Chapter Ten
Evie
Five Weeks Postpartum
Hayes is in his swing in nothing but his diaper as I wipe the paint from his fingers. He grunts in frustration as I clean, and I have about thirty seconds before he starts really crying. I quickly chuck the wipe in the trash and pick him up.
After I got Hayes up from his nap, I quickly changed him and brought him out to the garage.
We hung out while Josie fed him and then finished Harper’s facial.
Over the rest of the afternoon we helped freshen up her salon.
Josie had mentioned that she is hoping to open up for appointments again in the near future.
Harper got Shiloh off the school bus while Josie and I tackled getting supper together. We were so wrapped up with cleaning up the salon that we didn’t get a chance to go grocery shopping. So after dinner I offered to stay with the boys while Monty and Josie went.
I did have ulterior motives though. I found this cute Valentine’s Day craft when I was doom scrolling and I wanted to make it with the boys for them to give to Josie.
I painted a canvas red, then I did Shiloh’s hands shaped into a heart in a pink.
I used a hair dryer to dry the paint faster before I placed Hayes’ hands overtop but in white.
I framed the hand print hearts with the words We and You.
bringing the whole piece together to say “We heart you”.
It’s probably one of the cutest things ever, and I know Josie will love it.
Finishing off the canvas with the boys names and the year it was made. I quickly find a hiding place for it, so I can easily grab it and bring it home with me to wrap.
“Okay little man.” I bend over so I’m closer to Shiloh’s level.
He looks back at me with such a serious look I want to laugh.
The concentration of a boy who knows there’s a serious task ahead.
“Now remember, we don’t tell momma about this, because it’s a surprise that you can give her on Valentines Day. ”
“How many days is Valemtines day, Evie?” The mispronunciation of Valentine’s really pulls at my heart strings.
“In two days. It’s time to wash up for bed now. Can you go and change into your jammies while Evie changes brother’s diaper?” I ask him, as we begin to walk toward the bedrooms.
“You bet!” He declares as he begins to run down the hall with his arms behind his back. He told me the other day that it makes him run faster. “I’m going to wear my pizza jammies tonight!” He shouts over his shoulder as he disappears into his room.
Shaking my head, I move a sleepy Hayes to the change table and quickly change him before I begin rocking him. Shiloh comes into the room with his pants on, but no shirt. He informs me that he didn’t want to wear a shirt tonight and wanted to go to bed like daddy does.
I don’t argue with him and tell him to go get a book picked out so I can read to him after we brush our teeth once I get Hayes down.
It surprisingly takes me no time at all to get Hayes down, but I know it’s only temporary because he still has one more feed before he’s down for the night. I grab the monitor from it’s charging spot once he’s asleep and make my way to Shiloh’s room.
As I get into his room, I hear the sound of the front door opening. Shiloh races past me with a cheer at the knowledge of his parents being home. I follow behind him, reminding him to stay quiet since Hayes is asleep.
Josie is in the kitchen putting away the groceries as Monty brings in the next load of bags.
“Hey, how was the grocery store?” I ask her as I grab the bag closes to me and see that it’s full of uncooked noodles. Quickly I grab the bag and head toward the pantry.
“It was nice. Calm. No five year old to chase around while trying to stick to the list.” She responds from behind me. “I still had to work my ass to stay on track with the grocery list though. Monty was snacky.”
A snort leaves me as I try to imagine Josie telling Monty no to something.
“A guys gotta eat babe.” Monty joins in the conversation with the last of the bags, and Shiloh dragging a single bag behind him.
With the last of the bags on the island, Monty grabs Shiloh and throws him over his shoulder.
The responding laughter makes my heart skip a beat, the way that Monty interacts with his kid should not be as attractive as it is.
“I was just about to read to him before tucking him in.” I let him know as he continues to carry Shiloh over his shoulder. I go to step toward him and he gives me a smile that makes me stop.
“I can do it.” He responds, finally putting down his son. “We have that story to finish from last night, right Lo?”
“Yeah!” Shiloh responds and he grabs his dad’s hand and drags him down the hall. “Let’s go Dad.”
