Chapter 47
CASH
Austin and Melody’s house was packed. Every surface was covered with gifts wrapped in blues and yellows and greens.
The Bancroft clan had descended in force, which meant at least thirty people were currently crammed into the living room.
Add in Melody’s friends, some neighbors, and what felt like a thousand children running around, and it was complete pandemonium.
I loved every second of it.
“Cash!” Cleo called from the kitchen. “Can you grab more ice?”
Bancroft baby showers didn’t follow the normal rules. I didn’t remember when it changed, but it was a family thing. It wasn’t just the women sitting around smearing chocolate in diapers and eating it. Now, we all got to participate. Had to say, not my favorite game.
I navigated through the crowd dodging my nieces and nephews who were playing some kind of tag game that involved a lot of shrieking. Cleo was standing at the island surrounded by empty platters.
“We’re out of everything,” she said. “How are we out of everything? We bought enough food to feed an army.”
“We’re hosting Bancrofts. We needed enough for two armies.”
She laughed and handed me a list. “Can you run to the store? We need ice, more cups, and apparently someone promised there would be those little hot dogs in crescent rolls.”
“Pigs in a blanket.”
“Whatever. Can you get like a hundred?”
“On it.” I kissed her forehead. “You okay?”
“I’m great. Stressed but great.” She looked around at the chaos. “This is kind of fun, actually. Hosting together at their house and not ours.”
“Very smart decision.”
I kissed her again. “You’re kicking ass.”
“Thanks, babe.”
I grabbed Finn on my way out. “You’re coming with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to help carry things.”
“I’m a guest.”
“You’re my brother. Move.”
We took my car to the nearest grocery store and loaded up with enough supplies to feed the party twice over. Finn kept making comments about domestic life and how I’d gone soft.
“You’re hosting a baby shower,” he said as we loaded bags into the trunk. “Voluntarily hosting. The old Cash would have sent a gift and called it good.”
“The old Cash was an idiot.”
“Agreed. But still.” He grinned. “It’s good to see you happy, man. Really happy.”
“Thanks.”
“Cleo’s good for you.”
“She is.”
“You going to marry her?”
I closed the trunk. “Eventually.”
“How eventual are we talking?”
“Soon.”
“I’m just saying, you’ve been together for three months. You’re practically living together. You look at her like she hung the moon. What are you waiting for?”
“The right moment.”
“There’s no perfect moment. You just do it.”
I looked at my brother. “Did you just give me relationship advice? You, the consummate bachelor.”
“I watch movies.”
Back at the house, the party was in full swing. Melody was sitting on what could only be described as a throne. She was wearing a pretty pink dress and was now covered with bows. She looked exhausted.
Six months pregnant, and it was showing. Her face was puffy, her ankles were swollen, and she kept shifting in her chair like she couldn’t get comfortable. But she was smiling, greeting guests, pretending everything was fine.
Cleo told me there were some concerns with the pregnancy, but everything was fine. Austin was taking good care of her. She wasn’t allowed to lift a finger.
Cleo was right there beside her. Keeping Melody’s water glass full. Making sure she had a pillow for her back. Running interference when someone wanted to touch her belly without asking. Being the best friend and support system all rolled into one.
I watched her work the room, charming Melody’s friends, entertaining the kids, making sure the food kept coming. She was in her element. This was what she did. She took care of people, made them feel seen and valued.
And she was doing it while building her own business on the side. She was working on a website. Had plans to launch a podcast.
She was incredible.
And she was mine.
“Gifts!” someone announced.
Everyone gathered in the living room. Cleo sat on the floor beside Melody with a notebook, ready to write down who gave what so that thank you notes could be sent later.
The gifts were overwhelming. Clothes, blankets, toys, books, a state-of-the-art stroller that looked more complicated than my car. Melody opened each one with genuine excitement, even though I could see her energy flagging.
Then Cleo handed her a small box wrapped in yellow paper.
“This one’s from me,” Cleo said quietly.
Melody opened it and pulled out a tiny yellow onesie. Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
“I bought this months ago,” Cleo explained. “Back when we went to the spa in the Hamptons. Before you even knew you were having a boy. I saw you looking at it and I knew—I just knew—I had to get it for you.”
“Cleo, it’s perfect,” Melody’s voice broke.
Melody pulled Cleo into a hug. They both cried. Half the room cried. Even Austin looked suspiciously misty-eyed.
After all the gifts were given and people started filtering out to the backyard where we’d set up more seating, Cleo started the monumental task of organizing everything.
