Baby on Board

Girl's Night In

Dedicated to charlottessmith

Ever since Sera was born, I haven't had a proper Boy's Night; yes, I've hung out with them and we've had mini-Boy's Nights but not on the same scale as pre-Sara. Tonight, however, Lottie was having a Girl's Night with Martha and Sera and she insisted that I go out, enjoy time with my friends, and de-stress now that all my night shifts had come to an end. 

It was Mick's turn to play hostess with the mostest. His place wasn't that far from mine which is I decided to walk, getting there just shy of the kick off time. Of course, I wasn't the first there; Dan was always early and the first to arrive, a bottle of whisky in hand, so I wasn't surprised to walk into Mick's kitchen and see him throwing back another glass of amber liquid. He looked like shit with deep bags under his eyes caused, no doubt, by sleep deprivation. Léa is not an easy baby and I know the feeling well. While Sera has been a Godsend, sleeping well since the start, Martha was a monster when she was a baby. 

"You look like shit, mate," I state as a matter of fact. Walking towards the counter, I pour a drink for myself and another for Mick seeing as he didn't have a drink in hand. Handing it to Mick, I take a good look at my best mate. He didn't look great either. "Why do you look like one of the other ugly stepsisters?" 

Mick blinked at me. "Like you're the Mona fucking Lisa yourself, pal." Scoffing, he and I both swallow our drinks and glare at each other. Mick was the first to break. "I've had a shit week at work, that's all. Lyanna's been testing my patience. You'll never guess what my bloody father has only gone and done!"

Knowing Charles Taylor almost as well as I know my own father, I can only just imagine what harebrained idea he's come up with. Not long after Mick and I became friends after meeting in the Uni bar, I ended up tagging along to a family party that Mick was forced to attend. The night was supposed to end on a high with a firework display that was going to rival Sydney's New Year's display but Charles didn't place some of the fireworks properly and instead of going vertically up into the sky, most ended going horizontally into the field behind their garden, striking a tree that was hundreds of years old. The tree didn't make it out alive and to be honest, with Mary Taylor screaming obscenities at her husband, I'm surprised Charlie boy came out practically unscathed. There's a camping trip that none of us talk about, too. The least said and remembered about that weekend, the better. 

"He wants you to get a tattoo of his face on your calf?" I suggest. It's not the most outrageous suggestion I could make. It's actually tame, unless... "No, wait. Is he making you go to that place again to do that thing again that we all said that we wouldn't do again?"

"No, and hell fucking no," Mick spluttered, shrugging off a shiver that ran down his spine. As I said, it's not something that we want to do again. Pouring another glass for himself, he drinks it quickly and slams down the glass. I'm amazed that the tumbler didn't shatter from the force. "He wants to have a staff office party. Guess who he wants me to co-plan it with? Go on, give it your best shot. If you get it wrong, I'll give you my left kidney."

Laughing, I pull a face as I ask, "Lyanna?" My laugh only gets louder when Mick nods in confirmation. "Please let me install a camera in your office. I want to see how this goes down. You're not going to end up in jail for murder are you?"

"Not a chance," Daniel interrupts. He was looking a little drunk off the few sips of his whisky and was swaying on his feet. "I'll defend him and he won't even see the inside of a holding cell. I am that good."

"I'm sure you are," Mick says, placating our drunken friend. When the doorbell rings, Mick holds up a hand to me and mouths, 'Hold on,' running off to greet the next person to join us. When he returns, he's telling Elias Marshall that we need to wait for Sam before we can get the real Boy's Night underway. Then he turns to me and says, "Lyanna's going to take the lead and I'm being put in charge of alcohol. A win-win situation for me."