All The Summers After | TSITP | Sequel

The First Cousins Wedding.

"Oh my god," Denise groaned happily. "Yes. Wedding prep. We are going to be insufferable."

"We already are."

"Fair."

Lydia got up again, pacing. "Are you and Daniel flying from the states or...?"

"Yeah," Denise said. "We're in New York for now, remember? We'll fly down from there."

"Right, right," Lydia said. "We'll fly from Paris. It'll be like... the Avengers assembling. But messy and emotional and with way more wine."

"And better outfits," Denise added.

"Obviously." Lydia paused, then grinned. "What do you think Belly's dress is going to look like?"

Denise exhaled dramatically. "Soft. Romantic. Flow-y. Jeremiah's going to cry."

"He's absolutely going to cry," Lydia said. "Conrad's going to pretend not to, but his jaw will clench and Laurel will see one tear and look the other way."

"Steven's going to make jokes and Taylor is going to threaten to kill him if he makes Belly cry," Denise added.

They both laughed, already seeing it.

"Hey," came Daniel's voice faintly in the background. "Is that Lydia?"

"Yeah," Denise called away from the phone. "We're discussing the royal wedding."

Lydia smiled. "Tell him I said hi."

"Lydia says hi," Denise relayed.

"Tell her I'm still recovering from the invitation," Daniel said.

Denise laughed and brought the phone closer again. "He says hi and that his heart rate hasn't recovered."

Lydia smirked. "Mine neither."

She glanced over. Conrad was still at the counter, now scrolling through flight options on his phone, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Conrad's already looking at flights," she said.

Denise snorted. "Of course he is, Mr. Practical."

"Mr. 'We need to calculate jet lag and layovers'," Lydia mimicked.

Conrad looked up, offended. "I'm planning, not scolding."

She covered the receiver and called out, "Denise says hi."

"Hey, Denise!" Conrad called toward the phone.

From the other end, "HEY DOCTOR FISHER!"

Daniel's voice floated in too. "Conrad, my man, you ready for your brother's wedding?"

Conrad blinked, then nodded like they were all in the same room. "Yeah," he called, before realising how ridiculous this was and moving closer. "Wait—give me the phone."

Lydia giggled and put it on speaker, placing it between them on the coffee table.

"Okay," she said, settling beside him, their shoulders pressed together. "Group call activated."