The Screw Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 3) by Samantha Lind (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📕

“Sorry we’re late, it was totally my fault,” Carmen says once she’s out of the car.

We make it up the stairs and I scoop Milo into my arms. “Hey, buddy, miss me?” I ask my nephew before I blow a raspberry on his neck. I just saw him a couple days ago, but I still miss him when we’re not around.

“Uncle Lucas.” He giggles. “Stop,” he insists, pushing against my face.

“Tiff.” I lean in, kissing my sister on the cheek. “I’d like to finally introduce to you, Carmen. Carmen, this is my pain in the butt sister, Tiffany.”

“I don’t know how you put up with him, but bless you,” Tiffany says as she pulls Carmen in for a hug. The way Carmen’s eyes bug out in shock has me biting back a bark of laughter.

“It is so nice to meet you, as well. Thank you for having me.”

“Of course, you are welcome here anytime. With or without this one,” Tiffany tells her, pointing at me. “If you need someone to complain to when he’s being an a-s-s,” she says, spelling out the word so that Milo doesn’t repeat it like he’s done in the past with cuss words, “I’m your girl. I can relate. Plus, who doesn’t need another girlfriend to meet up with over wine and appetizers.”

“That does sound like a good time,” Carmen muses.

“Can we take this party inside?” I ask, smirking at my sister.

“Oh, yes, sorry! I was just so excited for you to get here,” Tiffany says as she opens the door and steps inside. I drop a hand to the small of Carmen’s back, escorting her inside with Milo on my hip.

Tiffany leads us inside and to the living room that is filled with Milo’s toys. I immediately set him down and drop to the floor with him.

“Speaking of wine, this is for you.” Carmen hands the bottle over to my sister.

“Thank you, this is my favorite!”

“See, I told you!” I chime in, winking at Carmen as Tiffany takes the bottle into the kitchen. “This is my special friend, Carmen, can you say hi to Miss Carmen?” I ask Milo.

He shakes his head, trying to hide into my arm. He’s often shy around new people, but I’m sure before we leave today, he’ll be just as smitten with her as I am.

“Milo, do you have a favorite toy?” Carmen asks him, getting down on the floor with us.

He looks between me and Carmen, not really sure what to make of her. He eventually leaves my side and goes and gets a couple of his cars. We’ve played endless hours of cars. For Christmas last year, I found this awesome rug that has all kinds of roads on it to roll cars around on. He hands one to me and, shocking both of us, hands one to Carmen, as well.

“Thank you, Milo. This is such an awesome car!” she exclaims, a little over exaggerated, which gets him smiling. He sits down between us and starts rolling his own car along one of the roadways on the rug. Carmen follows suit, zooming her car down one of the other roads.

When Tiffany joins us again, she finds the three of us zooming cars all over the mat. “Well, looks like he’s already won you over,” she muses, taking a seat on the recliner.

“You feeling okay, Tiff?” I ask, noticing that she’s looking a little pale.

“Yeah, just a stomach bug, I think. It’s been hitting me randomly the last couple of days.”

I’m no expert, but random bouts of nausea screams pregnant, to me, but I don’t want to be the asshole that asks her, so I keep my mouth shut. “Sorry, do you want to go take a nap while we play with Milo?” I offer.

“Really? You don’t mind?” she asks, sitting up straight like the idea of a nap is the greatest thing she’s ever heard of.

“Go, take a nap, or a shower, or both. You deserve it!” Carmen tells her. “I don’t know how you do it all the time. Being a stay-at-home mom sounds exhausting.”

“It can be, but it’s also amazing to be here for all his big moments,” Tiff says as she stands to go.

“If I’m not up in two hours, come wake me up. I don’t want to sleep too long and then not be able to sleep tonight.”

“You got it,” I assure my sister.

“Milo, you be good for Uncle Lucas and Miss Carmen while Mommy goes and takes a nap.”

“Okay,” he answers her, not really giving a crap that she’s leaving the room.

“He had a small feed about twenty minutes before you got here, so he should be good for a while. We’ve got some finger foods to try at lunch, before we do another feed, depending on how much he can get down.”

“Sounds good, I’ll come get you before attempting to feed him if he says he’s hungry.”

“Perfect. Thanks again,” she says before disappearing out of the room.

Carmen and I play with cars with Milo for another ten or so minutes before he’s ready to move on to something else.

“So, is it just me or do you think my sister is pregnant?” I ask Carmen.

“You think so?” she asks, swiveling her head to look at me, her eyes big as she thinks it over.

“She looked exhausted, said she’s been feeling randomly nauseous…” I trail off.

“I mean, those can be symptoms, but they can also be symptoms of so many other things, like a stomach bug. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, and don’t ask her about it. She might have already tested, for all you know, and it was negative, or maybe she’s worried that if she is pregnant that she could end up with another premature baby and all the stress that comes with that. I’m also not the best person to ask, seeing as how I’ve been around her a whole whopping ten minutes or so,” she reminds me.

“Yeah, yeah. As soon as she sat down, I knew something was