I smiled as I thought about how much Lauren would have loved hearing about this. She’d always sworn Wes wasn’t the womanizing dirtbag I thought he was and that if I’d give him another chance, we’d be a great match.
“Aunt Hadley, can I have some Froot Woops?” Annalise asked me. “In a bowl but not with milk?”
“How about if you have a banana first, and then a few Froot Loops?”
“Okay. Did you know my mommy likes to make banana cookies?”
I looked at her perfect, innocent face and dark curls and melted inside. Lauren’s death still hurt so badly, but Annalise and Benny brought me comfort. Each of them had Lauren inside them, and it hurt a little less to remember she would always live on through them.
“I didn’t know that,” I told Annalise. “Were those your favorite cookies your mom made?”
“Banana chocolate chip is my favorite!” she said, pronouncing it “chocwut.”
“Why don’t we find your mommy’s recipe and make some today?”
“Yeah! I can push the buttons and stir. Mommy said I’m good at stirring.”
“I bet you are.”
“Can I tell you a secret, Aunt Hadley?”
She gave me a solemn look, her eyes wide. I mentally braced myself for a comment about Lauren that would threaten to break me, but Annalise surprised me.
“Of course you can.”
“I like to eat those baby food bananas.”
Brows arched, I looked at her, waiting for the rest of the secret.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Don’t tell Uncle Wes. I don’t want him to think I’m a baby.”
Laughing, I set my spoon down and picked her up in a hug. “He’d never think that, and do you know what a little ray of sunshine you are?”
Benny started fussing in his swing, so I grabbed a banana for Annalise, peeled down the top for her and took Benny to the nursery for a diaper change and some cuddles. When we got back to the kitchen, Annalise asked for her Froot Loops, so I washed up and poured a few into a bowl, hoping Lauren would understand.
I settled Benny into his high chair and gave him a frozen teething ring, then cleaned the food processor and loaded the sweet potato chunks into it. This was the last batch of baby food, and then I’d arrange jars of everything I’d made for some staged “after” photos, clean up, make lunch for all of us and see if I had all the ingredients for banana chocolate chip cookies.
Benny whined and I turned around, finding his teething ring on the floor.
“I’ll wash it off, big guy,” I said, smiling at him as I picked it up and ran it under the kitchen faucet.
He grabbed it back, grinning, and proceeded to drool all over it. At that point, my phone rang and I walked over to glance at it, seeing my boss’s name on the screen.
“Ugh.” I sighed and picked it up, feigning enthusiasm. “Hey, Liz.”
“Hadley. Where are the sidebar pitches for the solo travel piece?”
“I thought you liked the ones I pitched on the phone, so those were the only ones I included.”
“I always want multiple sidebar pitches.”
That wasn’t actually true. When Liz said she was putting something on the budget, that meant it had been chosen as pitched. But I knew better than to try to win an argument with her.
“Okay, I can get some more to you late tonight.”
“I was hoping for something within the next hour.”
Benny squealed, dropping his teething ring on the floor again. I picked it up and washed it off again, passing it back to him.
“I’ll do my best,” I told Liz. “But my nanny isn’t available on Tuesdays so I’m taking care of the kids today.”
“Look, I’ve been very flexible with this whole situation,” she said, her tone laced with aggravation. “But today I need work done during working hours.”
Benny started whimpering, and I turned to see his face all scrunched, winding up for an epic cry. I quickly removed his high chair tray and unbuckled him, picking him up in hopes of comforting him before he started screaming.
“And I think I can do it,” I told Liz, gently bouncing Benny on my hip. “Naptime is in an hour and a half. Can I send you something within the next two hours?”
Right as I could sense Liz caving, Benny let out an ear-piercing wail, and I cringed, walking into the family room to see if maybe the TV screen would catch his attention and calm him down a bit.
“Yeah, fine,” Liz said shortly. “I guess two hours will have to work.”
“Okay, thanks for understanding.”
Liz didn’t even hear me—she’d already ended the call. Someone really needed to let her know how unprofessional it was to just hang up on people.
I took Benny over to his large baby mat and laid him down to play. I got down on the floor with him and started arranging some large letter blocks in front of him. He finally started to calm down a bit as I began talking to him.