Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Alexis scrunched up her face as she tried to repress another massive yawn, but a moment later she couldn’t hold it back. She yawned like a lion and then laughed when she heard the sound of cooing.
She looked down at Cash, who was lying in his crib with his toes in the air. She’d just put him into a cute new pair of little overalls over a little green sweater, and he looked even more adorable than usual. On top of that, he was smiling and giggling at her in a way that made her heart melt.
“Aren’t you just the cutest little buddy?
” she said, leaning over and nuzzling his nose with hers.
He laughed again and grabbed at her hair with his little fingers.
“Oh, no thank you, I’m going to keep my hair where it is.
” She detangled her hair from Cash’s fingers and he chortled gleefully.
“Time for your socks, young man,” she said, picking up the pair of little yellow socks that she’d set aside.
“And then we’re going to put on your little, tiny work boots that Grandma got you and everybody is going to agree that you are the very cutest man in town. ”
Alexis yawned again as she wiggled the tiny boots onto Cash’s feet. It had been another night with hardly any sleep, but she was still in a wonderful mood. Vivian had given her the overalls and the boots that Cash was wearing, and she couldn’t wait to show him off to her.
She kissed his chubby little cheek and tickled his belly. “I’ll be right back, young man,” she told him. “I need to finish getting ready to leave.”
She handed him a plushy octopus to play with and made her way downstairs.
The moment she stepped into her kitchen, she shook her head with a wry smile.
The kitchen floor was still smattered with baby food after the chaos of breakfast. She wondered how old Cash would have to be before she could feed him after she put him into his outfit of the day.
She surveyed the sink full of dirty dishes and sighed. She wanted to clean up at least a little bit before leaving the house, but the extent of the mess in front of her felt overwhelming.
She opened the dishwasher and smiled as she saw that Grayson had unloaded the clean dishes from it earlier that morning.
She breathed a sigh of relief and gratitude.
She remembered how she’d told him once that having an open space to start putting away dirty dishes always made the task of kitchen clean-up feel more possible.
He must have remembered her words and taken the time to unload the dishwasher for her that morning.
She loved the way she and Grayson were managing to create a rhythm in the midst of the chaos of their lives.
Grayson has been my best friend for a while now, she thought as she started to dive into the dishes, scrubbing them off thoroughly before setting them into the dishwasher. But now that we’re parents together, the teamwork we’ve formed is better than ever.
She smiled as she thought about all of the little ways he looked out for her and supported her. Those things greatly increased the fondness and connection she felt with her husband, and she knew that the older Cash got, the more parenting was going to strengthen her bond with Grayson.
After a few minutes of tidying up the kitchen at a whirlwind speed, she went upstairs to get Cash. She never liked to leave him alone for very long while he was awake, and she could hear him gurgling energetically over the baby monitor.
“Are you all ready to go?” she asked him as she stepped back inside the nursery.
Cash lifted his feet in the air and gave her a goofy smile. She scooped him up and kissed his cheek.
“Me too. Let’s go, handsome fellow.”
She went outside with Cash to the garage, where she settled him into his stroller before starting off down the sidewalk toward Hazel’s home. The women of her family had arranged to meet that afternoon at Hazel’s house to do preparation work together for Julia’s wedding.
It was a beautiful afternoon. Sunny and warm for autumn, with vibrantly blue skies overhead and a soothing hint of a breeze.
Alexis enjoyed her walk, since it was seldom that she had time for intentional exercise anymore, and she loved looking down at Cash and watching the way he was gazing around him with rapt attention.
“We should do this more often, shouldn’t we, buddy?” she said, more for herself than for him. “I’m learning something new about parenting every day here. As long as the weather is nice, I can go out and get my exercise and you can have an epic adventure in your magical moving carriage.”
She chuckled over the way he was wiggling his feet and continued on her way, enjoying the scent of autumn in the air and the beautiful sights and sounds.
They arrived at Hazel’s charming little house a few minutes later.
