Chapter 4
She watched Audon and his brothers hold Lizzy. She was just as bright-eyed as she was when she was holding her. When she took Audon’s finger into her tiny hand, she wanted to cry. She’d only done that to her so far, and Trin didn’t want to share.
“She’s very tiny.” Kahana said she was the perfect size for a six-week-old baby. “I mean, I could hold her all day and not feel anything.”
“Yes, you would. After about an hour, your arms go to sleep, and then you can’t feel your fingers.
You’d notice her after about an hour, I promise you.
” She was handed her daughter, and she laid her down in the crib.
“She’s been held so much today she might be sore tomorrow.
At least that’s what my cook told me. I’m getting used to all this help, and it’s been great so far. ”
All of them had come over to see if they could help out in any way.
The wives of the married brothers had even brought gifts for Lizzy.
It was like having a baby shower for herself.
She was looking at one of the dresses that were brought and couldn’t wait to see her in it.
Just as she was thinking about putting it on her, Mac asked about work.
“I work from home. I’m an investment banker who works all over the world.
I can take calls right here again, thanks to Gilman.
And work in the middle of the night when Lizzy is sleeping.
Most of my work is for overseas anyway.” She asked her if there was good money in that.
“Very good. Especially if you know what you’re doing.
I helped Robert and Milly out with their needs, and they were able to pay cash for this house and a lot of other things they had.
” It hurt her to think about her sister missing out on the boat they’d just purchased and said as much to them.
“I’m sorry. They were so young when they passed.” She nodded, unsure now what to do with the people here. “We should get going. I think we’ve taken up enough of your time and baby. I did have one question. What are you going to call yourself to her? I mean, you’re her biological mother, right?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. It does say my name on her certificate that I’m her mother and that Robert is her father.
I think it would be easier for her when she starts school if they just know that I’m her mom and not her aunt like I was supposed to be.
” She smiled at them. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and am no closer to what she can call me or not.
I’ve been thinking a lot about it, that she should call me aunt like we wanted, but I think it will cause her more trouble than it’s worth when she has to have her mother present about things.
Like doctors’ appointments and such. I’m still thinking on it. ”
“I would think you’d want to honor the agreement that you had with your family, and that’s what is making it hard.” She nodded, tears threatening again. “I’m sorry. We’ve upset you again. We should go.”
“No. This is nice. I’ve not been able to talk to anyone before this.
My sister was my biggest sounding board, and now she’s gone.
I have no friends that I can depend on because I work from here and don’t see a lot of people that I can hang out with.
” She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. Please stay.
We can have dinner together, and when Lizzy needs her bottle, one of you can feed her.
It’s a lot of fun. She holds onto your finger like she’s afraid you’re going to take it from her or something. ”
They all rallied around her, and she did feel better. Having people over was something that she was going to have to get used to, she supposed, because when Lizzy was older, she’d want to have friends over too. She looked around the room at the men and women there and thanked them.
“You’ve made me feel better today. Don’t mind the tears.
I am forever crying about missing my family.
Just hang out with me today. We can even open the pool if you like.
I know that I’ve not opened it since I moved in.
” They said they’d stay but would need to pay for dinner.
“There’s no point in that. I have enough staff here that they can feed an army and not flinch at it at all. ”
They decided to stay for dinner, and her cook Meggie said that they could have steaks on the grill. When that satisfied everyone, she decided to give them a tour of the house. It really was a large house with ten bedrooms and baths.
“There is a set of formal rooms that rarely get used. I don’t know why they were even put in the house.
There is a formal dining room in addition to just the dining room, as well as a receiving room.
That has been used a few times. When they had the baby shower for my sister, it was large enough to accommodate them all.
But there is a gaming room in the basement that Robert loved.
It has a seventy-eight-inch television down there so that he could watch sports when he wanted. I’m going to use it as a playroom.”
“No.” She laughed when all the men said no. Then Axel clarified for them. “We’ll all come over here and watch every sports venue all seasons. There is no point in letting that room go to waste.”
“All right then.” She laughed with them. “I’ve only been down there a couple of times. I’ve been thinking about selling the house and going for something smaller. But it’s paid for, and I would have to have a larger house payment than free, and that would be just silly.”
Audon agreed with her. He said that he loved the size of the house. And the fact that there were enough staff around to keep it up. He said he’d been house hunting for something this large.
“I have no idea why I want such a big house. Perhaps it’s because I want to have about a dozen children.
” He glanced at her, and she was embarrassed a little by the look.
“I mean, I don’t expect my wife to have all those kids, but I’d like to adopt them as well.
There are just too many kids around that don’t have a stable home life, and I think that I could provide that for them.
I certainly have enough family to help out if it comes to that. ”
“Robert was dead set against adopting. That was one of the reasons that I volunteered to have their child. So the arguments would stop. They fought a great deal about children before they found out about Milly not being able to carry a baby to term.” She shook her head.
“I loved my sister, but Robert was something that I had to get used to. I miss him as much as I do my sister but…well, I don’t think we got along as well as Milly had hoped we would. ”
“That’s a shame.” She smiled at them and said it was all on her.
She wanted Robert to be nicer to her sister, and he said that it was none of her business.
“Sure it was your business. She was your sister. I’d take anyone to task if they were hurting my sisters.
Mentally or physically. I’d be pissed off too. ”
“You should have been here for some of their fights. I to this day wonder why they married in the first place.” She put her hand over her mouth and started to cry again.
“I shouldn’t be talking about them this way.
They’re both gone, and there’s nothing I can say or do to bring them back. I miss them both so much.”
The women wrapped her up in their arms, and she knew that she’d made some friends today. They told her that she had every right to be pissed off at Robert for treating her sister the way that he had. She explained that Milly gave as good as she got; she wasn’t a wilting flower or anything.
“That’s good. I’d hate to think that she took that shit from him.” They laughed when she did. “I would have loved to have met your sister. I’m betting that you two were a lot alike.”
“Not really. Milly was certainly more outgoing than I am. I’d rather just stay home and veg in front of the television or read a good book.
Milly would go bowling with friends when she was bored.
I’d rather be working on making us money for a rainy day.
It would have to rain buckets now if there was a point where we were to run out of money now.
” She had no idea why she said that and apologized to them.
“I’m stressed about money for Lizzy. I worry she’ll not have enough to do the things that her parents wanted her to be able to do.
One of those was for her to be able to go to college without having to work as hard as they did.
Then they wanted her to see the world too. I worry about that.”
“You’ll do fine by her. And I think we all stress about money.
I know that I do, and I have a great deal as well.
” She asked Debra when her baby was due.
“I still have a few months to go. I’ve been just getting my feet wet in working on my own.
I love being an attorney, and I’ve been doing really well working for the family.
She ended up opening the pool. There were enough new bathing suits to go around that everyone had something to wear.
She’d been buying suits online so that she’d have enough if people were to come over and play around.
It had been fun for her to find different styles and patterns to go around.
Just as she’d been shopping for suits, she’d been getting towels as well.
She’d shopped while waiting on her computer to boot up or someone to answer her emails.
It had been so much fun, she’d decided to do her Christmas shopping as well.