"I was just catching him up on stuff," I say, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Is that weird?"
"No," she says, shaking her head. "Someone needs to keep him up to date. He hates not knowing stuff."
"He's the only person I know who gets fomo when he's literally at the function," I chuckle. "Just because he can't be part of every conversation at once."
"What were you telling him?"
"Well," I say. "I told him about the bakery. And about Ellie, Griffin and David. And about you."
"What about me?" she asks in a whisper.
"How strong you are. How brave. What a wonderful mother you are. And what a perfect daughter he has."
"She really is perfect, honey," she says, smiling at the stone slab. "She's an angel on earth. You'd be absolutely enthralled."
"I'm going to go," I say, my voice muffled through the kiss I place on her head. "Give you some space to talk."
"Thank you for being here," she says, grabbing my hand before I walk away. "For coming on your own. For what you mean to all three of us."
"Of course, pretty girl," I say, squeezing her hand before letting go. "I'll see you back at home."
As I'm walking away, I can't help but overhear her next words to Aaron.
"He's been so good to us," she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. "I hate doing any of this without you. But Jack has spent every moment loving us wholeheartedly. He's making sure you don't need to worry about us. Sometimes he's the only thing holding me together."
My chest tightens at her words. I know how much it means to her that I'm around, but hearing her say it out loud is enough to knock the wind out of me.
I'll hold her together for as long as she needs,I think to myself, hoping that somehow Aaron can hear me, and hoping that someday I'll find the words to tell her that myself.
Chapter 40
Abby
Four Months
“Hello, my little love,” I coo, holding Erin’s feet and playfully moving them back and forth. “Can you smile for mama?”
On cue, her sweet face lights up with the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Ever since her first true smile, I've spent nearly every waking moment trying to see as many of them as possible.
She’s becoming more of a real person every day. I notice her staring at me intently, like she’s trying to memorize my face in the same way I memorize hers, scared of missing even a tiny bit of her. She recognizes friends and family now, squealing and giggling when they fawn over her.
She responds to Jack more than anyone. They have a unique bond, and I swear she loves him almost as much as she loves me. He really and truly loves her, and that does things to my heart that I can’t begin to describe.
I wish Aaron was here to see it, to seeher. I wish I could see the way he would love her.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that some days, when I watch the two of them together, my Jacky boy and my Little One, it feels like she’s not missing out on any bit of being loved.
***
"Hey, kiddo," Dad says affectionately, throwing an arm around my shoulder as he sits next to me on the couch. "How ya doing?"
"I'm good, Daddy," I say, tucking myself into his side. "Exhausted, but so good."
"Babies will do that to you," he chuckles. "Where's Jack?"
"At work," I say. "He'll be home later tonight."
"He's a good man," he says gruffly, causing me to look up at him in alarm. His face is taut with emotion, something I am not used to seeing from a Wheeler man.
