“He likes you,” Brenna said quietly.
“New boobs,” Trix joked. “He’s already had a go at sleeping on all of ours.”
“Not true,” Rose argued, waving her hand. “I haven’t held him.”
“That’s probably because you’re not… nurturing,” Hawk said with a laugh.
“I am, too! I’m very nurturing. Tell them, Lily.”
“She’s very nurturing,” I said dryly.
“See?” Rose said with a huff. “It’s not surprising that Gray went to her. If he’s anything like his dad, he’s already half in love with her.”
“Rose,” I hissed, glaring.
“Oh, come on,” Rose said in annoyance. “We all know it’s true. No use pretending. We’re all friends here.”
“Right,” I said through clenched teeth. “Actually, I need to talk to you. We need to figure out when we’re flying back to Connecticut.”
“Damn, the week’s over already?” she said, her shoulders slumping. “That went quick.”
I nodded. “You don’t have to go when I do,” I said. “If you can get more time off, you should.”
“No way,” she replied stubbornly. “Where you go, I go, Jack.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, lowering my voice as Gray shifted on my lap. “Seriously, stay if you want to. I have to get back to class, but you don’t.”
“Not happening.”
Before our conversation could turn into a full-blown argument, Molly and Hawk stood up. “We gotta head home,” Molly said. “Reb gets out of school soon.”
“And she’s my ride,” Hawk said, pointing her thumb at Molly. “Thanks for having us over, Callie.”
“Anytime,” Aunt Callie said, getting to her feet to hug them. “Bring Rebel over for dinner this week. I just got some dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.”
Soon, it was only Brenna, Aunt Callie, and my mom left in the living room with me and Gray. I carefully stood and walked to an empty couch, fully intending to lay Gray down on it, but at the last minute, I changed my mind. Instead, I laid down on my back, keeping him snug against my chest. Almost instantly, my eyes felt heavy. The kid was like a furnace, and between the lunch I’d just had, the heat, and barely getting enough rest for the last week, I could feel sleep pulling me under.
“I’ll just have Leo pick Gray up here, if that’s okay with you,” I heard Brenna say as I drifted. “He’ll be done in an hour anyway, and if I try to move the baby right now, he’ll wake up and be a terror for the rest of the night.”
“Fine with me,” Aunt Callie replied. “I’m just going to clean up this mess and hang out at home for the rest of the day.”
“You need help?” my mom asked as their voices grew further away.
“Not unless you’re using me as an excuse to not go home. If that’s the case, I need a lot of help. Tons. I can’t do this without you.”
“You are looking pretty overwhelmed.”
I heard the front door open and close, and then I was out.
* * *
I woke up later to quiet voices.
“Thanks for keepin’ him, Callie.”
“He passed out on her lap and she was right behind him,” Aunt Callie murmured. “So I just left them where they were.”
“They’ve been sleepin’ since my mom left?”
“They haven’t even shifted. I don’t know how she stayed asleep in that sweatshirt with Gray sweating all over her.”
“Musta been tired.”
“I was,” I replied groggily, opening my eyes to find Leo standing above me. “Still am, actually.”
“I can tell,” he muttered with a laugh.
“What?” I shifted a little on the couch and realized that the beanie I’d been wearing had somehow come off and my hair was creating a tangled halo around my head. “Shit.”
“Daddy!” Gray said, his voice scratchy. He sat up and nearly fell off the couch before I could catch him.
“Whoa, Turbo,” Leo said, lifting him off me. “You have a good nap?”
“Lily,” Gray said, pointing at me. I glanced down and snorted at the wet spots on my sweatshirt. He’d not only drooled all the way through it, making the fabric stick to my collarbone, but had also wet through his diaper, leaving a huge wet spot on my stomach.
“Careful,” I said, pushing myself up. “Someone needs his diaper changed.”
“Aw, man,” Leo said, flipping Gray until he was dangling under one of his arms. “You’re all wet, son.”
“Wet,” Gray said.
“My mom leave a bag?” Leo asked Callie.
They moved away from me to get the diaper bag and I quickly smoothed my hair and pulled my hat back on. I didn’t have anything but a bra under the sweatshirt, so that was a lost cause unless I asked Rose for something… and I didn’t want to do that. I was worried that Leo would leave if I went upstairs.
“Can you give me a ride home?” I asked, shuffling up behind him as he knelt on the floor changing Gray’s clothes.
“Thought you were a driver now,” he replied without looking at me.