Read Online All Fixed Up by Linda Grimes - Free Book Online

cemetery, why was he taking pictures of everyone?”
    â€œMore good questions.” Mark’s mouth settled into a hard line. He didn’t like unanswered questions, especially where adaptors were concerned. “Do you think Dr. Carson told him?”
    I shook my head. “And risk her mission? Highly doubtful. It’s too important to her.”
    Molly, Billy’s youngest sister, a shorter, long-haired female replica of him, stuck her head in the door. “Hey, you guys, Auntie Ro”—my mom, the inimitable Aurora Halligan, was “Auntie Ro” to Billy and his sisters—“says to come back for the toast. Guess what! Dad said I can have a sip of champagne!”
    She skipped off, happily anticipating her first parentally approved taste of alcohol. Of course, if she was anything like her brother and sisters (Sinead and Siobhan, currently home from college on winter break), she’d already illicitly sampled the fruit of the vine. Doyles were precocious.
    â€œBe right there,” Mark called after her, then turned back to Billy and me. “What are the chances of getting your families to take Christmas vacation to someplace remote this year?”
    â€œHa. Mo and Ro, the Christmas queens, leave the city at the height of the holiday season? Slim to none,” Billy said.
    â€œNo kidding,” I said. “But why would you want them to?”
    â€œCall it an abundance of caution.” Mark looked like he was about to say more, but was interrupted by my mother’s voice telling us to get a move on. Instead, he herded us out of the study. “Come on. Let’s go make the newest Halligan’s existence official before the wrath of Granny comes down on our heads.”
    Dad was already pouring when we rejoined the festivities. The amount he put in Molly’s glass was minuscule.
    â€œNot even one good swallow,” she complained.
    â€œHey, at least you get real champagne,” Laura said, eyeing her own glass of sparkling cider suspiciously. She looked over at James, appealing to the scientist in our family for support. “Are you sure alcohol is bad for the baby?”
    James, the brother who looks the most like me, with his strawberry blond hair and pale green eyes (no freckles though, the lucky bastard), shrugged. “Current medical opinion on the consumption of small amounts of alcohol while pregnant varies, but the official recommendation is still not to risk it.”
    Thomas looked at his wife’s disgruntled face and hugged her to him with one arm (his other was busy lifting his full-to-the-brim glass). “Don’t worry, honey. Since you’ll be eating for two, I’ll be happy to drink for two.”
    â€œThanks a lot,” Laura grumbled indulgently as everyone else laughed. It’s possible my laughter was a tad forced.
    My father finished topping off the rest of our glasses and raised his. “To the next generation!” he said, looking about as happy as I’d ever seen him.
    I didn’t let myself look up at Billy or Mark, standing on either side of me. Fighting down the tiny seed of panic taking root inside me, I wanted nothing more than to guzzle my whole glass in one good swig. Instead, out of some superstitious dread, I barely let the liquid touch my lips.

 
    Chapter 6
    I stood in line at Macy’s Santaland, wearing the clothes and aura of Molly’s good friend Olivia Hawkins, a cherub-faced child with a halo of golden-brown curls and eyes the color of old pennies. Even from as far back in line as Molly and I were, I could see Santa’s eyes matched his rosy cheeks. I had a sneaking suspicion the contents of his cocoa thermos went beyond the usual kiddie drink. Not that I blamed him. Hell, I was tempted to see if I could get him to share.
    I’d about convinced myself the insidious “what if” thoughts I’d been having were purely a psychosomatic response to Laura’s