Aurelie smiled broadly, her tears drying before they even fell.It never mattered how rough her day was; seeing Maddie always made her troubles float away on the tide.It also brought into stark relief the problems facing Aurelie.She needed to get a handle on them, and soon, if she didn’t want to risk never seeing this sweet smile again.
“Come here, my little bean,” Paige said, her arms open for her daughter.She unstrapped a clip at the top of her bra and lifted her shirt.Aurelie smiled down, placed her pointer finger in Maddie’s open, outstretched hand, no longer reticent about being around for the intimate moments Paige shared with her daughter.
When Aurelie had left the room for Paige and Maddie’s first feeding out of the hospital, finding an excuse to tidy the nursery that wasn’t even being used yet, Paige had sought her out not minutes later.With the infant still suckling at her breast, Paige informed Aurelie she was not only welcome at feedings but needed.There would be plenty of times Aurelie wouldn’t be around, so she could bond with her baby then.What she really needed was someone to talk to that would talk back, Paige had teased.Aurelie was well aware that this offer was on the table because Paige considered her family, and she never wanted to take that for granted.
Yes, if Aurelie looked close enough, their connection was still as strong as ever.It just looked different.
“This can wait until after dinner,” Aurelie whispered, squeezing Paige’s shoulder.
Paige nodded, contentment washing over her features as she fed her daughter.Aurelie went back to finish her vegetables.They were hosting the family dinners at Paige and Owen’s for the time being, so the couple could put Maddie to bed and still linger over their glasses of wine or rum with the rest of the clan.Brad and Sophie seemed happy to relinquish the hosting responsibility, since they’d announced they were trying for a child of their own.Aurelie’s family was growing day by day.
If she wasn’t diligent, she’d miss it.
Owen popped up beside Aurelie, grabbed some of the leeks that were rinsed, and started chopping them.It was this wordless synchronicity that Aurelie truly valued.The three of them—five if she included Brad and Sophie—were so close that they would often finish each other’s sentences, or not even need to speak at all to know where the others stood on an issue.
“How’d the little girl with asthma work out?”he asked Aurelie.
“She’ll be okay.She actually joined Paige’s practice as a new patient, so I know she’s in good hands.”Owen looked at his wife in a way that flushed Aurelie’s cheeks with heat.Nothing made her feel as lonely, aswithout, as those gestures of intimacy shared between her friends.At the same time, it surrounded her with love and peace.Life was funny in what it provided and withheld.
“I didn’t know you were taking new patients, love,” he said, but his voice was light, free of judgment.
“I’m not.But you know me,” Paige said, her gentle smile that of a woman who had everything she’d ever wanted.
“That I do.”Owen kissed his wife on the forehead before tossing the chopped veggies with olive oil and putting them in the oven.
“So, anything new at work besides Paige sneaking all the children of the world under her wing?”
“Actually,” Aurelie said, having forgotten in the melee of the afternoon the happy news she had to share with them, “Sophie came to the hospital yesterday and wants to talk to both of us at dinner about whether we’re still interested in being a part of the clinic.I believe she finally got the building approved.”
Her stalled visa would impede the staffing request they’d put into the medical board.It bothered Aurelie, but she put it aside.One issue at a time, and the building permit was a big one.One that deserved celebrating.
Paige squealed, then clasped her hand over her mouth, giggling quietly instead, so Maddie stayed supple, relaxed at her breast.
“That’s amazing,” she hissed, careful to keep her voice at a low volume.
Aurelie grinned broadly.“Isn’t it?”
“The clinic?”Owen asked, intrigued.He stopped tossing the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl and gazed up at his wife and Aurelie.Surprise registered in his tight lips, brows drawn together.“The one Drew gave her the cash for?I didn’t think that was gonna go through.”
“Me neither.Remember the woman, Analise, that Sophie helped last year around the time of her and Brad’s wedding?Her husband beat the…ahem,” she lowered her voice even further so her daughter didn’t hear her, which Aurelie found adorable.The little girl was still far too young to understand curses or foul language.“He beat the crap out of her,” she whispered.
“Oh, yeah.Didn’t he get put away?”
“I think so.Thanks to Soph’s help.”
Owen shook his head and sighed.
“Men like that should be hung,” he said.“Friends in high places don’t erase the fact that you’re a douchebag.”
Paige shot him a look, clutched Maddie closer to her chest.
“I’m just saying,” Owen continued, “that if anyone ever hurt Maddie like that, he’d be lucky to be in jail where I couldn’t get ahold of him.”
Paige’s face softened, and she nodded.
“Anyway, she and Soph were waiting for the city to zone a building they had their eye on to a non-profit so they could help more battered women seeking shelter.If it went through, then it should be a quick build; they’d already hired everyone, from what I understand.It’ll be a free stay for the women and families until we can place them in permanent homes, with pro bono legal and medical care while they’re with us.”
“We?Us?”Owen asked, eyeing his wife through half-slitted eyes.
