Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 55~

~Raelyn~

~July 20th 2023~

The walls of my bedroom looked like they'd been hit by a tornado made entirely of hair spray, curling irons, and cheap mimosas. I swear, if one more bobby pin stabbed me in the scalp, I was going to start throwing things—and not in a cute, pregnant way. In a full-blown hormonal rampage kind of way.

"I swear to God, if this curl falls one more time, I'm shaving my damn head," Devyn growled in the mirror, yanking a section of her long dark hair with the kind of aggression usually reserved for bar fights or demon exorcisms.

"You said that last week," Katrina said, lying on my bed in her robe like she hadn't just spent thirty minutes straight-lining her hair into submission. "And guess what? You still have hair. And rage."

"You're both dramatic," Tara chimed from the floor, legs crossed, blending foundation on her cheek like she was prepping for war. "You wanna talk stress? Try gluing lashes on with hand tremors."

"Try doing it while you're five months pregnant and your boobs feel like they've been replaced with bowling balls," I muttered, reaching for my lip liner only to knock it off the desk for the fourth time. "God. Damn. It."

From across the room, Isa snorted. "You good, Rae? You look like you're about to cry or commit arson. Possibly both."

"I'd like to see you put on pantyhose with a baby kicking your bladder," I snapped, bending over with the grace of a dying whale. "Also, who even wears pantyhose anymore? What am I, a secretary from 1992?"

"Technically, you're the only one who insisted on pantyhose," Tara said smugly, flaring her nostrils at her reflection. "Which makes this your fault."

"Isa, can you zip me?" Devyn called, arms flailing like a malfunctioning animatronic. "I'm about to bust a shoulder trying to do it myself."

Isa bolted across the room in fuzzy socks, nearly faceplanting into the dresser. "On it! I am the honorary zip-up fairy today."

"Zip-up fairy sounds dirty," Katrina mumbled around the mascara wand between her lips.

"Everything sounds dirty when you say it," I muttered.

A shout echoed from the hallway: "Rae, did you eat?!"

Colby. Of course.

"I HAD A BAGEL!" I yelled back, not even flinching.

"THAT'S NOT ENOUGH! YOU NEED PROTEIN!"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTEIN, BROCK!"

"Please never say that sentence again," Devyn groaned.

"Agreed," Tara added. "Also, is he just pacing out there yelling at us like a suburban dad? Because I'm kinda into it."

"I can still hear you," Colby hollered.

"Good!" I shot back, adjusting the NHS ribbon draped over my shoulder with all the pride of someone who had absolutely cried over a stats final and still walked away with a 98. "Now go iron your robe like a real man!"

"Corey's using the iron!" he called. "Also, ironing is a scam invented by Big Wrinkle!"

Tara broke into a wheezing laugh. "I love him. I really do."

Isa snorted again, shoving a pin into Devyn's hair. "Don't encourage him. He already walks around here like he's the alpha of our weird little pack."

"He *is* the alpha of our weird little pack," Katrina said lazily. "Rae's the queen. Colby's the moody wolf king. Sam's the sunshine himbo. Jake's the snark goblin. Corey's the exhausted dad. The rest of us are just chaos."