The Miami Diaries Book 4

Chapter 1

T/W: Just a hint of innuendo.

****
Lex

I'm standing at the back of the church, holding one of Cass' hands, waiting for my and Steve's cue to walk in as the matron of honor and best man at Dave and Cass' wedding.

Steve is holding Aria, who looks perfect in her frilly,bbnnɓ purple dress as the flower girl.

"Everyone ready?" Cass asks. She's beautiful, her cheeks flushed pink. I nod, gently squeezing Cass' hand. She gives me a smile.

"Ready, Mrs. Speedle?" Steve asks me, giving a wink. I chuckle, releasing Cass' hand and reach for Steve's arm.

"You bet I am, Mr. Speedle." Steve grins as we prepare to enter the sanctuary.

"Let's go," Steve murmurs to me. I grin, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"You bet."

***
Steve and I are dancing together during Cass and Dave's wedding reception. Steve twirls me and I laugh. Steve is grinning as we lock eyes.

"Gosh, this sure brings back memories," Steve comments, drawing me nearer to him. I grin, pulling his head down and gently kissing him. Steve smiles, touching my cheek.

"Definitely," I agree. When the song ends, I grab Steve's hand, leading him back over to our table. Mom is holding Aria, who's grinning because Mom was gently bouncing her on her knees in time the music.

Aria squeals in delight, reaching out for me. I smile, taking Aria in my arms. She immediately begins babbling away in her baby language.

Steve leans over, letting Aria grab his fingers and laughing. A slow song starts up and Jay asks...Mom if she'd like to..dance. I frown as I watch Mom blush, taking Jay's hand, and standing up.

"Lexie?" I look at Steve, who's eyebrows are raised slightly. "You okay?"

"Of course." I watch as Jay leads Mom to the dance floor and they begin to dance. Mom is beaming and I get strange little flutter in my gut.

"You have a weird look on your face," Steve says.

"I was just a little..surprised about Mom and..Jay."

"They're just dancing," Steve says, taking Aria, who's stretching her little arms towards him. I let him take her.

"Uh huh," I say. I won't make a scene here, since it's Dave and Cass' special day. But I have a weird feeling that something is brewing between Mom and Jay.

***
Steve

Lex, Aria and myself are getting ready to head home. Aria's asleep, her little head resting on my shoulder. Lex is giving both Dave and Cass a hug goodbye.

"Thanks for being a part of our special day," Cass says to Lex.

"Of course! We wouldn't have missed it for anything," Lex says, smiling.

"We definitely appreciated it," Dave says, grinning.

"Absolutely. Congrats again," I say.

"Thanks, man," Dave says. Lex grabs my arm and we walk outside, into the cool, night air.

"That was a crazy, but fun weekend," Lex remarks, unlocking the car doors so I can put Aria into her car seat.

"For sure," I say. Lex climbs into the passenger seat, buckling herself in. I finish buckling Aria in, close the door and hurry around to the driver's seat, climbing in. Lex yawns.

"Think we can make it home?" She jokes.

"It's only an hour away," I say. "I think we'll make it. Lex puts a hand on my knee, gazing intensely at me.

"You want something, Mrs. Speedle?" I tease.

"Maybe."

"Guess I better drive as fast as I dare, huh?" Lex gives my knee a gentle squeeze.

"That might be a good idea," she says. I put the car in drive, carefully getting out of the parking lot.

"Wanna tell me what your deal was with Jay dancing with your mom?" I dare to ask.

"It just gave me a weird feeling," Lex replies, turning around to check on Aria, who's still out like a light.

"Aren't you a little old to be getting jealous of your mom seeing someone?" I ask, turning on to the main highway.

"What?" Lex practically levitates. "They're seeing each other?"

"What? No! Calm down," I hiss softly. "You'll wake up Aria."

"Right." Lex sighs. "It's just..I think Jay's always kinda...liked...Mom."

"So what's the big deal?" I ask. Lex shrugs.

"Can we discuss this later?" She asks. "As when I'm not completely drained, physically and mentally?"

"All right," I agree. We fall silent and I'm getting a weird feeling that something is going on with Lex and I'm not sure I care to deal with it.

***
Lex

"Mom?"

"Yes, baby girl?" Mom is over (as usual), and I'm catching up on laundry while Aria crawls around the living room floor, looking see what trouble she can cause.

"What was up with you and Jay last week at Cass and Dave's wedding?" Mom just stares at me.

"What do you mean?"

"You were acting so weird," I reply.

"Bah!" Aria squeals and then laughs loudly.

"I have no idea what you mean." Mom looks away, but I can see the faint flush of pink on her cheeks.

"Mom," I say. "I'm an adult. You don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not lying." Mom sounds defensive.

"Uh huh." I might as well drop the subject. Obviously Mom isn't going to admit to anything. Aria pulls herself to a standing position by clinging to the couch.

"Yay!" Mom praises her and Aria rewards her with a grin.

"She'll be walking before you know it," Mom tells me.

"Well, she is almost a year old," I say, leaving the room to go put away some bath towels.

"You started walking when you were eight months old," Mom says when return. I roll my eyes. I've only heard that story two hundred times.

"Well, Aria's not me," I say, my tone a little snippy. I'm still annoyed that Mom won't tell me a damn thing about her and Jay. Mom turns her head, her brow furrowed.

"Everything all right, Lex? Are you..pregnant again?" I scowl.

"Seriously, Mom? I'm not pregnant!"

"PMSing then, huh?"

"No! I'm pissed that you expect me to lay everything bare, but heaven forbid, you share a damn thing about you!"

Mom comes to me, pulling me to her. I reluctantly allow this.

"You have nothing to worry about, baby, okay?"

"Is there something there?" I ask.

"Not now," Mom replies.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand.

"Lex, just let it go, all right?" I sigh.

"Whatever." I move away, going to pick Aria, who was beginning to fuss. Mom leaves a few minutes later.

"Your grandma is up to something," I whisper Aria. "And I'm gonna find out what."