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part, but I was definitely one very haunted housewife.

CHAPTER 5
    ‘I’ve never felt so glamorous. Thanks for organising the photo shoot!’ Mel hugged an arm around Lorena.
    ‘I figured this would be the last chance I get for a while.’ She rubbed her belly. ‘Had to take the opportunity before sleep deprivation takes the healthy glow from my face.’
    ‘I don’t know if I ever had a healthy glow before kids, but the only way I get one nowadays is with some extra help. Now gimme.’ She wiggled her fingers near Georgie who was making cocktails.
    ‘Patience, Mel, patience.’ She expertly mixed and shook and poured, and eventually placed a tray of cocktails on the large kitchen counter where we sat on bar stools.
    Red approached, rubbing her hands eagerly together, and I shot her a ‘don’t you dare’ glare.
    ‘So, do your creations have a name?’ I asked Georgie.
    ‘One of them does, but I thought I’d get your creative input on the others. I made them all especially for you guys.’ She handed me a drink of luminescent green liquid with a hint of pink at the top, and a white straw. ‘This is the Gresally.’ She chuckled. ‘For Greg and Sally. Made with specially chosen ingredients to complement your caring nature, Greg’s love of golf courses, and the love you both share.’
    I smiled. ‘Oh, that’s so lovely. Thank you.’ I picked up the glass and Lorena took a photo of me as I sipped. ‘If you weren’t my bridesmaid I’d have you cater the drinks and food at the wedding!’
    ‘I’d do both if I could.’
    ‘I know you would.’ Georgie was known for taking on challenges.
    ‘Now stop chatting girls, which one is mine?’ Mel was practically salivating at the tray of brightly coloured drinks.
    ‘Here.’ Georgie handed her a purplish mixture with one of those tacky paper umbrellas sticking out of it. ‘And here,’ she handed Lorena an orange mixture, ‘Non-alcoholic of course.’
    ‘Not fair.’ Lorena pouted. ‘But only a few months to go.’
    Georgie took hers, a fairly plain-looking cocktail with a greyish-silver appearance. ‘Cheers!’
    ‘Cheers!’ We clinked glasses and sipped.
    ‘I think I’ll call mine the Thank God I’m Finally Drinking cocktail,’ Mel said as she sighed in relief, and Georgie laughed.
    ‘Or what about…A Night to Remember?’ Lorena proposed. ‘And mine could be…’ She eyed her orangey concoction. ‘The Fruit Tingle? The Fruit Loop? The Tingling Touch?’
    ‘Citrus Craving?’ I suggested. ‘Or something sort of, um, motherly?’
    ‘What, like a Leaking Nipple?’ Mel guffawed, her drink half gone.
    ‘Ha ha, Mel. No need to get me excited about things to come. How about I call it The Glow?’
    ‘Nice.’ I smiled, and clinked her glass with mine.
    ‘What about yours, Georgie?’ Lorena asked.
    ‘Don’t know. Maybe something in honour of this weekend.’
    ‘The Country Getaway? Girl’s Best Friend?’ Lorena suggested.
    ‘I’ll drink to that.’ Mel raised her glass.
    ‘Mel, you’ll drink to anything.’ I winked.
    ‘True.’ She downed the rest of her drink and took another from the tray.
    ‘Hmm, let me think of another name…’ I tapped my chin.
    ‘The Dead Chick!’ Red exclaimed from beside me, and I forced myself not to look her way. ‘The Dead Chick. Go on, say it!’
    ‘Hmm,’ I repeated, as though I was putting a lot of thought into it.
    ‘Say it! Say it!’ Red jumped up and down next to me.
    ‘Um, what about…’
    ‘The Dead Chick, The Dead Chick, The Dead Chick!’
    ‘Oh alright, The Dead Chick!’ I said with a little too much frustration in my voice.
    Red burst out laughing, her piercing tone making me lift my free hand to my ear.
    ‘The Dead Chick?’ Georgie furrowed her brow.
    ‘Oh, is that what I said? I meant the um, the…The Best Chick! Yep, that’s you!’ I punched her lightly in the arm in a ‘you’re such a great pal’ way. ‘You’re the best chick, for making these drinks for us.’ Oh God.