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relationship.” Reid’s words from earlier this morning flash through my brain
and I instantly feel the weight of his love, settling deep in my chest,
alleviating some of my perceived imperfections.
    “I get it more than you think, Mel.” Without getting into
the sexier details of my morning, I share with her just how uncomfortable I
feel about my post baby-body. Being able to talk to another girl about body
issues somehow helps me feel much better about them. We’re able to boost each
other up without bringing each other down. We joke about grandma arm-flab,
Freddy Kruger-like stretch marks, and junk in the trunk. Somehow, by the end of
our chat, we’ve exorcised some of our demons—ones that we see in a much worse
light than anyone else ever would.
    By the time everyone else comes back outside, we’ve moved on
to laughing about the shortcomings of our significant others. “I know
seriously, how difficult is it to drop the dirty clothes in the laundry
basket instead of next to it.”
    “Pfft. That’s nothing. Reid dutch-ovened me the other night.
I seriously thought I was going to throw up.” I make a mock-gagging noise,
which Braden finds hilarious. He starts making farting noises with his tongue,
which only adds to our laughter.
    “Oh my God, the farting. Seriously, I had no clue guys
farted that much.” Melanie laughs hysterically just as Bryan and Reid walk up
behind us.
    “You better watch it there, Maddy. You’re no better.” Reid
pulls a face at me as he lifts Braden up into the sky. “Little man here takes
after you in more than just being cute, you know.”
    “Yeah, well at least I don’t suffocate you under the sheets!
And for the record, girls do not stink nearly as bad as boys.” Sticking my
tongue out at him only adds to the childishness of this exchange. When Reid
looks over to Bryan to weigh in, he pretends to be busy not hearing a word Reid
just said.
    “So you’re just going to leave me hanging like that?”
    “Um, yeah, I am.” Pulling Melanie to his side, he smiles
wide. “I sleep with her. I’m not that dumb.” We all get lost in a fit of
giggles joking around with each other. In the midst of it all, Melanie and I
share a look of understanding, of sisterhood. In that split second of eye
contact, we know we’ll both be okay—all four of us will be okay. Despite our
insecurities about our bodies, and our concerns about our age, the four of us
seem to share something that can never be taken away from us.
    The bonds of being a family.
    The rest of the afternoon passes in more laughter and happy
conversations. For the most part, the guys man the grill. Men and their
meat—don’t even get me started. As I watch Reid try to put out a burger that
has somehow caught on fire, Dylan struts up beside me. “Hey! I was wondering
when you were going to get here.” He hugs me and pops a quick kiss on the top
of my head before reaching for Braden.
    “Hey, little man. Happy birthday.” Dylan tosses him in the
air a few times to which Braden’s reaction is giggles. Mine is to stop
breathing. Seriously, why do people feel the need to toss my baby into the air?
    Reid comes up behind Dylan and claps him on the shoulder.
“Hey, man. Good to see you.”
    As if it’s written into their DNA, Reid and Dylan
immediately start talking about some baseball game that went into forty extra
innings or something like that. I just tune them out and greet the rest of the
guests as they arrive.
    After dinner is done and it’s time to serve the cake, I go
into the kitchen to get out my masterpiece. Okay, fine. It’s so not a masterpiece,
but when I put the “1” birthday candle into the center of the best
racecar-shaped cake I’ll ever make, I get a little emotional.
    Reid surprises me as he wraps his arms around my waist from
behind. “It turned out great, babe.”
    “Ehh, it’s not perfect, but I’m glad I was finally able to
come up with something.”
    “It’s chocolate and icing—that’s