Hildy plates up the food, chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, and slides it in front of me like this is a job, like this is what she does, cooks and cleans as payment living here. That also pisses me —
“I told her we were on the mend and ready to come back to work. She offered me an alternative employment opportunity.” She smiles as she slides Lucy her plate. “I will be her first pass editor, developmental, and then the final proof before she queries or publishes her books.”
“Miss Noelle’s books are all about love, Faulker.” Lucy grins before taking a bite of her chicken.
Chuckling, I glance at Hildy, “So I’ve heard.”
She wags an eyebrow and smirks, ever so slightly.
Well shit.
We sit, the three of us, elbows close enough to touch, Lucy thumping her heels against the rungs of her stool while Hildy watches her with a softness our child is going to have.
We pass food and have an exhilarating discussion on what color certain letters should be and by the time the plates are clean, Lucy is rubbing her eyes, drifting into the spun-sugar exhaustion of children who have wrung every bit of day from the world. Hildy lifts her without ceremony and sets her on her hip, but not before Lucy insists on dispensing goodnight hugs like a queen bestowing favor.
She presses her face to my neck and yawns, “You gonna come in after my bath, Faulker?”
“I’d love to,” I tell her.
They head in for bath time, and I clean up the kitchen, that isn’t a mess at all compared to how the guys —and myself— left it at times after a snack, let alone a meal.
I hear Lucy giggle and know from last night I have a few more minutes to wait until they are done so I video call Anna, which is how I’ve been checking in, as per her insistence.
She declines the call and sends a text.
Anna:
Chuckling, I tap out a message.
Me:
How are you feeling?
Anna:
Ask me tomorrow.
Me:
Do you need anything?
Anna:
Your ladies have taken great care of me. Goodnight.
I look at the time, it’s not even six, which is early, even for me.
I wipe off the counter to pass the time, see a notebook, and decide it’s not private if it’s in a common area. I flip it open and see a list with three names, only three, that do not have a line through them. They’re clearly childcare centers.
I make a mental note to look into them.
I get a text from Claudia.
Claudia:
Can you talk with the law team tomorrow after practice about Rathburn?
Fuck.