Alexis left the stroller in the driveway and went inside through the back door, carrying Cash in her arms. She heard the sound of voices in the living room, and soon discovered that Vivian, Hazel, and Julia were already there, surrounded by papers and crafting supplies and mugs of coffee.
“Hi, Alexis.” Julia looked up from arranging craft supplies on the coffee table. Although she was smiling, it was apparent from her messy hair and her frazzled tone that she felt extremely flustered. “We’re just getting ready to make the centerpieces. Thanks for coming.”
“Of course.” Alexis handed Cash off to his grandmother without a word, since it was clear that both Cash and Vivian were overjoyed to see each other, and gave her sister a hug. “Is everything going okay?”
Julia groaned. “Yes, in theory. I’m just—ah! I feel so behind. I wanted to be ahead by now, and I keep trying to get ahead, but I never can. Things always come up to slow me down.”
Alexis winced and shared a look with her mother.
They both felt badly that Julia had been waitressing more to cover Alexis’s maternity leave right when she was planning her wedding.
Alexis knew that waitressing could be exhausting work, and it probably wasn’t helping with Julia’s feelings of being overwhelmed.
“You make sure to take whatever time you need, honey,” Vivian said, patting Julia’s shoulder. “We can try to do without you at the pub tomorrow. I’m sure that would give you more time to do all of the things you need to for your wedding.”
Julia shook her head emphatically. “No, I won’t hear of that. I can absolutely keep working and plan the wedding at the same time. It’ll work out fine—I just need to get more organized.”
Alexis smiled at her sister. Julia had always been the queen of organization—she was even more organized than Alexis herself, which was really saying something.
“But being organized can’t create more time,” Hazel pointed out in her sweet way. “Make sure you don’t push yourself too hard, Julia. Remember we’re here for you whenever you need it.”
Julia smiled at her gratefully. “Thanks, Hazel. I definitely couldn’t do it without you guys. I really appreciate you coming over here to help me.”
“Hey, you know I can’t say no to a craft day.” Hazel grinned. “Crafting is one of the finest joys in life.”
“I absolutely know you can’t say no to a craft day,” Julia said, throwing her head back with laughter.
“Do you remember that time in sixth grade, you would literally announce every morning at breakfast how many days were left until that craft fair that Grandma was going to take you to? And then when you got back from it, you talked for weeks about all of the things you’d seen that you wanted to make yourself. ”
Hazel grinned, unabashed. “Of course I remember that. That was where I got the idea to crochet fluffy little sheep. I made one for Samantha when I was pregnant with her and it was her absolute favorite thing when she was a baby. She still has it somewhere.”
“And you made that crocheted octopus for Cash,” Alexis pointed out. “He loves it.”
Hazel’s eyes danced with amusement. “And it all began on that epic day back in sixth grade. No wonder I was counting the days.”
“You children were always getting so excited about one thing or another,” Vivian said, smiling fondly at the memory.
“That was one of the best parts of having a house full of kids—there was always some joy or another to celebrate. Dean had just fixed something or Alexis had just found a perfect outfit at the thrift store or Julia had aced a math test or Hazel had baked an apple pie that was almost as good as Grandma’s.
” She laughed. “There was always something to celebrate.”
“I think it’s still that way, even though we live in different houses,” Hazel said cheerfully. “Now we’re celebrating Mom’s relationship with Terrence, Alexis’s new baby, my new house with Jacob, and Julia’s wedding.”
“Hear, hear,” Alexis said, grinning. “And what about Dean? What are we celebrating for him?”
“Well, the en—” Hazel began, and then coughed suddenly. “The energy levels. He has so much more energy than he used to after hiring more mechanics at his shop.”
“True.” Vivian nodded. “I’m so happy for him.”
The four women set to work on crafting Julia’s wedding centerpieces.
There would be little metal trees on most of the tables, and from the branches of those, Julia wanted to hang strands of colored glass beads.
The wedding colors were royal blue and a reddish orange reminiscent of sunsets.
As the women began to string the beads together, they exclaimed in delight over how beautiful the beads were, especially when held up to the light.