Off Limits
Mia said, torn between mortification and helpless laughter, "we talked about this. Remember? We said it was a surprise for later."
"I remembered right when I said it," Hope said, entirely reasonable, entirely unrepentant, popping a pea into her mouth with visible satisfaction at a job well done. "It's a good surprise though. Right? Everyone looks happy."
She wasn't wrong. Despite the spectacular collapse of their carefully planned reveal, the table had indeed erupted into exactly the kind of joyful chaos Mia had originally envisioned, just roughly four minutes earlier and considerably less gracefully than intended — Carol already crying, exactly as predicted, her napkin pressed to her face;