“I’m going to take this stuff upstairs,” she announced. “Get it into the nursery so you guys can sort through it later.”
“I’ll help,” I said.
We made trip after trip up the stairs, arms loaded with gifts. The nursery was coming together. Pale blue walls, white furniture, a rocking chair in the corner that Melody had obsessed over for weeks.
On our fifth trip, Cleo paused in the middle of the room, holding a tiny pair of sneakers.
“Look at these,” she said. “They’re so small. How are feet this small?”
“Baby feet.”
“I know, but it’s insane. In three months, there’s going to be an actual human wearing these.”
I set down the box I was carrying and walked over to her. “You’re going to be an amazing aunt.”
“I’m so excited.” She set the shoes down and picked up a onesie. “I can’t wait to spoil this kid rotten.”
I watched her sort through baby clothes, organizing them by size, talking about how excited she was for Melody. About how she couldn’t wait to be part of this kid’s life.
“What about you?” I asked.
She looked up. “What about me?”
“You said you want kids someday.”
“I do.”
“How someday are we talking?”
She set down the clothes and came over to me. “Why? You offering to knock me up?”
“Maybe.”
“Cash Bancroft.” She poked my chest. “Are you trying to impregnate me at your nephew’s baby shower?”
“Not right this second.”
“Good. Because I have plans first.”
“What kind of plans?”
“Business plans.” She smiled. “I want to do the things I’ve been putting off my whole life before I add kids to the mix.”
I pulled her close. “That’s very responsible.”
“I’m very responsible.”
“And Type A.”
“I learned from the best.” She looked up at me. “But for the record? I do want kids. With you. When the timing is right.”
“How will we know when the timing is right?”
“We’ll just know.”
I pushed her against the wall.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Kissing you.”
“In the baby’s nursery?”
“It’s not weird if no one knows about it.”
“That’s definitely weird.”
I kissed her anyway.
When I pulled back, she was smiling. “We should get back to the party.”
“Probably.”
“People are going to notice we’re gone.”
“Let them notice.”
“Cash, this is a baby shower.”
“Fine. But later, when we’re home all alone and you’re naked, I need to practice planting my seed.”
She laughed. “That’s a very odd way to think of knocking me up. Besides, later I’m going to be exhausted and probably asleep on the couch.”
“I’ll take it.”
We made one more trip downstairs to grab the last of the gifts. The party was winding down, with people saying their goodbyes, kids being wrangled into car seats, the house slowly returning to a manageable level of chaos.
Melody caught Cleo’s hand as we passed. “Thank you. For all of this. For everything.”
“Always,” Cleo said.
“I mean it. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Yes, you could have. But I’m glad you didn’t have to.”
Austin appeared beside his wife. “We’re going to lie down for a bit. Can you two handle cleanup?”
“Go,” I said. “We’ve got it.”
They disappeared upstairs. I looked around at the disaster zone that was their living room. Wrapping paper everywhere. Empty plates. Cups scattered on every surface.
“This is going to take hours,” Cleo said.
“Then we better get started.”
We worked together like we always did these days. Cleo gathered wrapping paper while I collected dishes. We moved around each other easily, a dance we’d perfected over the summer.
We were building a life together. It was everything I’d never known I wanted.
“Cash?” Cleo said from across the room.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here. For helping. For being you.”
I walked over and pulled her into my arms. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“Not even destroying cars in a junkyard?”
“Not even then.”
She laughed and kissed me. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We finished cleaning as the sun started to set. By the time we were done, the house looked almost normal again. We found Melody and Austin asleep in their bed, him curled protectively around her, his hand on her belly.
“They’re going to be good parents,” Cleo whispered.
“The best.”
We let ourselves out and drove home. Cleo fell asleep in the passenger seat, exhausted from the day. She’d been busting her ass planning the shower and doing all she could to help Melody.
“Want to lie down?” I asked when we were inside.
“Yes. Please.”
I climbed in beside her and she immediately curled into me, still half-asleep.
“Cash?”
“Yeah?”
“Today was good.”
“It was.”
“We’re good at this. The hosting thing.”
“We are.”
“We should do it more often.”
“Whatever you want.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I really do want kids with you someday.”
My chest tightened. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Just not yet.”
“I know. I can wait.”
“How long?”
“However long you need.” I kissed her forehead. “A year. Five years. Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.”
“Okay.” She snuggled closer. “Love you, Lurch.”
“Love you too.”
I fell asleep smiling, already looking forward to tomorrow.