Audrey pinned Piper with a mock offended look, “Ew and my cupcakes do not belong in the same sentence thank you.”

“My bad, homie. I feel like poo, remember?”

Audrey giggled as they made their way inside. The house was packed with friends, family, and a good part of the Assassins’ hockey team and their families. Audrey caught a glance of Elli moving among the guests, her face bright with a toddler on her hip, a newborn in the nook of her arm and her growing belly making a very prominent bump in her beautiful beige colored dress. What killed Audrey was that Elli also wore 4 inch heels, acting as if she wasn’t carrying over 50 pounds of children as she walked, sometimes fluttering, through the party. How she did it, Audrey didn’t know, but one thing for sure, Elli Adler did it with class and beauty.

As Audrey and Piper made their way through the party, towards the kitchen where Elli had gone, Audrey took in the beauty that was Elli and Shea Adler’s home. There wasn’t a time when Audrey came over that she didn’t find herself breathless. Abundant love filled the home. The exuberant atmosphere was positively catching! Pictures of Elli and Shea from their wedding adorn a whole wall in the living room. Pictures of them with friends and family were also everywhere, but the best ones were the photos of their daughters. A huge picture of Shelli kissing Posey Rose’s head when she was just born took up most of the wall leading to the kitchen. Around the massive picture were candid pictures of Shelli through her first year. Since Posey was not even three months old, there weren’t many pictures of her, but the ones that were up, were beautiful. It wasn’t hard to tell that Shea and Elli were very proud of their little girls and that their mother was a photographer.

When Audrey entered the kitchen, she found Elli gushing over the cupcakes with Tate beside her. Elli turned, gushing about the cupcakes, but Audrey couldn’t take her eyes off Tate. His massive hands were holding baby Posey close to his chest, as he dusted kisses along the top of her head.

You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought as she forced herself to pay attention to Elli.

“They are fantastic, Audrey! You are a life saver!”

Audrey smiled, “I told you, anything for y’all. They need to go in the freezer until it’s time to eat ‘em.”

“Yes ma’am,” Elli said, “Can you hold her?”

“Duh!” Audrey quickly took Shelli, kissing her plump little cheeks. Shelli was honestly the prettiest little girl in the world, but then again, Audrey said that about all the little girls who she was around. She just loved babies and little people in general. After kissing Shelli to the point of the poor baby backing away from her, Audrey looked up to see Piper looking at her with a worried look on her face.

“What? She’s okay,” Audrey said referring to Shelli.

Piper shook her head, “No, it’s not that.”

“What is it?”

“Erik just walked in with Harper and Jakob,” Piper said, nodding her head towards where the three walked in. Harper Titov held her precious daughter, Allison, closely in her arms. Harper looked classy in pair of white dress pants and bright purple low cut v-neck blouse. Her hair was in large curls that framed her face perfectly. When Jakob Titov came up behind Harper, wrapping his arm around her waist, and placing a hand on Allison’s back, Audrey was not only finding it hard to breathe but she also notice that Allison was her daddy made over. With dark hair and dark eyes, Allison matched her daddy and Uncle Erik more than her own mother.

That had to suck for Harper, Audrey thought. Surely their next baby would favor her.

“So what?” Audrey said turning her attention back to Piper, “Harper is Elli’s BFF.”

“Well I know, but I didn’t know he was gonna be here. I would have actually done my makeup.”

“And combed your hair,” Audrey supplied with a grin.

Piper nodded, “Yeah.”

“You look fine, Piper,” Audrey said. She did. She just looked hung over, that’s all. No big deal.

“You are such a liar,” Piper laughed before turning to leave, “I’ll be back,” she said over her shoulder.

Audrey looked down at Shelli, she was playing with the button of Audrey’s blouse, “Would have been better if she would have said it like Arnold Schwarzenegger, huh, Shelli?” Shelli smiled and Audrey said in her best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, “I’ll be back”

Laughter erupted behind her, and Audrey turned to see Tate still holding Posey, laughing so hard his eyes were dusty with happy tears. Of course, when someone else laughs, Audrey has no chance; she too, erupted in laughter. Audrey leaned against the island that centered the kitchen, giggling as she held Shelli close to her.

“I just watched that movie the other night. That part always makes me laugh. The guys always say it when we are on the ice,” Tate explained.

Audrey smiled, “That’s funny.”

“Yeah,” Tate chuckled. He cleared his throat, moving Posey up his chest, before nuzzling his nose in the curls that covered her sweet little head.

Audrey couldn’t help but let out a little aw, before saying, “You’re good with her.”

What Audrey really wanted to say was ‘You look fantastic with a baby in your arms.’ But she was pretty sure that would freak him out so she went with the latter.

Tate nodded, “I love babies. They are so cute.”

And she was supposed to stay friends with this guy?