“Shh. Your mom is talking.”
He groans, and we tune back into Evelyn’s speech.
“...time for our first game!” she says.
After a few rounds of baby shower bingo, a weird game with tiny plastic babies frozen in ice cubes, and the one where they measure our bellies with toilet paper, the party winds down, and guests start to trickle out.
Caroline stops me near the gift table and pulls me in for a hug. When she lets go, she hands me a small gift bag with sunflowers on it. “I know the invitation said you weren’t going to open the gifts today, and I completely understand how chaotic it would’ve been for the three of you, but it’s important to me that you have this. Would you mind?”
I squeeze her hand. “Of course not.”
I pull out three bundles wrapped in white tissue paper. The first item is a gold picture frame with a photo of Jess and me at her baby shower six years ago. My heart leaps into my throat as I trail my finger over her smiling face. The next is awhite hand-knit baby blanket, identical to the one Caroline made for Emmy Lou, and last is a newborn onesie that says two words. Two simple words that simultaneously tear my heart open and stitch it back together: heaven sent.
I’ve never been a particularly religious person. My mom is Greek Orthodox, and when they married, my dad adopted her faith, but I was raised to make my own choices and stand firm in my beliefs. When I lost Jess, I didn’t have a god to turn to, but my belief in our soul-deep connection never wavered. If there is an afterlife, she’d find a way to show me she was still out there somewhere, so I look for her in the clouds. When that’s not enough, I lean on her parents for their guidance.
“I just know she’s so happy for you,” Caroline says. “The way Griffin looks at you like you’re his whole world… I know she wanted that kind of love for you.”
There was a time when I wanted that for me, too. I thought I had it with Tyler, and I don’t dare to hope that I’ll have it again. Whatever this is between me and Griffin, friendship or something more complex, I’m content to know my baby is loved.
Arms wrap around me from behind, lifting my bump and releasing the pressure off my back. If this is going to be a regular occurrence, I’m all for it. Griffin’s warmth envelopes me, and I lean into him.
“Thanks for coming, Caroline,” he says.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She pats his cheek affectionately. “Take care of our girls.”
“You think it’s a girl?” I ask.
“Call it intuition.” She winks. “You need anything, we’re just a phone call away.”
Once Caroline’s out of earshot, Griffin says, “You made me wait more than thirty minutes, wife. How do you think I should punish you?”
My skin prickles with awareness, and that familiar craving returns. “Do your worst, Sourdough Daddy.”
A bark of laughter startles me.
“Fucking hell,” an amused voice says. “Sourdough Daddy?”
My face flames as I lock eyes with Jaxon. That’s what I get for trying to be funny. “I?—”
He holds up his hands and takes a step back. “I don’t need to know what you two get up to in your alone time.”
“It’s not?—”
“Nope. Don’t say anything.”
I groan. “It was a joke.”
“Sure,” Jaxon says. “Don’t worry. I don’t kink shame.”
I turn and bury my face in Griffin’s chest. A dark chuckle reverberates through him. “I knew you had a daddy kink.”
“I hate you.”
“Liar.”
He’s right. I don’t.
Not even a little bit.
