They held their smiles for a minute, until Sunny said, “That was great. I didn’t know you were going to talk about our twelve months of Christmas.”
“Neither did I,” Arianna said.
Mia shrugged. “I think it’s a cute idea. I’m enjoying what you girls are doing, and I want to grab as much Christmas as I can while I can.”
“There will be plenty more Christmases to come,” Sunny assured her.
Darn straight there will be, Arianna vowed.
CHRISTMAS
IN APRIL
15
April twenty-fifth fell on a Monday. When the gang met at one of the many Starbucks branches, they had a decision to make. Weekday or weekend?
“Let’s do the weekend. We’re supposed to have the kids. If the Weed doesn’t sneak them off somewhere,” said Sunny.
Ava, who had been invited to join them, took another sip of her latte. “You shouldn’t let her pull that crap.”
“Travis is too soft on her,” Sunny said glumly. “She pays about as much attention to the custody schedule as we all do to speed limits.”
“I pay attention to speed limits,” Arianna said.
Of course, she did. Arianna did everything right and to the T and expected everyone else to do the same. “That’s not the point,” Sunny said, irritated. “The point is that she always finds a way to mess with us.”
“Can’t Travis have a talk with her?” asked Molly.
“He did. He’s had it with her. He even threatened to take her back to court, but I don’t think it did any good,” Sunny said, irritation bleeding into her voice. “He was so mad after the stunt she pulled last month I was afraid he was going to throttle her. But in the end, he won’t push the issue. He doesn’t like to rock the boat for the kids’ sake.”
“Rock it, already,” said Molly in disgust.
And let the Weed fall out and drown. But... “He thinks if we make a big deal out of the schedule, she’ll just find some other passive-aggressive way to stick it to us. She already did a good job of messing up Travis’s plans to do something with Bella on her birthday.”
“At least she liked his present,” Arianna reminded her.
“A collection of gift cards for everything from Etsy to Regal Cinema. Who wouldn’t? Anyway, it’s the gift that counts,” Sunny cracked, trying to make light of their latest disappointment.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this,” Ava said. “Makes me glad Paisley’s dad is history. I don’t have to share her.”
Arianna frowned at her to-go cup. “I hate sharing. Wyatt has Sophie this weekend and I miss her.”
“Sharing is caring,” Sunny quipped. “And I’d love to share with Tansy. Maybe some hot pepper on her thong. She already thinks she’s got a hot ass.”
Ava gave a snort. “I’ve seen those pranks on YouTube. That’s awful.”
“And it wouldn’t happen to a more deserving person.”
“I should have put some in Wyatt’s tighty-whities,” said Arianna.
“Okay, ladies, we are straying far from the subject,” Molly said. “Is everyone okay with the weekend? I am.”
Everyone was.
“We can do it at my place,” Ava offered. “Although my condo is pretty small.”
“I don’t mind hosting,” Sunny said, and that settled it. “And don’t worry, guys, I’ll take care of organizing everything. I just need someone to bring hard-boiled eggs and food coloring and someone to bring bunny grass and jelly beans.”
