large. “I’m not okay with that.”
“No, Jade, we’ve had this talk. You know how babies are made.” Jewell scooped up a chocolate-covered donut. “Yummy. Food of the gods.”
“How are you not the size of a barn?” Dani stared at Jewell as she demolished the sugar bomb.
“High metabolism.” Jewell said the words around a massive bite of chocolate-covered goodness.
Jasmine asked, “So, we’re all going to Aruba? When?”
Jillian gave a shrug. “Drake said he and Dixon would fly everyone. Except for Ember and Joseph, no one has packed for a tropical vacation.”
Ember snorted. She had packed very little. The plan was to be naked and alone most of the time, but she had clothes at the house.
“I heard that.” Tori laughed at her. “Did you pack anything besides lingerie? Amanda and Frank were watching Blake, right?”
Ember felt her face flame. “I have clothes at the house in Aruba, but I’m not saying we won’t disappear after dinner.”
The laughter that filled the room also filled her heart. She loved these women. Her Crazy Coven.
“So, have you picked out the next B name?” Jade asked as she licked her finger after drizzling honey onto an English muffin.
“We have. Brooke for a girl and Barrett for a boy.”
“That’s cool ‘cause you need to take the cousins into account,” Jewell said between bites.
Dani nodded. “We met Brianna a couple of years ago. She’s sweet.”
“Cousins? You mean the ones in Hope City?” Faith took a sip of her coffee.
“Yep. Let’s see, Brock, Brianna, Brody, Bekki, and Blay,” Jade rattled them off in order.
Ember nodded. “We discounted those names immediately. Didn’t want to duplicate.”
“When will you find out if you’re having a boy or a girl?” Taty asked.
“Usually between the eighteenth and twenty-first week, so it would push it to find out before Christmas.”
“But you’re going to push it, right?” Tori asked.
Ember smiled. “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”
“Wait. Has anyone seen Poet yet this morning?” Faith turned and looked around the room.
Jasmine answered, “She has a day planned with her maid of honor. They are doing a spa day, then makeup and hair.”
“I bet her mother flipped out when she said there would only be a maid of honor.” Ember chuckled. “Poor Poet was at The Rose training while the mothers were setting this monster up. She was adamant, though. A best man and a maid of honor, and she was picking her own bridal gown. Other than that, she gave the mothers carte blanche until they heard about the people that the moms wanted to invite, then they screwed that down, too.”
“Man, maybe I should have done that.” Jade took a bite of her muffin.
“What?” Faith asked.
“Had my mom plan the wedding. It would have been easier, that’s for sure.” Jade shrugged.
“It would have saved me from seeing that puke green monstrosity you called a dress.” Jasmine shuddered and rubbed her arms.
“Puke green?” Joy chuckled. “Knew you had shit taste.”
Jade lifted her middle finger. “Har, har, har, and fuck you. I messed up the color number. It worked out. The wedding went off without a hitch.”
“Except your fiancé went missing,” Faith giggled. “And the ring thing.”
Jade nodded her head. “Well, there was that.”