5. Chapter Five
Sunday afternoon arrives before I’m ready for it. Even though my situation is entirely different, I feel like I have the smallest glimpse into how new parents feel coming home from the hospital with a newborn. Except I’m being given a child who has opinions and can talk back.
I’m already feeling the whole lack of sleep thing after how late I stayed up getting Evie’s room ready last night and childproofing my living room and kitchen. I stored all breakable decor away in closets and ensured everything in my fridge was kid-friendly. Even though I slept thirty minutes past my normal wake-up time to work out, I still only got about four hours of sleep, which doesn’t seem like nearly enough to function.
I give props to all the new parents who run on little to no sleep. I’d give everyone their coffee of choice if I could. Instead of trying to solve the parenting population’s need for caffeination, I find myself waving at Tess and Evie as their car slows to a stop in front of my house.
As soon as they park, Evie runs to me with a giant grin. “Uncle Ty!”
“I missed you, Eves.” I crouch and catch her in a hug.
She’s barely in my arms before she wiggles out of them and runs around me toward the front door.
My sister pulls me in for a hug. I wince as she yells after her daughter right by my ear. “Evie, your uncle says he missed you.”
When I pull back, I can tell Tess is annoyed by the scrunch of her nose. That expression was aimed at me plenty of times growing up, and I’m glad I’m not the recipient of this one.
Evie stops in her tracks and huffs. “I want to see my new room.”
My sister tilts her head and puts on a motherly tone. “Remember what we talked about.”
“I do remember. You said he decorated a room just for me.”
“And…” Tess’s eyes take on a look that would persuade a child into spilling everything.
“To put on my listening ears.”
“And…”
Her shoulders drop as she acquiesces. “To be nice to Uncle Ty.”
Tess smiles, seemingly pleased with her daughter’s response.
Evie runs back over and hugs my legs. “Sorry, Uncle Ty. I missed you too. Love you.” She turns her head to look at her mom. “ Now can I go see my room?”
I laugh. Tess glares at me. When her gaze moves back to her daughter, she sighs and waves her hand toward the door in defeat. “Go ahead.”
As soon as Evie is out of sight, Tess smacks my arm. “Way to back me up there.”
I hold my hands up innocently. “Hey, I’m just the funcle.” I grimace as soon as the word is out.
She frowns. “Please don’t ever say that again.”
“Yeah, I don’t plan on it.”
“Good.” She pats my arm. “Now, be a doll and go put your muscles to use.” Tess throws me her car keys and heads inside, leaving me alone with her car full of bags.
I shake my head and unlock her car. There’s not a chance I’d have let her carry a single bag inside anyway. It takes me a few minutes to get Evie’s stuff inside. It practically fills my entire living room.
“Is she moving in forever?” I call out to my sister, knowing she’s around here somewhere. There’s no way all of this will fit in the guest room.
My sister pokes her head out from the built-in reading nook in the hallway between the living room and kitchen. I don’t have much time to read, but Tess and Evie would kill me if I ever got rid of this hundred-year-old feature.
She shrugs. “I’m just preparing you for parenthood. But, oh wait, getting to that stage would require you to date someone.”
“ Tess ,” I draw out her name, the edge in my voice serving as a warning. If I let my sister, our great-aunt Darla, and my receptionist Nadine have their way, I would be out on blind dates every single night. “Like I’ve told you a million times, I don’t want to be set up.”
She joins me in the living room and gives me her best puppy eyes. “But Evie’s teacher is sweet and single, and I showed her a picture of you. She thinks you’re cute, so I really think you should reconsider.” Tess pulls her phone out and shows me a picture of a pretty blonde who barely looks old enough to have graduated college.
“Tess,” I growl, and she rolls her eyes.
“What is it this time?” She pokes my chest hard, and I wince. Is it possible to strengthen one’s fingers? I feel like I should know this as a doctor. “Are you not into blondes? Do you not appreciate teachers?”
I shoot my sister a look.
“Okay, fine. You’re a big hotshot pediatrician, so you probably appreciate other occupations that work with children.” She crosses her arms. “What is it, then? Why won’t you let anyone set you up?” I open my mouth, but she cuts me off again. “And don’t even think about lying because I know you’ve turned down Aunt Darla trying to set you up too. How you can tell that sweet old woman no is beyond me.”
I wait a moment and then say, “Are you done now?”
She shakes her head. “Not unless you’re going to tell me the real reason. Otherwise, I have a lot more fight left in me.”
I barely refrain from rolling my eyes, knowing she’ll tell me they’ll get stuck that way and I’ll end up cross-eyed. When we were kids, I was thoroughly convinced she was telling the truth. “It’s stupid.”