“Hey Evie, stick around for a bit?” His eyes connect with mine and my heartbeat starts to pick up. “Josie and I want to talk to you about something before you’re done for today”
Fuck a duck.
I knew today was too good to be true. I’m not reliable right now, not without a car to make it to my place of employment. They probably just entertained me with working today to let me go at the end of the day since I was already here.
“Oh, uh, okay sure.” I respond, slowly making my way back to the island and continue with unpacking the groceries.
Even if this is my last day working, I don’t want to not help.
With the eggs in my hand I turn around too fast and lose my balance.
The eggs splatter across the floor and my body seizes up as I’m catapulted into the past.
I’m on my hands and knees, collecting the egg shells into my hand.
A tremor runs through my hand as I go to grab another piece.
The fridge door slams close with a thud that you can hear vibrate through the appliance.
“It’s your fucking mess. You clean it up.
” He grumbles as he stomps off to the living room and plops himself on his chair.
Leaving me with a moment of solitude to try and collect myself.
Closing my eyes, sucking in a stuttered breath.
Slowly I release the breath of air. Then opening my eyes I lean forward and continue to clean up.
Great. I ruined all the eggs. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.
I’m such a klutz.” I try to laugh it off, because if I don’t laugh I’m going to cry, and I refuse to cry.
I drop to the floor and begin picking up all the large broken egg shells and toss them into the egg carton.
Eggs are the absolute worst thing to try and clean up.
The gooey egg whites are so hard to collect, they slide right through your fingers.
I huff in frustration as I try to keep my breathing steady. It’s just some eggs, I try to remind myself. I feel the sting at the back of my eyes, as I try to keep the tears at bay.
“Evie.” Josie’s soft voice brings me back to the present. Warmth slides across my shoulders as I realize that Josie is beside me. She has a small garbage bag in hand as she gets down on her knees and begins to help me.
“Oh no. Josie I’ve got this. This is my mess. I need to clean it up.” I go to grab the bag from her but she pulls it out of my reach.
“We can clean it together. Go get some paper towels, okay?” Her voice is soft as she tells me what to do next. It’s a contrast to what I’m used to and it makes me feel sick that my past still has such a visceral hold on me.
With the paper towels firmly grasped in my hand I return to Josie and see that all the bigger pieces of shell are gone and all that’s left is to clean up the whites and yolks.
There isn’t as much as I initially thought, it seems that most of the mess was able to be contained within some of the cracked shells.
I use a paper towel as a makeshift wall as I try to scoop up the contents and place it into the bag. It works for the most part, and once the bulk of it is in the garbage bag, I take a wet paper towel and wipe up the remainder of the mess.
Having Josie in my presence as a silent partner and support calmed my nerves more than I would like to admit it did. While I’m still nervous about this talk that Monty mentioned, I don’t feel like my clothes are suffocating me anymore.
“I’m going to make hot chocolate, would you like one Evie?” Her calm voice continues to slow my heart rate and I find myself nodding to the offer.
I sit at the island and watch Josie putter through the kitchen like I didn’t just drop all their eggs across the kitchen floor. She places a pot on the stove, before pouring some milk into it. The clicking of the oven sounds soothing as it brings the flames alive and begins heating up the milk.
She busies herself as she grabs a few things from cupboards. It’s only after I see her adding cocoa powder to the milk and whisking it do I realize she’s making hot chocolate from scratch. I sit up straight, watching her chop up chocolate before adding it to the warming milk.
She’s humming a tune as she mixes, not quite loud enough for me to catch what it is. I hear footsteps coming up the hallway, and I watch as Monty comes sauntering into the kitchen. He’s changed into a black Henley shirt and grey sweatpants.
The sight of Monty should be criminal. I’ve never wanted to drop to my knees for a man as fast as I do right now.
His bicep flexes as he scratches the back of his head.
He doesn’t notice my eyes on him, but I watch him as he eats the distance between him and his wife.
He steps up behind her and whispers something into her ear.
The melodic sound of her giggling twists something inside of me. A longing that I didn’t realize I had begins growing in my chest. Weighing heavy there as I watch how at ease these two are with each other.
Monty moves around her and grabs three mugs, setting them on the counter next to the stove. Josie fills our mugs to the brim before topping them with whipped cream.