I snickered. “Is that why that poor animal has a vest on in April?”
Paige shrugged at me. “He’s my fuzzy son. He’s good, for now.” She crinkled her nose at Evan. He scowled back and shook his head.
“I’m not going through another nine months of worry, C-section—”
“Ihad the C-section, babe.” Paige’s mouth ticked up in a smirk.
Evan scoffed as he moved closer to his wife. “Let me put this another way, Daisy. I’m not going through another nine months of a high-risk pregnancy, scared to death our luck will run out. We have a healthy baby, and you’re healthy. Let’s be grateful for our blessings and not tempt fate any more than we already have.”
Paige let out a long sigh and kissed Evan’s cheek. “Okay, babe,” she relented. I didn’t know much about lupus, other than it almost killed Paige before they were married. If I were Evan, my foot would also come down hard at any more risks to her health.
“I think she’s out; let me take her.” Paige scooped the baby off Evan’s shoulder and strolled into the hallway with Ellie behind her.
“Beer?” Evan pointed to the fridge.
“Hell, yes.” My nerves were still shot about Kevin. I planned to tell Ellie later, but I wanted to put a good effort to get Maddie and Kevin out of my head for a couple of hours.
“How’s Lucy with the new baby?”
Evan handed me a beer bottle, and I took a nice long swig, hoping the alcohol soothed me a bit.
“Good, if a little jealous. Especially since Alex looks like me. Paige used to put her to bed at night, but now I have double duty.” Evan shrugged as he popped the cap off his beer.
“And you look like you hate every second of it.” I smirked as I settled onto the couch.
A slow grin spread across Evan’s lips before he laughed. “I guess it’s my lot in life to be surrounded by beautiful women demanding my attention.” He sighed before taking a sip of beer.
My eyes drifted across the living room at Lucy’s Barbie dolls in the corner along with Alex’s baby swing. At one time, I thought I wanted this with Maddie, but looking back, we were more used to each other than in love. For Ellie, I would move to the other end of the earth and back without a second thought, even though I’d known her for less than a year. Maybe time lines were inconsequential. It didn’t take long to fall in love with Ellie, but falling out of love with her wouldn’t happen in my lifetime—of that I was sure. I wanted her to be my future, regardless of how little of a past we had together.
My only hesitation was scaring her off in the present.
Jack passed out in the car on the way home, and we piled him into bed. We turned in early, but my eyes wouldn’t close. I stepped out of Ellie’s bedroom for another beer. My buzz from earlier had burned off, and I couldn’t lay still.
Heavy breathing and wailing drifted down the hallway from Jack’s room. I opened the door and found him tossing back and forth.
“Jack, buddy, wake up!” His eyes shot open. He relaxed as his eyes settled on me.
“Goosebumps?” I sat on the edge of his bed.
“Yeah.” Jack’s face scrunched as he sat up on his elbows. “You think I’m a baby, don’t you? Only babies have bad dreams.”
I shook my head. “Everyone has bad dreams. Even firemen.”
His sweaty brow furrowed at me. “Really? You do?”
“Sure.” I laid down next to him and stared at the ceiling. “Dreams are your brain’s way of making sense of what happens during the day. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad. But whatever they are, they don’t make you a baby. In fact, usually smart people are the ones with bad dreams.”
“Why?”
“Because your brain is so big.” I tapped his forehead with my finger. “It works overtime at night.” Jack relaxed, buying the bullshit I was making up as I went along. “Want me to stay until you fall asleep?”
He nodded and rested his head on my shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re here, Nick,” Jack said with a yawn. “I hope you never leave.” His breathing slowed, and once he was out, I crept out of his room and back into Ellie’s. Jack somehow calmed me down, and I didn’t need the beer anymore.
I crawled into bed and wrapped my arms around her, burying my head into her neck. My eyes finally felt heavy enough to close.
“I heard you, you know,” Ellie whispered as she drifted her hand up and down my arm. She turned to rest her head on my chest and smiled at me. “You're a blessing.” Her lips twitched as she ran her fingers along my jaw. “It's . . . odd feeling blessed after feeling cursed for so long.” She let out a sad laugh and sat up. Her lips feathered kisses across my cheek and lingered when she got to my mouth.
