“You guys are coming over tonight. You can yell at me then. I deserve it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Hey, Meredith. Did you notice?”
“Notice what?”
“Trevor just gave you a nickname,” I say, smiling at her gasp.
“He totally did, didn’t he?”
“Stay in class. I’ll see you tonight… firecracker.” She squeals. I hear Trevor groan. The phone disconnects.
“Shit, Liz. You had to invite Fallon’s brother over, didn’t you?”
“Half-brother,” I remind him.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to handle your girl for more than five minutes at a time. She seems like a handful,” Jayson comments from one side of the sofa, eyes closed.
After breakfast, we did some coursework and we’re now settling in for a nap. Ryder is already passed out on the other end of the sofa. I’ve been sitting on the floor working calc problems. Elijah left with Julien earlier.
Jayson pats the place beside him on the couch and I join him, laying my head on his shoulder. He reaches around me and settles back.
“This is nice,” he says. “I’ve missed this with you.”
“Napping?”
“No, princess. I’ve missed the days we would sit around the house being lazy. Me and you snuggled on the couch doing nothing. It’s nice. Peaceful,” he finishes.
“Shh,” I tell him. Jayson leans his head against mine and closes his eyes. “Jayson?”
“Yeah?”
“You would have been a great dad.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m hot-headed. I usually act before I think. Those aren’t two qualities a kid should look up to.”
“You forget that I also see how deeply you love. You love Julien and Elijah. And even though you won’t admit it, you love Ryder, too.” He grunts. “You’ve taken care of me this week,” I hesitate. “I know it must hurt you to see me with Ryder.” Another grunt. “I can see how the old me would have fallen head over heels in love with you. So, yeah, you would have been a fantastic father to our daughter.”
“Liz,” Jayson breathes and I feel his exhale like a soft flutter against my hair.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect our little girl.”
His arm tightens and he kisses the side of my head. “You fought as hard as you could, Liz. She knows that. She’s looking down on us right now. She knows we love her. Now go to sleep.”
“Okay.”
“Spill,” Meredith demands, pointing at me. As soon as she walked through the front door with Trevor tonight, she grabbed me and marched me into my bedroom and locked the door. “I will hog-tie you to this bed and not let you leave until you do.”
I cross my arms and size her up. She may be tiny, but she is fierce. I have no doubt that she would do it.
“The ER doctor said I had low blood sugar which caused me to pass out.”
Meredith’s eyes narrow on me. “I call bullshit. You becoming a hyperventilating zombie was not caused by low blood sugar. Try again.”
“You are a pit bull, you know that?”
“Stop trying to sweet talk me, Elizabeth. You frightened the shit out of me Tuesday night. Is there something wrong with you? Are you sick or something?” She drops her defensive stance in front of the door and plops down on my bed, dragging me with her.
