Chapter 196: A Lot To Think About

"That actually sounds pretty nice," Keeley said, trying to hide her bitterness. "How many children do you have?"

Chloe's smile was full of maternal affection. "Three. My daughters are twelve and ten and my son is six."

Three kids. She always imagined she would have a houseful. Growing up with only one sibling meant they were extra close; she had been devastated when Kaleb was gone. Sometimes she wondered if things would have been easier if there were other siblings left behind to spend time with.

It was a moot point now. Maybe once her career was more stable and she could afford her own place she could adopt a sibling group.

If she ever could afford her own place. New York City was one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. New Jersey or Pennsylvania was looking more attractive all the time.

"What about you?" she asked Carly.

"I have a sixteen month old son."

Keeley chuckled slightly, her bitterness easing as she thought of something funny. "So your mother has plenty of children and won't give Jennica a hard time about not getting pregnant right away."

Chloe grinned. "Are you kidding? She's just thrilled Cam is finally getting married. She adores Jennica."

It made sense. Cameron was thirty. Any mother would be anxious about her child at that point. Keeley frowned. Would her dad be upset that she was planning on never getting married in this life? She hadn't thought about that before.

He wasn't a chauvinist who believed women had to be married but he had been so in love with her mother. He would probably want his only living child to experience the same kind of happiness.

'Sorry Dad, I already blew my chance at romantic happiness a long time ago,' she thought.

Jennica emerged from the massage room practically glowing and joined everyone sitting in the hot tub.

"Ah, that really hit the spot," she said dreamily. "So, what riveting thing are we discussing here?"

"That our mom loves you because you saved our poor brother from dying alone," Carly snickered.

She smiled and Keeley could guess what she was thinking about. She came back from Christmas at Cameron's place overflowing with excitement because of how much his family liked her.

If only she had such luck with her former in-laws. Her entire life would have played out differently.

If the Hales had accepted her..Aaron wouldn't have tried so hard to make her change. They wouldn't have lost their baby. They might have been able to work out their personality differences and have a happy life together.

Yet another reason to be jealous of Jennica and Cameron's easy relationship. Oh well. It was all in the past now. Keeley didn't have to worry about the Hales' approval anymore.

"Are you refreshed and ready for part two of this party to get started, future Mrs. Singleton?" she teased, wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, I feel plenty pampered. I'm ready to load up on pizza and wine as we watch musicals all night!" Jennica said as she stretched. "Just five more minutes in here first; I barely sat down."

===

historical

Unlike with all of those nosy party games from Lydia's girls' night portion of the party, all Jennica's friends did were lay around, eat, laugh, and sing along to whatever songs they knew from the movies.

Keeley had only ever seen one of them before so she had no idea what was going on but Michelle and Jennica were super into it. They belted along at the top of their lungs and then giggled madly as they quoted lines directly.

She shook her head and smiled at their antics. Actresses. They were a unique breed.

Valentina, who had already napped at the spa, fell asleep during the second movie after consuming four slices of pizza. Poor thing was exhausted from her rotations.

Cameron's sisters and sister-in-law also copped out and went to the adjoining room to sleep fairly quickly. They almost never had the chance to sleep a full eight hours because of their children so they weren't about to waste the opportunity for some peace and quiet.

The hotel rooms had two queen beds in each and were connected by a door in the middle. Everyone had to share a bed but there was enough room.

Valentina woke up around 11 PM and moved to the quieter, darker room. Alison followed her in so only Keeley and the progressively more drunken chorus remained. She would get the last laugh in the morning—she only had one glass of wine.

The bridal party (which was everyone but Michelle) all had to get their nails done in the morning for the big day before heading to the rehearsal. Jennica was going to have a wicked headache as the nail artist worked on her.

Sometime after 1 AM everyone was asleep but Keeley and the bride-to-be, who were sharing a bed. She figured it was as good a time as any to ask her friend what had been bothering her since the engagement party.

"Jen? Why did you make me the maid of honor when you knew Aaron was going to be the best man?"

She shifted slightly before answering.

"You and Valentina are both my best friends. I had a hard time choosing between the two of you until I found out who the best man would be. It makes more sense to put two people who know each other together, doesn't it?"

Yes, but not if they have bad blood between them. Jennica knew things had gone sour between them so why had she meddled?

"But Aaron and I have a complicated situation. Why did you think that would be a good idea?" Keeley persisted.

Jennica turned over in the dark to face her and propped her head up on her elbow.

"Complicated or not, he's desperately in love with you. You've shut yourself off all these years because of him and I admit I don't know the full story but I think whatever happened between the two of you is resolvable. If you didn't still care about him, you would've moved on already."

She rolled back over and said "goodnight" before falling asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow, leaving Keeley with a lot to think about.