Tess settles on my plush gray sofa, cuddling one of my cream throw pillows on her lap. “Try me.” I glance toward the stairs, and she waves her hand like she knows what I’m thinking. “Evie won’t hear you. She’s setting up all her stuffed animals just how she likes them, and that takes her forever.”
With a sigh, I sit on my matching gray recliner. “Call me crazy, but I’ve always wanted to meet someone the old-fashioned way.”
“That’s perfect.” Tess claps her hands together. “People were set up by their families often in the olden days.”
No amount of restraint can stop my eyes from rolling this time.
“You know your eyes are going to get stuck that way,” she quips.
“They haven’t for thirty years, so I think I’m good,” I bite back, falling into our easy sibling banter. I love Tess more than life itself, but she can get under my skin better than anyone else. Well, maybe anyone else except Kelsey.
“I’m not talking about being set up by family. I mean a run-in at the grocery store when we both reach for the same tomato. Or we’re both at our favorite singer’s concert, and our eyes meet across the crowd. Or we grab each other’s coffee orders and exchange numbers by the time we leave the shop.”
Her face pulls into a happy pout, and I know I’m in for an earful. “Aw, I never would’ve guessed you to be a hopeless romantic.” Her mouth turns up into a scheming grin. “You go grocery shopping on Saturdays, right?”
“Yeah…” I stare her down, trying to figure out what she’s getting at. “Why?”
She pulls out her phone and starts tapping quickly on the screen. “Oh, nothing.”
“Tess, I swear if you’re texting Evie’s teacher to go to the grocery store next Saturday and meet me by the tomatoes, I will never speak to you again.”
She stops typing to look up at me with a raised brow. “ Never ?”
“Never.”
Tess tosses her phone onto the cushion beside her. “Ugh, fine, you win.”
I let out an exasperated laugh. “You don’t give up easy, do you?”
“You can’t fault me for wanting my baby brother to find love and happiness and give Evie cousins to play with.”
“Oh my gosh, get out of my house.” I shake my head and point toward the front door.
She holds a hand to her chest and puts on a fake pout. “Is that how you’re going to treat me before I leave for three months? I honestly don’t know how you’ll function without me.”
“I think I’ll manage.”
Truth is, I’ll miss Tess more than she realizes, but I’ll never tell her that. Our great-aunt Darla is in an assisted living facility nearby, and I stop by and visit her once a week after work. But Tess is the family member who calls me a few times a week, texts me consistently, and has me over every Sunday for family dinner.
I know how badly Tess is going to miss her daughter, and I don’t want to make her feel any worse for leaving, especially when this is such a great opportunity for her job.
She glances at her phone and sighs. “I really should get going. I need to drop my car off at home and call an Uber.”
I stand and walk her to the door. “Are you sure you don’t want us to drop you off?”
Tess nods. “It’ll be harder to say bye to Evie there. At least I can cry in my Uber in peace.” She swipes at a tear falling down her cheek.
I pull her to my chest and hug her tight. “Evie and I will be fine. I’ll send you so many pictures you’re going to get sick of it and put me on do not disturb.”
Her laugh is shaky, like she’s fighting off a flood of tears. “You better.”
“Evie,” I call upstairs. “Come say goodbye to your mom.” Her little feet pounding on the old Victorian wood floors echoes throughout the house. I offer Tess one more reassuring squeeze. “You’ve got this.”
When Evie reaches the bottom step, she flies into her mother’s waiting arms.
“I’ll give you all a minute to say goodbye.” I start walking to the kitchen.
Tess thanks me again, and I offer her a smile before giving them privacy. I fiddle around with a pen on my kitchen island for a few minutes until I hear the front door click shut and a soft sniffling sound.
When I step back into the living room, I spot Evie looking out the front window, wiping her nose as she waves. I make my way over and kneel, opening my arms to her. She falls into them, and I hold her as she cries until her sniffles subside.
“You okay, Eves?” I hesitantly ask, not wanting to start another round of waterworks.
She wipes her eyes and nods. “What are we going to do now?”
“What do you think about going out for Sunday dinner? You can pick anywhere you want.”
Evie’s eyes go wide with excitement. “ Anywhere ?”
I nod even though I’m worried I made a mistake and she’ll pick a kid’s favorite, like greasy fast food or gas station pizza.
Her lips pull to the side as she thinks, and Evie’s eyes are alight when she looks up at me. “I want Chipotle.”
Relief floods through me. “That is an excellent choice.” I open the front door and exaggeratedly motion for her to step outside. “After you, madame.”
She giggles and curtsies before stepping out onto the porch. I lock the door behind us and help her get in the car, double-checking that her booster seat is still secure since the last time she used it.
When I get into the driver’s seat, I take a deep breath, feeling more confident that I can parent Evie for the next three months. But nothing seems to calm my nerves knowing that I’ll be coming home tomorrow to Kelsey Anderson in my house.
And suddenly, I’ve lost my appetite.