“Yes, ma’am.”
I could see the questions in her gaze, but Chris shook his head at his mom, staving off the interrogation.
“How about I get them a snack, and you catch your mom up on everything?” I asked.
I took Ash from him and then told Cheyenne to follow me. She was always hungry. After cutting up a string cheese and adding some apples to a small plastic saucer, I placed it in front of Cheyenne. “Where’s your water bottle?”
She had a small princess water bottle that she usually kept with her.
“Downstairs with the spider.”
“Chris got rid of it.” But were there more? No way I wanted to go down there and attempt to sleep knowing there could be more spiders of that ilk. Where was a flame thrower when you needed one?
“Did he kill it or take it outside?”
I flinched at Cheye’s choice of words, suddenly thinking of Ellynn and Asher. My breath came in spurts, and my vision darkened.
Breathe. What’s going on with you?
Had they been scared when they realized they’d be hit by a car going the wrong direction? I could only pray that God saw fit to take them quickly. The thought of my baby sister and brother-in-law struggling at the end had been in too many of my nightmares.
“Erykah? You okay?”
I swallowed, then blinked. Chris’s concerned gaze came into focus. “Uh, yes.”
He grabbed a cup, filled it with water, then thrust it at me. “Drink. Sit. I’ve got this.”
I followed his instructions and sat down. His mom joined me at the fourth seat, watching her son. Did she know this table once held only two chairs, but Chris had bought two more to accommodate the girls? He’d added a plain booster seat for Cheye and a portable high chair that fit on top of the seat for Ash. Right now, I was technically sitting in Chris’s spot.
“You know how to make a bottle?” Mrs. Gamble’s voice held surprise.
“Yeah. Unfortunately, we ran out of breast milk last month. But Ash seems to like this formula now.” He handed the bottle to Ashlynn, who immediately put her two chunky hands on each side and held it. “Do you want me to grab a jar of baby food for her too?”
“No.” I shook my head. “She won’t be hungry for that until dinnertime.”
“I can’t believe my ears. You sound fully domesticated, son.”
“It’s the girls.” He cracked a wry grin at his mom. “They change a man.”
“Mm-hmm. The little ones, you mean, and not the big one?”
My face warmed under the heat of Mrs. Gamble’s pointed stare, but I refused to turn her way. Let her think what she wanted to think. I knew Chris was just a friend. We would probably never move on from that. Could you move out of the friend zone, or was it like quicksand sucking you under?
“And exactly where am I staying since you have house guests?”
Chris pointed toward the hall. “They’re downstairs, so the guest bedroom is still available.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you bought this big ol’ place.”
I leaned forward. “Have you seen the backyard? He’s got a compost bin, rain shelter, and everything.” I’d honestly never seen anything like it.
“Oh, this isn’t my first time visiting, but it has been a while. I’m surprised he uses the internet.”
I laughed. “He kindly bought a few streaming packages so that some people wouldn’t melt down without that convenience.” I rolled my eyes toward Cheye.
“I believe it. I almost had my own meltdown the first time I visited here and realized he expected me to take combat showers.”
“Doesn’t he realize that’s not enough water to wash hair?” I cried. Chris and I had briefly talked about water usage. I agreed to use less on a daily basis but informed him of the struggle that was a Black woman’s hair.
