“Bye, Kris, bye, Nate,” Cam called.
“Bye, Auntie Kwissie! Bye, Unca Nate!”
Uncle Nate. Amused, Nate waved at the boys as they left.
“Whew.” Krissa blew out a breath once out of the house. “That was crazy.” She eyed him. “Thanks for coming. You were a big help with the twins.”
He shrugged. “No problem. I like kids.”
She tipped her head and got a funny look on her face. “You were good with them.” She hesitated, then slid into the car.
Derek had arrived home before they did. He’d already had dinner with clients, but Krissa and Nate hadn’t, so she quickly made them sandwiches. “Gillcheese sammiches.” She grinned at Nate.
“But not just any cheese. Not that processed cheese on white bread I made for them.” He looked approvingly at the Havarti and Gruyere combination on thick toasted multi-grain bread.
“Right. These are gourmet gillcheese.” They laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Derek walked into the kitchen, having changed out of his suit into jeans.
Krissa waved a hand. “Nothing. We just got back from rescuing Cam. She was having a mommy meltdown.”
“Again?” Derek frowned, taking a beer out of the fridge. “Want one?” He looked at Nate, who nodded. Derek handed the bottle to him and got another one.
“Uh…Krissa? Want a drink?” Nate sent Derek a frown.
She smiled at Nate. Aw. That was so nice of him. Derek, the big idiot, hadn’t even thought of her. “I’d love a beer.” She shot Derek a look, so he retrieved another one from the fridge and brought it to her. “Thanks, hon.”
“What’s Cameron’s problem now?” Derek raised the bottle to his mouth. “They should never have had that third baby.”
“That’s what she says.” Krissa couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice and both men glanced at her. She shrugged. “Hey, Emma was an accident. She admits that.”
Krissa looked at Derek, trying to catch his eye. She wanted to talk to him, to see if he’d though any more about her idea. They had to do this. Amazingly, spending two hours walking a screaming baby hadn’t diminished her desire to have one of her own even a bit.
She took a bite of her sandwich. Warm melty cheese and crusty bread melded together in a delicious mouthful. “This is good.”
“Very good.” Nate nodded, almost finished his.
Impatience made her take small breaths, her chest tight. She stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her and slid off her stool. She reached for Nate’s plate, but he shook his head.
“Let me clean up.” He took her plate instead.
“Again. Thanks for helping at Cam’s place. Finding time to do the dishes is hard. I know it’s hard for her to even have a shower.”
Derek gave her a look that she knew said, “And you want that?” She glared at him. “We need to talk. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the kitchen, down the hall, to their bedroom.
She closed the door of their bedroom and leaned against it. “Did you think about it?”
“About what?”
She huffed out a breath. “Derek! You know what. About Nate.”
“Oh. Yeah.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “I did think about it. All goddamn night. I don’t think I slept morethan an hour.”
“Oh, no.” She stepped toward him “So? What do you think?”
Her belly tightened painfully.
He smiled at her. Oh, God. Could he…
