Baking and Babies (Chocoholics #3)(44)

“How you feeling, honey? You up for tonight?” my mom asks, coming up next to me.

“Feeling great and I can’t wait for tonight,” I tell her, even though I’d rather have a root canal than participate in the activities my mother and aunts have planned.

Tonight is Charlotte’s bachelorette party, and while I’ll be busy watching everyone get white-girl-wasted and make bad choices as I sip on f*cking apple juice, the guys are going to hang out here. Gavin decided he’d rather have a more relaxed bachelor party, much to Uncle Drew’s dismay, especially since mom made the whole “No Strippers in the House” rule after my dad’s bachelor party. Obviously I wasn’t born yet, but I’ve heard the stories. Aunt Claire warned all of us kids years ago to never mention my mom’s favorite couch and how she dragged it out into the front yard and lit it on fire, screaming about “stripper juice stains” for the whole neighborhood to hear.

“What if we put plastic on the furniture?” Uncle Drew asks, leaning out of the huddle to shout to my mother.

“What if I light your balls on fire?” she replies.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he mutters, going back to the guys.

“So, what’s this big announcement you have for us?” I ask my mom.

We were originally all supposed to meet at Charlotte and Gavin’s place and go from there, but my mom called everyone this morning and said she had something to tell us and wanted everyone to come here first.

“It’s a surprise. Something needs to be set up first so it shouldn’t be too much longer,” she tells me. “Oh, Grandma Madelyn decided to join us tonight, so prepare yourself.”

I let out a surprised laugh. My Grandma Madelyn is my mom’s mom and she’s a tad uptight, a tiny bit snobby, and a control freak when it comes to any kind of big event. She’s been driving mom and Charlotte insane lately, calling ten times a day to check on the wedding plans. I don’t really see her letting loose or boozing it up with everyone else in the hotel suite we booked downtown Cleveland for tonight. At least I’ll have one sober person to keep me company though. Well, besides Charlotte, but she has to act drunk and that’s going to be just as bad. She’s been freaking out all week about how she’s going to make it look like she’s drinking in front of everyone, so I filled up five flasks with water and stuck them in my purse. Ava packed three of her own filled with orange juice, and we plan on shoving them at her any time someone else tries to give her a real drink.

“I DON’T WANT YOUR HUSH MONEY!”

The front door slams shut and my mom and I turn our heads to see what the hell is going on.

Tyler, Ava’s boyfriend, stands in the entryway with Grandma Madelyn, holding out a wad of bills to her.

“It’s not hush money, Madelyn, it’s gas money,” Tyler explains. “You already offered to take the stuff to my dad’s house and I want to pay for your gas.”

Grandma looks at the money in his hand with disgust while mom and I make our way towards them.

“That’s drug money! I don’t want your drug money!” Grandma shouts, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Drug money spends just as well as regular money!” Tyler argues. “What do you think I used to pay for that new TV Ava and I got you for your birthday last year?”

Tyler told me a few months ago that he started growing pot to sell to his friends so he could make some extra cash to buy Ava an engagement ring. I’m not a prude and I’ve smoked it a time or two, but I told him he was an idiot and nothing good could come from that endeavor since the stuff still isn’t legal in Ohio.

“What the hell is going on?” Mom asks.

“Um, well, you see, one of my friends overheard our landlord talking to someone about there being pot in a some of the apartments,” Tyler explains. “I got a little freaked out there would be a raid or something, so I packed everything up in my trunk and got it out of there just in case.”

Mom sighs and shakes her head.

“I was pulling it out of my trunk to put in Dad’s car when Madelyn came up and asked if she could help,” he says with a shrug. “When she asked what was going on, I told her I was just moving some of my stuff back to Mom and Dad’s, and she offered to help so they wouldn’t have to.”

Mom sighs again and I wonder if she’s lost the ability to speak or if she’s just letting out all the pissed off air so she doesn’t start screaming obscenities in front of her mother.

“Is your father aware you planned on putting illegal narcotics in his car?” Mom asks.

“You’ve met my father, right? He offered to smoke it all so the cops wouldn’t find it,” Tyler replies.

Tyler found out not too long ago that his biological father is my Uncle Drew. It’s a long story that involved a drunken one-night stand in college, but there you have it. This information, while a tad shocking, at least gave all of us a reason for why Uncle Drew and Tyler are so strangely similar.

“I thought it was just clothes and nick-knacks until I smelled skunk. I know that smell. I’ve smoked the ganja a few times in my day, but I’ve never seen so many pounds of the ganja in one place,” Grandma tells us, whispering the word “ganja” each time she uses it.

“Please tell me you did not bring a trunk load of marijuana to my house,” Mom finally speaks.