I stare blankly at the invitation in my hand.
"No way" I say, sliding my newly opened mail over to Louis' end of the dining room table.
"Nuh uh" he scoffs "Will is marrying that girl?"
"August 5th" I smile mockingly.
"Are you okay?" Louis asks.
"I mean, yeah" I take back the overly embroidered invitation, "it's just weird." I shake my head.
"In what way?" Louis gets up and switches seats to the one beside me.
"I never thought anything serious would come out of them. I thought she was just a fling. Regardless of how long they were in a relationship I never thought he would marry her." I toss the invitation aside, lifting my legs onto my chair and pulling them close to my chest.
"Well he's stupid, ya know" Louis tucks my stray hair behind an ear. "He had all of this" he makes a gesture towards me with his hands, "and he chose little miss not-as-good-as-Lacie."
"Stop it" I laugh.
"Not a chance" Louis smiles and takes my hand
"Mommy and Louis, sitting in a tree" Belle skips into the dinning room, swaying her arms back and forth "K-I-S-I-N-G"
"There're two 's's in kissing, kiddo" I say.
"You have no proof" she challenges.
"Get me a dictionary" Louis responds.
"Do we look like people who have dictionaries in our home?" Belle scrunches her brows. "That thing has zero pictures and no plot line."
"She's got a point" I pull Belle onto my lap.
"What's this?" Belle grabs the mail I had just discarded.
"That's an invitation, sweetie" I reply, my eyes darting to Louis.
"An invitation for what?. . .I can't read it, it's in that scribbly writing"
"Your father is getting married" I say.
"You're kidding me" Belle quickly discards the piece of paper. "Savannah probably forced daddy into this. Her and her smelly old apple pie self" Belle crosses her arms against her chest. "I don't like her."
I fight the urge to join in on a Savannah bashing session.
"Well. . ." I search for words to try and comfort my daughter "At least now on your birthday you will have two mommy's to make. . .or buy you a birthday cake" I press my tongue into my cheek.
I watch my daughters face for an expression that tells me she's okay. That expression doesn't come. My eyes shift to Louis.
Louis quickly takes control of the situation. "Hey. Lets go kick the soccer ball around outside, yeah?" He holds his hand out towards Belle.
Annabelle purses her lips together before letting out a quiet breath. "Okay" she agrees, sliding off my legs.
----
I readjust my grip on the little blue mug I hold firmly in my hands, lifting my coffee slowly to my lips.
Liam stands next to me as we watch Louis and Belle from a distance as they half heartedly kick the ball back and forth to each other.
"Just can't believe he's marrying her" Liam scratches at the scruff on his face.
"Yup." I hold my mug tighter, hoping to transfer the heat from my coffee into my cold hands.
