Page 99 of It's Not PMS, It's You

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I was just willing to pitch in if they needed help. They said since they now had their first grandchild, and since the mom was going back to work in a couple of months, they wanted to be the ones to take care of the baby. That works for me!”

“So, Karma is officially yours.”

Nick nodded. “She’s mine. And I hope you don’t mind me bringing her here without asking this time. I was banking on the fact that you would probably understand, plus since you and I are almost best friends now.”

I laughed. “Yes. Almost.” I glanced around the backyard. “I don’t understand how you were able to do this so quickly. You’re amazing.”

“Well, I would love to take all the credit, but you have to remember that the gazebo was custom-built like a puzzle. It was just a matter of connecting the pieces. Brandon is the best worker a man like me could have and I couldn’t have done it without him. Plus, I did bring in another worker for a few hours to run the electricity and connect the ceiling fan and the lights.”

“Who planted the wisteria?”

“Thatwould be me. Getting my hands dirty in the garden is one of the most pleasurable things to do, so there was no way I was going to let someone else do it. The good news is, we’re way ahead of schedule.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words from a worker at my house.”

He laughed. “Mark this date down in history.”

“I appreciate that you’re ahead of schedule, but there’s no need to rush. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Also, I don’t want to see you go.

“You don’t have to worry about that, since Brandon does most of the heavy lifting. And Ididhave an ulterior motive if I’m being honest.”

“What is it?”

“I have a family reunion tomorrow afternoon that I’m going to and I didn’t want to get behind schedule.”

I nodded. “Is there a special milestone the family is celebrating?”

“No. It’s just something we do every year. Everyone looks forward to it.”

“Do you have a big family?”

“I guess it depends on who we’re comparing it to, but I think it’s pretty big. We should have around fifty people there.”

“Wow. I was expecting you to say twenty people or maybe twenty-five at the most. I guess we shouldn’t compare your family to mine. I’m an only child and so are my parents. It’s pretty much just us and my grandparents who live in Palm Springs.”

Nick leaned forward and nodded. “I’m an only child too, but the difference is my dad had eight brothers and sisters, and most of them have had multiple children. It adds up quickly.”

“It sure does.”

“My mom came up with the idea of the yearly family reunion that wasn’t connected to any holiday. There was a better chance of everyone not being away on vacation or too busy. For her, it was more important and easier to get together on our reunion day than Christmas, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Easter, or any other day that families usually got together.”

“That’s such a great idea.”

“She expects everyone to be there because, according to her, we all have had enough advance notice to make it happen. She made it very clear that she didn’t want to be disappointed with no-shows.”

I smiled. “She sounds like the matriarch of the family.”

“She is. A strong, confident woman who doesn’t take crap from anyone.”

“I like her already.”

Nick grinned. “Not a surprise.”

Karma got up and moved closer to me, lying back down, and placing her head on top of my feet.

Nick pointed at her. “She likes you.”