“I can’t believe she’s still asleep,” Hildy yawns.
“Looks like someone else should be as well.” Noelle smiles.
She shakes her head, “I run on caffeine and three hours of sleep. I’m good.”
“You’re a new mom, you should sleep when she does,” Claudia says, yawning too.
“You,” Hildy pauses and shakes her head. “You’re the new mother here, and I am so sorry you had to leave Savannah behind.”
“It had to happen sooner or later.” Deacon leans down and kisses the top of Savannah’s head. “We did good, Claudia had enough milk expressed that we could have lasted a week.”
Claudia shakes her head, and he realizes what he’s said and why she looks almost afraid. Savannah was conceived during an internship here in New York. An ex-teammate of ours and her had a fling; he was given options, and he decided he didn’t want anything to do with the child until he got engaged. Now, several months later, living on the opposite side of the country, he has decided he wants to be part of her life. It’s all optics to appease his fiancée, and that is why Hildy and a couple of other girls were hired to help with photos and videos for a PR campaign. A man like Kyle Dingy would never want to see his public profile sullied, and neither would his bride-to-be.
“I will be eternally grateful to all of you for what you have done for Lucy, and I,” Hildy says with an obvious attempt to quell her emotions and holds her hand to her chest, “I did not know you’d never left Savannah for any other reason than work.”
“She had me and the little one’s real father, Red.” Paul winks.
“Um, hello, what am I, chopped liver?” Sofie huffs.
“The point, Sassy,” Paul winks at Sofie. “She left her with family who she knows and loves. Family helps family.”
“And was gone for less than twenty hours.” Nalani states, “In an emergent situation.”
“She never left the state,” Noelle adds.
Claudia leans forward assuredly, “I’d do it again.”
“Thank you,” Hildy says and yawns again.
From across the room, I push my chair back and stand, “We’ve got clean up.”
“We do?” Hank asks, and I shoot him a look. “I mean, we do.”
“I can help. It’s the least I can do.” Hildy starts to stand.
“Not tonight.” I shake my head. “We got this.”
“We sure do,” Hank says as he starts to clear the table.
Chapter 6
Blending
Hildy
Whispering jolts me awake.
Not arguing, not yelling. Not the usual morning chaos of my roommates crashing through the apartment. This is deliberate—someone trying desperately not to be heard.
I freeze, heart hammering against my ribs, as my brain cycles through every possible threat. Home invasion. Fire. Child Protective Services. Then consciousness floods back, and I remember exactly where I am and what's at stake.
I lunge out of bed, yanking on a cardigan, jamming my feet into slippers that weren't mine yesterday but are now, all while straining to catch Lucy's voice. It's pitched high with anxiety, each word taut as a wire.
A man answers—that accent slicing through my defenses even now, even here, even when I need every ounce of clarity I can muster. His voice wraps around my spine, unwelcome and impossible to ignore.
The list of calls I need to make today flashes through my mind like emergency signals: pediatricians, orthopedists, daycare waitlists that slammed shut months ago, insurance portals that will fight me at every turn.
I wrench open my door. Lucy stands in the hallway with Lenzin, her small body rigid with tension.
