No. It was different. She was Erykah’s niece and responsibility. Chris just helped. Yet he couldn’t help but wonder what Cameron would have to say about it. Had she listened to some podcast that talked about who could feel like a parent and who couldn’t?
“Got the cart,” Tuck called. He stopped the luggage cart next to the vehicle, and Lamont began loading it up. Tuck said hi to Erykah as Chris grabbed the last item out of the trunk.
“You got everything?” Erykah asked.
“Yep.”
Erykah closed the passenger door. “Do you want to hand me the room key?”
“It’s on the app.” He unlocked his phone, opened the app, and showed her.
“Got it.”
They all walked into the lobby. “Is this going to be weird for you?” Chris asked Erykah.
“No. I’m really excited to see Piper in person again and to meet Lamont’s fiancée.” She squinted. “She is here, right?”
“Yeah. Probably talking to Piper. Guess Tuck didn’t tell them we’d arrived.”
“I actually did.” Tuck looked back at them. “They’re trying to be nice and not overwhelm y’all. Said they’ll wait a couple of hours so y’all can settle in.”
“That’s so sweet.” Erykah looked pleased at that information.
And Chris could now officially breathe. She didn’t hate the surprise. They were going to have fun, and he got to do it with the woman he liked and his friends.
Thirty-Three
Chris’s friends were great.
Nevaeh was giving Cheyenne a miniature spa experience, and Piper was getting baby cuddles from Ashlynn. And me, well, I was chatting with both of them as they lobbed questions at me.
“So you’ve never felt queasy at all? I don’t think I could handle seeing blood or body parts.” Nevaeh shuddered.
“As bad as this might sound, it becomes ... clinical,” I mused. “Logically I know the patient is a human, but when I’m operating on them, I see the medical issue. My focus becomes lasered on the bone and all the surrounding parts.” I took a sip of water. “That’s why surgeons don’t operate on someone they know personally. It becomes impossible to separate your knowledge of the person and what they mean to you from just their anatomy. So for the safety of the patient, another surgeon will step in.” I rocked back in the recliner.
We’d been sitting in Lamont’s hotel suite, which was simply stunning. My hotel room wasn’t as nice, but it wasn’t too shabby either. By Chris’s request, I’d gotten connecting doors so that he could help with the kids. My side had two queens, and his had one king. There was plenty of room for the Pack ’n Play to act as a crib. He’d offered to take the baby at night so I could rest, but he was already doing so much so I declined. All we were missing was Charlie, whom we’d boarded near home.
“Have you found what you were looking for?” Piper asked, her gaze flicking to Cheyenne with a question in them.
I shook my head. Cheyenne knew we needed our own place, but she’d begun to call Chris’s house home.I wasn’t quite sure she understood he wouldn’t be moving with us, and I wasn’t prepared to rock the boat. Since then, I’d been looking at houses without her or anyone else’s input.
“I’m still looking.” I grimaced. “Cheyenne started school.” That I could talk about.
“You did?” Nevaeh asked. “What grade are you in?”
“Kindergarten. And I’m smarter than everyone.”
“Cheye...” I used my warning voice.
“But Iam.Ms. Vega said I was too smart for her to teach.”
I frowned. Did she mean in temperament? Because let’s face it, Cheye had some of my younger self’s sass, before life stomped it out. Or did she really believe Cheye needed to skip a grade?
“I’ll talk to her and see what she means.”
“Sure.” Cheye shrugged and faced forward once more.
Nevaeh was now polishing Cheyenne’s nails, since her hair was all done. I’d said no to the makeup because five just seemed too young, even for play.
