The food was a veritable feast, and Liz could barely eat a bite of it.

“Tell me you’re not dieting on Christmas Day,” Jenna said, eyeing her barely touched plate.

“Hardly. You know I love food.”

“All you did was push it from one side to the other.”

Gavin speared one of the slices of turkey she hadn’t eaten. “My guess is she stuffed herself prepping it all, and now she’s too full to eat what’s on her plate.”

She could have kissed him. “You’re not supposed to divulge my secrets.”

“It’s always a cook’s prerogative to sample the food before it’s served,” his mother said with a wink.

“Well, it’s all fabulous,” Savannah said. “Thank you, Liz.”

“You’re welcome. Kathleen and Cara helped. So did Gavin.”

“She lies. She did most of it herself,” Gavin said. “The only thing I did was utilize my expert turkey-carving skills.”

“He tried to slice his finger off with the electric knife,” Mick said. “Thank God I was there to save him, or his career would have been over.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “In your dreams. My knifing skills are legendary.”

“Yeah. In your own mind.”

After dinner, Kathleen declared that the men were in charge of putting away the leftovers and loading the dishwasher. Despite much grumbling about missing the game, the guys headed into the kitchen to do their duties while the women settled into the family room.

“How have you been feeling since the wedding?” Tara asked her.

“Oh . . . fine.”

“Really? No ill effects from that flu bug?”

“No. Not really.”

Tara gave her a look. “Are you sure? Because you still look a little pale to me.”

“Actually, you are a little pale, Liz,” Alicia said. “There are a lot of people out sick on our therapy team with the flu. God, it’s been awful. I’ve been hoping I don’t get it.”

“No, I don’t have the flu.”

“So, how far along are you?” Tara asked with a knowing smile.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re pregnant? How did I not know this?” Jenna looked affronted.

And Liz knew she’d never be able to hide this from the women she held so dear. She gave them all a smile. “Actually, I just took a test this morning, and it said I was pregnant.”

“Seriously? That’s awesome,” Alicia said. “Congratulations!”

Then she was surrounded by everyone and hugged. She couldn’t help but smile and laugh and shed a few tears.

“Dammit, you’re all making me weepy and emotional, and you know I hate that shit.”

“Well, get used to it. It’ll get worse before it gets better,” Tara said. “I was a water faucet and an emotional basket case when I was pregnant with Sam.”

“I’m going to get a grip here very soon. I don’t intend to let hormones get the best of me.”

Kathleen laughed. “Good luck with that, sweetheart. I don’t think you get to control your hormones when you’re pregnant.”

She lifted her chin. “I refuse to let my body take over. It’s bad enough I’m throwing up.”