Hudson by Shayne McClendon Page B

bubbled up.  “Uh, no. 
No halo.”
    Tawny grinned.  “Things come easy to her.  She’s naturally good at shit.  If she weren’t such a good person, I would have punched her out when
we were teenagers.  Until her project, Riya was so fucking sweet it could make
your teeth hurt.”
    “I read the books…it was an education.”
    “Right?  She has some dings in that halo now, I tell you
what.  I’m glad she took to you.  You’re a good fit.  A halfway point between
us.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Alright, I’m going to pull out your deep dirty shit now. 
Time for some Truth or Dare .” 
    The next hours were spent acting like teenagers and Brie
could say she’d never had so much fun with another person besides Izzy. 
    After a three-hour nap, they were up again…making pancakes.
    The others were awakened to the sounds of them singing Here
Comes the Sun at top volume.  Max and Micah appeared at the top of the
stairs. 
    “Ladies,” Micah said carefully.  “Good morning.  Is
something the matter?”  His voice was still scratchy from sleep.
    Tawny blew them kisses.  “Nope!  Just want you to get a
sample of what holiday mornings will be like when you have kids.  Up, up, up ! 
Lots of stuff to do today!”
    Max mumbled, “She’s not serious.”
    Behind them, a yawning Riya said, “Oh yeah.  She’s serious. 
Best to go with it or she’ll get worse.” 
    Brie laughed quietly as Tawny nodded soberly.  “Trust her. 
She’s a doctor .  Come on!  We made pancakes!”  Then she dashed back to
the kitchen.
    Stopping in front of Brie, Riya said, “She got to you.”
    “Sorry.”
    “Liar.  You’ll never be the same now.”
    “I know.  We have coffee and mimosas.”
    “I smell the coffee.  It’s the only thing currently keeping
her alive , Brie.”   
     
    The day was beautiful.  The light streaming through the
floor-to-ceiling windows was perfect as they decorated.  Christmas carols
played through the rooms while they worked.
    A couple of hours before the party, Tawny and Riya pulled
her upstairs to get ready.  Riya ordered all of them coordinating dresses and
shoes.  They were the same fabric but different colors and styles.  All of them
fell just above the knee. 
    Hers was custom-tailored for her odd shape and even had
built-in booby support that even her own bras sometimes failed to provide.  The
dark blue brought out the color of her eyes.  When she originally took Brie to
the dress shop for measurements, she refused to show the design.
    “Trust me.  You’re going to love it.”
    The finished product was beautiful.  They took her hair out
of the big clip and it fell to the middle of her back.  Tawny grabbed a lock
and watched the tight curl spring back.  “I want to see what it looks like
flat-ironed.”
    “Ha!  Good luck with that.  Your arms will get tired way before you finish.  Next time.   We do not have time to fuck with my hair
right now.”  Grumbling, they settled for doing her makeup and a casual up-do
she never would have accomplished on her own. 
    It seemed that everyone arrived at the same time and the
space quickly filled with talking, laughter, and music.  The friends and family
who arrived were very different from the people Brie knew growing up in her
little town in Washington. 
    Tawny’s mother and Riya’s father had been married for almost
two years so the young women were actually stepsisters now. 
    Maggie was pretty and loved to laugh.  She asked Brie rapid-fire
questions about where she grew up, her family, and her interests.  The older
woman’s acceptance of her daughters’ ménage relationships blew Brie’s mind. 
Even Riya’s dad seemed fine with everything. 
    Tawny told her things hadn’t always been so peaceful but it
was better now. 
    “Something to remember, Brie.  If family wants you in their
life badly enough, they’ll accept you for who you are …not who they want you to be.”
    Archer was a nice man with a