A knock sounded at the front door, and then someone was calling from the foyer, having let herself in. A second later, Scarlett came into the family room with Colton in his portable car seat and a gray-and-blue diaper bag hanging from her arm.
“Hey, you could have called. I would have helped you carry everything,” Reid said, getting up to help her unload.
“It’s fine. I’m getting used to carrying forty extra pounds everywhere I go.” She shrugged.
Reid unbuckled Colton and lifted him gently from his carseat, smiling adorably at his little round face. He looked back at Claire with a meaningful glance. I swear I saw his eyes drift over her flat abdomen. She smiled softly at him, then picked up her phone from the side table and snapped a shot of them together.
“Maeve should be here any…” Before Claire could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang. “I don’t know why she insists on using that thing. I’ve told her a million times to just come inside,” she laughed, shaking her head.
Claire and Maeve were back a minute later, and with them a bottle of wine.
“Alright, I’m taking this guy for some uncle-nephew bonding time in the other room. You ladies have fun,” Reid said. With Colton cradled in his arm, he leaned into Claire, placing a sweet kiss on her lips. He whispered something to her that had her face lighting up, and her hand swiped a path across Colton’s forehead. I had a feeling some big announcement was right around the corner.
“Call me if you need anything. Or if he seems cranky. He’ll need to eat in a couple of hours. I have some bottles prepared in the bag, but if you want, you can just bring him back here,” Scarlett said.
“I’ve got this, mama. Don’t worry. I’m just in the other room,” Reid laughed. He grabbed the diaper bag and took Colton with him when he left.
Scarlett exhaled a long breath. “He’s only been left alone with me and Luke so far. This is kind of a big deal.”
“You’ll get used to it. Maeve smiled. “They say it takes a village for a reason. I was terrified to leave Jane with anyone at first too. This isn’t his first rodeo with an infant though. He’ll be fine.”
“Reid or Colton?” Claire laughed, reaching for her water on the side table.
“Both,” Maeve said.
“You’re right. It’ll be good training for when he has his own one day,” Scarlett joked. Claire coughed, nearly choking on her water.
“Must have gone down the wrong pipe,” she choked out.
“Enough about me and babies. Let’s get to the real question,” Scarlett said. All eyes turned to me in creepy unison.
“You guys spend too much time together,” I huffed.
“How are you?” Scarlett finished.
“How about we open that wine first?” I suggested.
“I’m breastfeeding, so I shouldn’t,” Scarlett said.
“Yeah, I’m going to skip as well,” Claire responded.
Maeve grabbed the bottle, twisting off the cap. “Well, I just finished breastfeeding, so I’m opening this.”
“Good. I didn’t want to be the only one drinking. I mean, I would have, but I’m glad I don’t have to,” I said.
Claire grabbed a couple of glasses and a water for Scarlett. We all settled into the family room a few minutes later, and again, all eyes were focused on me.
I sank back into the couch with my wineglass. “I don’t know what to do. I miss him so much. I just don’t know if I can trust myself. Is this just a normal fight between couples or a waving red flag that I can’t ignore? I don’t know if I know the difference anymore. I thought I did, once, and it turned out I was wildly wrong.”
“I get that,” Claire said. “Do you think Sebastian was trying to manipulate or control you?”
“No,” I confessed. “I don’t think so. But what if I’m wrong? What if this is just the start of something worse… ‘You’re crazy, Lydia. Everyone thinks so. Everyone agrees with me that you’re the problem. I never said that. Why do you make me do this? If you just did what I wanted, I wouldn’t get so angry…’” My mind was tumbling through all the times I‘d heard those phrases or variations of ones just like them. The moments before or after a big fight when apologies were filled with blame and excuses. The metaphorical flags that weren’t just waved in my face but thrown at my head, and I ignored them anyway.
“That doesn’t sound like the Sebastian I know,” Maeve said softly.
“Hmm?” I pulled myself back to the present, away from the minefield inside my head. “Oh, no. That wasn’t Seb.”
“Can you see Seb saying those things?” Claire asked.
