Jessica and her mom both snapped their head in unison to stare at Ed.
Before he could change his mind, I softly chuckled as I put my hand at the small of Jess’s back and guided her toward the stairs where Ruthie’s cries grew louder.
“Come on, babe.”
****
Jessica
Babe?
I was obviously in another dimension. That was the only explanation why, after calling me “babe,” Alan was walking me upstairs to my bedroom with my parents’ blessing.
Once we reached my doorway, he told me, “Get comfortable,” before crossing the room to Ruthie’s crib in the corner.
“Hey, baby girl,” he cooed as he picked her up. “I’ll bet you’re starving. Don’t worry, angel. Your beautiful mama’s going to feed you.”
Again with the beautiful.
I hadn’t felt beautiful earlier, but that was the second time he’d called me that, so I was coming around to the idea.
I got situated in the glider, and he gently placed Ruthie in my arms, then quickly glanced away like he had the other day in Lainey’s office.
“I promise I won’t flash you or anything. And you don’t have to tell me I’m beautiful when it’s just us.”
He looked back at me with furrowed brows, then put his index finger to his lips, and with his other hand, pointed to the baby monitor.
Oh, that explains it.
“You are beautiful.” Then he leaned closer to whisper in my ear, “And I’d love it if you flashed me.”
Holy heck, is it hot in here?
I think even my toes were blushing.
Alan, however, didn’t seem affected at all.
He casually walked around my room, looking at the framed pictures I had on every flat surface. There were a few of me with my siblings when we were younger, and there used to be a lotof my small group of girlfriends—but they’d all been replaced by pictures of Ruthie or our family dog, Lady, the beagle we’d had to put to sleep almost a year ago at the ripe old age of eighteen.
I’d loved Lady—we’d grown up together.
We’d been going to adopt another dog, but then I’d told my parents I was pregnant. I think not getting a new dog was part of my punishment.
Not long after, my girlfriends stopped texting me back, and I was the only one posting in our group chat.
I think I missed Lady more than my girlfriends.
Alan pulled a picture off my dresser and stared at it for a second.
“Is this when Ruthie was born?”
“They’d just put her in my arms for the first time.”
He continued looking at it. “I can’t imagine what an amazing feeling that must have been.”
“There were a lot of emotions. I was in awe of suddenly holding this little human being that had been inside of me for nine months and also scared out of my mind that I was now responsible for keeping her alive and happy.” Mindful of the baby monitor, I added, “I’m grateful my parents have been so supportive.”
I made a motion for him to shut the baby monitor off, which he did, then he turned to me and said, “Now tell me the truth.”
