Chapter Twenty-Three
"The kids are asleep and Will's watching the game. I'm all yours," Diane said as she plopped on the couch and made herself comfortable.
"Let's drink to that," her sister-in-law handed her the full wine glass and Diane took a quick sip right away, enjoying the liquid that tasted like a piece of heaven that night.
"This is as close I can get to a lady's night, so I should cherish these moments."
"If anyone deserves this, it's certainly you. I've heard you've been overloaded in the last months."
"That's an understatement, but I'm not complaining, I just wish a day had 48 hours."
"Don't we all?"
After a short pause Diane decided to cut to the chase right away, she wanted to know what had brought her sister-in-law to them before the Holiday season.
"So tell me, what's going on with you, Will mentioned some problems."
"Why don't we drink first and dive into my life a little later?" Sarah averted her first attempt with a smile and Diane wasn't surprised.
"Ok, but don't count on me forgetting about it."
"I don't," Sarah obviously appreciated that she was ready to listen to her, but she must have needed some more time or some more wine for this conversation, "I can't believe how much the kids have grown since the last time."
"Yep, we feed them," Diane chuckled and reached for a chocolate cookie to make the night even more perfect.
"And Emma is so smart, of course it's no wonder with your genes."
"She wants a baby sister," she said it out too quickly, without thinking about it first, but it felt good to finally discuss it with someone, she'd kept this to herself for too long already.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"What does Will have to say about it?"
"He doesn't know that I know, Emma only told him, I was just eavesdropping."
Sarah didn't even seem surprised at this statement.
"I could never imagine my brother with even one kid, let alone three. You've changed him so much, for the better of course."
"Would you believe me if I said I never imagined myself having kids either?"
"It's hard to believe, being a mother must be the most wonderful thing in life."
"It is, I know that already and I owe it to Will. We basically talked each other into having kids, he's changed me just as much as I've changed him."
"That's true love," Diane couldn't deny this of course, but she didn't feel the need to confirm it with more than a smile either, so it was again Sarah who asked the next question, "So what about that third child?"
"I don't see myself changing diapers anymore, I'd like to think I'm done with that phase already and now I can focus on my career."
"I heard the new firm is going well."
"We're still small, but we are alive, I'm optimistic."
"Good. Can I stop by next week to check out the place?"
"Of course, anytime."
They were done talking about her family and work as well, so it was only natural that Diane was about to venture her very first question again, but Sarah went on with the questions.
"So how exactly does this 'talking each other into having kids' thing work? I could use some advice."
She didn't need to ask anymore, Sarah finally decided to open up on her own.
"Roger doesn't want to have kids?"
"No, he does, but he thinks it's still too early for us, we've only been married for a year."
"That was when I had Emma."
"I know and I'm tired of waiting. I'd been waiting for the right man to come along long enough and now it turns out he's a stubborn asshole," she obviously said these words with love and Diane didn't even hide her short chuckle.
"You should have brought him with you, maybe if he spent some time with kids, he would change his mind."
"As if it would be that easy to take him away from work, the honeymoon phase of our marriage was over too quickly."
"You know a good marriage requires more and more work as time goes by, maybe it's time for you to start working on these issues," Diane hoped that Sarah was ready for her advice, she didn't want to sound like she knew it best, but she had been given this same advice once and it definitely turned out to be true.
"I know and I'm sorry for ruining your night with my problems. We were supposed to have fun."
"Nonsense, I wish I could help more."
"You have already, by listening to me and your advice is very much appreciated."
"More than seven years of marriage have taught me a lot of things I hadn't known before."
"They say the seventh year is usually the most critical."
"Doesn't sound like the right time to test our marriage which I've been doing lately. But Will is wonderfully supportive, I feel so lucky."
"Are we talking about the same William I know?" Sarah chuckled.
"Probably not, he obviously reserves his best side for me," Diane said in a teasing voice.
"He should give Roger some advice on how to do that," Sarah kept on smiling, it seemingly did her good to talk about the problems with someone.
"I'm sure you two will figure it out, I was at your wedding, you definitely belong together."
"Let's drink to that."
They spent the next hour finishing the bottle of wine and the box of cookies disappeared as well. They shared some funny stories about their hubbies and Sarah especially enjoyed hearing about her brother's other life. Their laughter soon echoed through the silent house and caught the attention of someone who shouldn't have been present for that particular talk, but he still appeared from nowhere in the middle of one of Diane's anecdotes.
"I don't think Sarah should know about that," he said playfully, leaning on the back of the couch between the two women.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep already."
"As if anyone could sleep in this noise, do you want to wake up the children?"
"We could go elsewhere, just say the word," Sarah chuckled.
"No way I'm letting you go out like this, drunk married women shouldn't be allowed to leave the house without their husbands."
"Is that a rule you've just invented? Besides, who said that we are drunk? It was only a bottle of wine," Diane actually enjoyed his fake intervention, he definitely looked cute, turning his head from one woman to the other.
"Indeed it was and now we're gonna open another. Do you want to join us?"
"No, thank you! What I don't hear, doesn't hurt, just try to keep it a little more silent, for the kids' sake."
"We could try that," Diane smiled at him and her eyes showed that she was grateful for him watching out for her again.
"Good night," Will placed a kiss on Sarah's cheek and another on Diane's lips, before he went back upstairs.
"More than seven years and you're still in love, this gives me hope," Sarah said silently with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Roger is a good man. And I'm confident that you will need godparents for your first born child very soon."
"I definitely count on you."