Page 83 of Filthy Rich

Thankfully, Emerson gets there then, and Elizabeth immediately starts complaining about how she’s so hungry she could eat an elephant. It’s not as shocking, since she’s been married for. . .I do the math.

“So, are you pregnant yet?”

Elizabeth blinks. Then she rounds on Emerson. “I’m going to kill you.”

Emerson swears. “I swear, I didn’t say a word, and it’s Jake. A hundred bucks says he was testing you.”

“He wouldn’t—” Elizabeth freezes. “You got me, didn’t you?”

Seren shrieks then, and some kind of massive family hug-fest follows. Octavia, Ardath, and I retreat slowly.

“You’re not about to hug me, are you?” Ardath asks. “I’m not a very touchy-feely person.”

“It’s one of the few things we have in common,” I say.

“Please,” Ardath says. “If I told your girlfriend about all the girls you touched and felt, she’d be sick to her stomach.”

Octavia laughs, and I realize. . .Ardath just made a joke. Is it the first one she’s made? Or have I missed the others?

Once people finally calm down, or at least, as much as they’re going to, Seren pulls out a massive chocolate cake.

“I know cheesecake’s your favorite, Jake,” she says. “But everyone else likes this better.”

“Seriously?” Bea asks. “On his birthday, you make what we want?” She shakes her head.

Octavia looks genuinely upset on my behalf.

“She’s got a cheesecake in there, too,” I whisper. “She’ll let them fall on this like locusts, and then she’ll pull it out. They all know it, but they play along. She does this for literally every party. At first, I thought it was kinda corny, but it grows on you.” Actually, I’ve always thought it was dumb. But, tonight, explaining it to Octavia, I feel like I’m in on the silliness.

So when everyone has a slice of cake and I ask for one, Seren gets a sly look on her face and says, “Actually. . .” Then she shoves my hand away, stands up, and pulls the cherry cheesecake out of the fridge. “That cake was just to keep them away from this so you’d have leftovers.”

“Oh, ho, I can eat that, too,” Dave says.

Seren points at the fridge door, and I realize she really did tape a cropped photo up there.

“Oh, gross.” Ardath’s shaking her head. “Why are we all staring at a naked picture of Dad right now?”

Seren laughs. “It’s inspirational. That Dave got a lot more hot women than this one does.”

Before I can even get my slice of cheesecake, Dave’s crossed the room, wrapped his arms around Seren, and he’s dipping and kissing her. We all groan and shout our protests right on cue, but like the cake gag, it feels different this time. It feels. . .corny, yes, but also good.

On the plane the next morning, Octavia takes my hand. “Thank you,” she says.

“For what?”

“Last night—actually, the whole day yesterday was one of the best days I’ve ever had. Your family’s kind of my dream.”

“Your dream? I don’t understand.”

“They’re so. . .” She sighs. “They’re just, I don’t know. Yes, they’re a little cheesy, and they can be loud, and Killian’s a mess. Ardath is a little. . .different. But they all love each other so much, and it feels like you’ve stepped into some kind of hokey Christmas film when you sit down in Seren’s kitchen.”

I actually get it. “I think that’s what I didn’t like about it when I was growing up.”

“The Christmas movie thing?”

I shake my head. “It felt unreal. Sometimes it felt like they were all acting, like they were trying to deliver lines or something.”

“Are you sure you weren’t the one who felt like he had to deliver lines?” Her eyes are soft.