She gasped. “You think she’s bringing that guy she’s been seeing?”
“Depends. Which one are you talking about?”
She swatted at my chest and I snickered.
“I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding,” I said, chuckling.
“You didn't sound like you were kidding.”
I shrugged. “I mean, my stepmother does date around. We can at least admit to that.”
“I think it’s great. She’s living her life on her terms with her own money, doing what she wants.”
“In my defense, she’s been that way for a while now.”
“It sounds like you’re concerned about it. Is this something we should be concerned about?”
I ran my fingers up and down her back. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want what happened between her and my father to somehow taint that for her. If that makes any sense.”
She nodded. “It does.”
“What about your mother?”
“What about her?”
“Have you heard from her lately? She still going to therapy? Still doing okay with things?”
Rae smiled. “She is. She goes through bouts where she doesn’t want to go to therapy, but that’s usually when she hasn’t taken her medication.”
“That bipolar diagnosis ended up being a godsend, didn’t it?”
She sighed. “I know, I know. I didn’t take it well in the beginning.”
I chuckled. “You really didn’t.”
She swatted at me again and I scoffed.
“Hey! Cut me some slack. At least I waited until after the drama died down to say anything about it. That’s improvement, if you ask me.”
She rolled her eyes. “I think the medication she’s on now is more of a godsend than the actual diagnosis. I never thought I’d get her out of bed when her therapist finally told her what she thought was up. We’ll get an update in a couple of days, anyway. She said she wanted to help us with this move.”
I pulled her close. “Sounds like a plan, then.”
Then, my stomach let out a massive roar that took even myself by surprise. Rae barked with laughter.
“Wow,” I said.
“Was that your stomach?” she asked.
I grinned. “Can you blame me? I just worked up an appetite.”
She snickered. “You didn’t work as hard as you think you did.”
My eyes snapped to hers. “Them’s fightin’ words right there.”
“Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?”
I rolled her over and pinned her beneath me. She giggled as I playfully glared at her, willing her sounds to stop. She coughed and sputtered, trying to swallow it all down. And as my lips moved closer to hers, I heard her giggles turn to sighs.