Jessica's Fate

Chapter 83

"How are you holding up?" Sang asked as I dropped down into the chair next to her.

"I'm good. Excellent news is that Luke likes the cherry pies I made this morning." I said as I pulled out my phone and shot off a quick text to Pete to let him know I'd be over for dinner tonight.

"Bad news, you have to make a whole new batch because he ate them all?" she asked.

"No, I did cut him off at three. North would be so proud of me for putting my foot down." I said. "Bad news, he may or may not have eaten a dozen cupcakes. With or without the frosting." I shrugged. "Not my problem. He's your husband."

She laughed. "And North will take care of his sugar high and the eventual sugar crash as long as he's not allowed to put his head together with anyone while Gabriel and I are shopping with you." I nodded. "Serious hijinks would be the order of the day and the last time that happened, Owen lost half of his ties."

"They lost half of his ties?" I blinked. "I didn't hear about that."

She shook her head, eyes sparkling with laughter as she barely held in the giggles. "No, I mean half the ties, like they cut them in half." My eyes widened, and I burst out into laughter and she giggled along with me. "I'm not sure who was more upset." She wheezed. "Owen or Gabriel."

"Oh god. I can just see the look on both of their faces." I said, holding my stomach as I laughed, and tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Well if this isn't a fuckin' shit show." Gabriel's voice was impatient as he snapped at us and I sobered and straightened up before I looked at him.

"Good afternoon to you too." I said, shooting a confused glance at Sang and she shook her head before laughing again. "Let's get this done. I have dinner with my boyfriend tonight." I rolled my eyes at him and got up off the couch.

"Excellent." Gabriel grinned at me before catching hold of both of our hands and dragged us out of the seating area

"He's just thrilled that he managed to call dibs on me for the first date on Valentine's day, so he gets to shop for me too." Sang told me as we hurried to keep up with him.

"Ah. And he gets to shop for 9 different outfits or are you putting your foot down and telling him one classic look for the whole day?" I asked, glancing at her.

Her face paled and she stopped, tugging on Gabriel's hand until he stopped walking. "Meanie. You're not going to expect me to change my clothes every few hours, are you?"

"You can't wear the same thing on a date with all of us, Trouble." He said, eyeing her for a long moment.

Her lower lip jutted out and she actually stomped her foot. "Oh no. Hell no. One outfit. I'm not wasting time changing clothes all day long. I'm not changing make-up or hairstyles either. Maybe shoes." She glared at him before glancing at me. I nodded quickly.

Shoes were a brilliant idea.

Gabriel looked a little frustrated that his favorite canvas was actually giving him an attitude when it came to what his vision of her was for Valentine's day. "Trouble." He frowned at her. "Don't be like this. It's a big day for us. For all of us."

She crossed her arms and gave him a significant look. "No." she stated firmly.

I glanced quickly at my watch and cleared my throat. "As entertaining as this is, she's got a point, Gabe. You can't possibly think she has enough time to change her clothes. Think simple. Black, something she can actually be comfortable in. Shoes are perfect. Heels for you and her date with Owen, flats for Victor, Luke and Kota ... boots with North and converse with Nathan and Sean."