26. Asher #3
“Yeah, for a while. You guys should go though.”
I smiled down at Sophie, trying to let Quinn deal with Sutton.
“Well, I thought Theo and I should take Sophie home to our place for a bit.”
Sutton frowned, looking at me and then back to Quinn. “You don’t have—”
“We want to.” Knight cut her off.
“Asher had a bunch of stuff delivered to our house last week for when you’re over.”
I didn’t look up at her; I hadn’t gotten around to mentioning it yet and I could feel her glare.
“We have a few changes of clothes, somewhere for her to sleep, and some toys. You have an extra bottle in your bag with milk so we can hold her off for the rest of the night. She’ll be happier at a house rather than here and then you can focus on Iris.”
Sutton opened her mouth to argue but Knight interrupted her again. “I can drive your car for the seat and I can give Asher my keys. We can always stop by your place if you need anything. She’ll be fine with us for the night. You can trust us with her.”
“I know I can.”
This time I did look up. She was looking at Knight, conflict playing over her face.
“They can take her to my place,” I offered. Sutton’s eyes came to mine. “I have everything she needs and she’s already slept there.”
Knight nodded. “That’s easy for us too. Either way is fine.”
From this angle I could see her smiling but there were tears in her eyes. “She might get cranky. She always does after Asher leaves so Asher’s might be better. Are you guys sure?”
I smiled at that. I was just as wrapped around this little girl’s finger and it gave me great pride to know that she liked me that much.
I hoped one day I would have to leave her less often.
I wanted to put her to bed each night and be there when she woke up every morning, or even in the middle of the night.
I wanted all her good days and her bad.
“We can handle it, it’s good practice for Theo.” Quinn winked. “She’ll be good with us. You’re both family, Sutton, and we want to help.”
Sutton sprang out of her chair and wrapped Quinn in a hug. They muttered a few things back and forth that I couldn’t hear but eventually they released each other, both wiping tears from their faces.
Quinn walked over to me and I gave Sophie a kiss on the forehead before reluctantly passing her over.
Letting her go felt wrong. And I had a feeling I would be pissing Knight off with how much I was going to check on her tonight.
Sutton followed suit, kissing her on the head.
Sophie was already getting a little fussy and trying to reach for me.
“If you move quickly she should be better,” Sutton told them as she wrung her hands together.
“Take care of my girl,” I told Knight with a pat on the back. He nodded seriously at me before picking up Sutton’s diaper bag and herding his fiancée out of the room.
Sutton let out a breath and sank back into her chair. “Are you sure they—”
“They meant what they said. They’ll be fine and will call us right away if anything comes up.”
Sutton nodded and pulled her legs up underneath her. I slipped my suit jacket off and laid it over her like a blanket. She smiled at me as I took the seat on the other side of the bed.
“I really appreciate you.” Sutton was quiet. The only other noise in the room was the beep of the monitor. “You take good care of me and Sophie.”
“No lecture about how I shouldn’t be buying stuff for you both?” I asked, trying to hide my smirk.
“Maybe later.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. As much as I wanted to touch her, wrap her up in my lap, I knew she needed sleep.
Another hour passed, Sutton asleep in the chair, covered in my jacket, me watching her. I was blinking away my dry eyes and reaching for my coffee when I noticed that Iris was awake and watching me.
“Hey,” I said quietly, not wanting to disturb Sutton unless she was actually awake.
“Hi, son.” Her voice was a little weak.
“How are you feeling?”
“You watch her.” Iris’s eyes darted to Sutton.
“I like that. Those girls deserve someone like you to watch over them. It’s as simple as you sacrificing your own sleep to watch over her so she can relax.
She doesn’t know what that’s like. She might fight you on it but you make sure you love her in the way she deserves, okay?
Because I think you can do that for her, but you need to be sure you’re ready for them if you decide to fight for her. ”
“You don’t have to worry about them. They’re mine.”
She reached out her hand, despite the tubes, and patted my cheek. “Now, wake our girl before she wakes up and gets mad at you for not doing it already.”
I laughed, knowing she was right. “Yes, ma’am.
” I moved over to Sutton, bent down, and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Her eyes popped open.
“Someone wants to say hi.” Her eyes moved over to Iris and widened, almost like she wasn’t sure if she was dreaming.
Then she threw off my jacket and moved quickly to her bedside.
She grabbed Iris’s hand and started to cry.