Chapter Sixty-Three
Emily
Three Days Later
A buzzing sound jerks me awake. My phone. Grace. I glance down at the baby nestled against me. Shit. “Hush baby, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” I pat her back and retrieve the vibrating offender off the end table.
Ruby: I didn’t want to wake the baby by knocking.
Me: Too late.
Ruby: Damn it. I’m sorry. Come to the front door.
I kiss the top of Grace’s head, inhaling her sweet baby scent and rise from the rocking chair.
When Jake moved the chair in yesterday, I rolled my eyes. I mean, I already had a rocking recliner so it’s not like I needed two rockers. But the baby loves rocking, and clearly, I’m not against it either, so I’m no longer considering it overkill.
As I pad across the carpet in my socks, Grace nuzzles my chest and sighs. My heart swells bigger, which should be impossible at this point.
After I snap the door open, Ruby waves and steps sideways, exposing a smiling Bella, who’s lifting a bottle of wine, and a couple of grocery bags into the air.
“We have refreshments.” Bella’s eyes twinkle with mischief.
“I’m not drinking while I’m alone with her.”
“Spoken like a rockstar mommy.” Ruby breezes into the room as Bella snaps the door shut behind them. “And it leaves plenty more for the two of us to drink.”
“If we have too much to drink, Dom will be back in town at ten. He can stop by and pick us up.”
“You can always camp out here.” I glance at the sofa as memories of Jake invade my thoughts. “Maybe you don’t want to sleep there.”
“I’m not even sure I want to sit on the sofa. Let alone sleep on it from the heat creeping up your cheeks.” Bella deposits the two bags onto the coffee table.
“It should be fine. Not that I looked to see if there were any stains.” I snuggle Grace closer and tip my head toward the spare room. “I can’t offer the extra room because we’ve turned it into a nursery for Grace.”
Ruby carefully retrieves the baby from my arms. “Let me see this little princess.” Her voice carries that faint singsong tone that people use with babies and small pets. I’d make fun of her, but I do the same thing. “Aren’t you the most precious thing in the world.”
“I’m getting plates and glasses.” Bella strides into the kitchen.
“She is, isn’t she?” It’s ridiculous that passing her to my best friend leaves me feeling like something was stolen from me. What if something happens and her mother shows up? Or her father? I rub my hand over my heart. Or Iris decides I’m not a good fit for her.
I blink hard and inhale a cleansing breath. This is what they prepare you for when you’re going through foster parenting classes, but while in theory you might think you’ll be okay if you bond with a child and it goes home, the reality is something else. How do people do this?
“Have you spoken with Iris?” Bella breezes back into the room, dropping paper plates and glass stemware for three onto the coffee table. Did she manage to forget I’m not drinking in the minute she was in the kitchen?
I watch in astonishment as she drags item after item out of plastic bags. Cheese, crackers, grapes, strawberries, cream cheese, Nutella. The list goes on, and the bag still isn’t empty. What didn’t she throw in there?
My eyes widen as she retrieves a container filled with chocolate cake. “Is that Jolie’s Triple Chocolate Cake?”
“Yes, it is.” Bella beams and waggles her eyebrows. “I knew you’d need a pick-me-up, and here we are with reinforcements.”
Once I swallow the moisture pooling in my mouth. “We’ve spoken a few times.” When was the last time I sat down to eat? Breakfast this morning?
Ruby rubs Grace’s back as she paces the living room. “If you need references, we’re here for you.”
“Ruby’s right. We’d be glad to tell her or whoever else needs to know how amazing you are. Not that everyone doesn’t know it already.”
“And everyone loves Jake. A paramedic and a police officer…. Who could ask for safer parents?”
“I’m already a foster parent. I don’t need references at this point.”
Ruby stops in mid-step. “You’ll need references to adopt Grace.”
“How….” I slump into the recliner. “How could you know we’re thinking about it? We’ve not talked to anyone else but Iris about it.”
“We know you, that’s how.” Ruby returns Grace to my arms. The speed with which she melts into me fills that tiny ache that manifested when Ruby was holding her.
Bella cuts slices of cake and deposits the plates in front of each of us. “Where’s daddy by the way?”
“Stop.” I bite my lips together to keep from grinning as heat curls in my core. That shouldn’t turn me on, but it does.
“Oh, hell.” Ruby clutches her chest and falls onto the sofa, causing the cushions to whoosh with her abrupt descent. “Do we have some daddy kink going on?”
“No. Well…” I lean forward and snatch a grape of the vine. “Maybe.”
If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t say anything, but these are my girls. We’ve gone through everything from puberty to broken hearts, to discussions about losing our virginity. They can handle a little kink talk.
“At least not yet. I almost said it the other day and caught myself.” I bite my bottom lip.
“And of course, he knew what I was thinking and said it, but we’ve not had a moment alone since then.
” I pop the grape between my lips. “The problem with our schedules no longer sinking up is that we have little time together.”
“You’ll work that out. Between us, your mom, and Jake’s friends helping out if needed, Jake should be able to return to days, right?”
“It’s in the works.”
“Perfect.” Ruby scoots to the edge of the sofa, opens the bottle of wine, and pours two glasses. “Only two because momma doesn’t want to be a bad influence.”
Bella grabs the plastic bag and holds a bottle of nonalcoholic grape juice in her hand like a trophy. “And a special drink for mommy.”
“With the way you and Dom are going at it, do you need to switch to the grape juice as well?” Ruby smirks as she lifts her glass to her lips.
“If Dom has his way, it’ll be years from now. He wants me to finish school first.” Bella rolls her eyes and stretches her hand out to me with the glass between us.
After I shift Grace’s weight, I take a drink and sigh. Grape juice shouldn’t taste so good. I study my friends as they jostle food and drinks. No, that’s not it. It’s the fact that my best friends are here by my side, cheering me on.
I use my foot to rock the chair back and forth. “Look at us. All responsible and shit.”
“Yeah.” Bella beams at me and then frowns. “I’m sorry Ruby. We shouldn’t be gloating about how perfect our lives are when you’re single.”
“Don’t.” She holds up her hand. “I’m fine. I have my pigs, my renovation work, and an interview at Hatcher construction.”
“Whoa.” I lurch forward. “You’re going to work with Xavier?”
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “I don’t know. It pays more than the gym does, and its days versus evenings and weekends. Xavier was complaining the other day about having to do computer work and asked me if I’d be interested.”
“I bet he did.” Bella smirks. “Someone must not like how the gym rats look at the receptionist.”
“Please. Xavier hasn’t even noticed that I’m a girl. He just knows I know how to answer the phone and put people on hold while I get someone else. Apparently, that’s more than their last receptionist could handle. Right now, the guys are all taking turns filling in.”
I kiss the top of Grace’s head. She stirs in my arms and blinks up at me. “Hey, pretty baby, look at those beautiful eyes.” She lifts her tiny hand, and I can’t help from encouraging her to wrap it around my finger.
This is it. This is where we belong. “I need to call Iris again to see if she’s heard anything.”
“I’ll take her.” Bella lifts Grace from my arms. “Go, talk in private. Or from here. You know whatever you say or whatever you’re feeling….” She squeezes my shoulder. “We’re here for you. No matter what happens.”
“Thank you, guys. I love you both.” Tears sting my eyes as I grab my phone and walk to the kitchen.
Why did I refuse to let them help me sooner? Ruby and Bella are huddled up on the sofa with Grace, cake and wine between them. Life can’t get any better than this.