“Can I get you anything?” I whispered to Evie. “Tissues? Water? A margarita?”
Her responding smile was stiff. “No, this is great. Thank you.”
Unease swirled through me. She wasn’t engaging, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d be oversharing in a heartbeat, probablydriving her nuts while she needed to rest. So I dragged a chair over to the bassinet and sat, focusing on the baby.
“I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon,” she said after a few minutes of painful silence.
I dipped my chin. “Got a twenty-four-hour shift in a bit, so I wanted to check on you two beforehand.”
“We’re fine.” Her tone was a little sharp. The warmth and vulnerability she showed during our last conversation was nowhere to be found.
“You don’t have to stop by all the time,” she continued, her fingers laced in her lap. “You’ve got your job, the farm, your family… and all your late-night activities. Don’t add us to your list of responsibilities.”
Her words hit me like a knife to the chest. Did she really think I wouldn’t be here to help? That I wouldn’t take parenting seriously?
My siblings’ voices echoed in my head. Comments about paternity tests and custody papers. It all made me want to throw up. They meant well, and they weren’t completely wrong, but for now I was too raw and too vulnerable to broach those subjects. All I could manage was to hold back tears when I looked at my son.
Vincent stirred, making cute baby noises, and instantly, the turmoil in my head calmed. None of that would deter me. Neither would Evie’s dismissive attitude. I wouldn’t let anything dampen the love and joy I already felt for this precious baby.
The world could doubt me, underestimate me. I was used to it. But I knew who I was and what I was capable of.
Between one heartbeat and the next, Vincent’s sweet noises turned into sharp cries.
I leaped to my feet, taking in his scrunched-up face, hands hovering over him. That when I was hit with a… let’s saypungentodor.
“I’ve got it.” Evie swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed.
I held up a hand. “I can handle a diaper.”
How such a tiny person could produce such a mess was beyond me. I focused on cleaning him up, talking to him in low tones as I went. I’d changed diapers, so I wasn’t totally clueless, but it had been a long time since any of my nieces or nephews were this tiny.
I snapped up his onesie and pulled his left sock up, since it had worked its way down his foot and was barely hanging on. Then I wrapped him loosely in a fresh blanket.
Cuddling him to my chest, I kissed the top of his head. “He’s already got my ears. Poor kid.”
Rather than a smile, Evie gave me a sharp look.
Okay. That did not land the way I’d intended.
A sinking feeling settled into my gut. I barely knew her. I had no clue what she liked. What made her laugh. Who she was beneath the prickly, intense exterior.
Vincent deserved better.
“We should establish some ground rules,” Evie said.
“There’s plenty of time for that.” I cuddled him close to my chest. “The kid’s a day old.”
“We need a plan. We’re being discharged tomorrow afternoon.”
My spine snapped straight, and Vincent let out a tiny whimper. “That’s it? They just let you walk out with a baby?” I blurted out.
God, I sounded like an idiot.
Rather than give me another reproachful look, she chuckled. An honest-to-goodness laugh.Huh.
“Apparently.” She shrugged. “I’m nowhere near prepared, and I have no idea what I’m doing, but they’re kicking us out, so I’ll have to figure out how to keep him alive.”
With every word, her defensiveness faded away. Instead, her tone was full of genuine worry.
