Page 135 of Goal Line

“What if something’s wrong? She’s all by herself.”

“Babies cry, you know. She’s probably just hungry.”

He turns into the living room, and I stop to open the front door.

“Surprise!” Morgan says, standing in my doorway with my friends behind her. “I hope you don’t mind that we stopped by. I was dying to see you and meet baby Georgia.”

Behind her, Jules rolls her eyes. “I picked her up at the airport half an hour ago and she insisted I bring her straight here.”

“And I figured, if my sister and Morgan were coming,” Audrey says, “you wouldn’t mind me tagging along.”

I glance at Lauren, who’s standing next to Audrey. “And when I heard they were coming, I couldn’t resist the chance to get some more baby snuggles.” She smiles as I step back to let my friends in and then she pauses in the doorway. Dropping her voice, she continues. “I also figured that you could use someone to round them up and get them out of here if having company on your first day home was too much.”

“Thank you. For now, I’m very happy you all are here. Hopefully, you can give me some pointers on settling in. It feels like all I do these days is feed her.”

“That pretty muchisall you do with a newborn. And change diapers, of course.”

I think about the fact that Lauren was doing this with two babies at once, and I suddenly have a whole new respect for moms of multiples. I feel like I have my handsmorethan full just with Georgia.

Luke heads to the gym for a quick workout as I settle into the living room with the girls. Everyone’s spread out on the couch and chairs, and the conversation flows naturally as I feed Georgia. She’s so tiny and tires easily, so her eyes drift shut almost immediately.

“You might want to stroke her cheek or something to keep her awake,” Lauren suggests. “Otherwise, she’ll only snack and never get full, then she’ll want to eat all the time.”

“Oh, is that why she wants to eat, like, every hour?”

“Probably. She’ll eat more and stay full longer if you can keep her awake long enough to finish eating.”

“Things you think they would’ve mentioned in the hospital.” I shake my head, realizing that it’s entirely possible theydidtell me, and I was too sleep deprived to remember. “C’mon, Gigi,” I say as I stroke her cheek. She doesn’t open her eyes, but she starts sucking again so I keep stroking her cheek as she eats. “I’m so glad I have friends who have done this whole motherhood thing before.”

“Happy to help,” Lauren says. “All three of my best friends from when I lived in Park City have recently had babies, so I’m living my best auntie life at the moment.”

“Oh yeah,” Audrey says. “You just did the annual trip with them. How was it?”

“Well, now that I’m not the only one with children, we broughtallthe kids. It was great, but Jameson and I skipped going on our honeymoon so we could do this annual trip, and now I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Oh, speaking of...” Lauren’s head swivels to Morgan. “How was your mom’s wedding?”

Instantly, the skin across Morgan’s cheeks turn pink, making me wonder if it’s a family trait since the same thing just happened to her cousin a moment before. They both have the same fair skin, similar eyes framed in dark lashes, and a smattering of freckles across their cheeks, though Morgan’s are more pronounced. And whereas Lauren’s hair is red and Morgan’s is more of a strawberry blonde, the resemblance is still there.

“It was . . . eventful.”

“Oh no,” Lauren says with a groan. “What happened?”

“We never even heard from you the whole time you were gone,” Jules adds.

“Internet and phone were out most of the time I was there because of a huge tropical storm. It was moving toward Bermuda before I left, and my flight managed to get in, but my mom’s flight from Atlanta was canceled. So that first night...” She glances off toward the wall of windows framing the spectacular view of Boston.

“Oh my god, please tell me you met a hot stranger at the bar and had wild sex with him to get over that douchebag who you were seeing earlier this summer,” Audrey says.

“Basically, yeah,” Morgan says, biting the inside of her lip.

“And?” Jules asks.

“And then the next morning, my mom’s flight came in and the two of us spent the day getting ready for the wedding. And that evening, when I walked down the aisle, guess who was standing there next to my new stepfather?”

“No!” I gasp, just like everyone else, and Georgia startles, her eyes flying open, when my whole body tenses up. I relax and press my hand against her back, soothing her as I help her latch back onto my breast so she can finish eating.

“Yeeeaaah,” Morgan says, breathily drawing out the word. “My new stepbrother.”

“No fucking way,” Audrey says through a laugh.