Change of Heart (Fostering Love 2)

“Does Ani—”

“I’ll call and let her know you’re coming, but I don’t want her worried and driving up by herself,” Dad cut in quietly. “Drive safe, but hurry, all right?”

“Okay,” I said, pulling on a pair of jeans, not bothering with boxers.

“Love you. See you soon.” He hung up before I could reply.

Less than three minutes later, I was in my truck and on my way to Ani’s.

“Do you know what’s going on?” she asked frantically as she met me at the door.

Her hair was soaking wet like she’d just hopped out of the shower.

“No idea,” I murmured back, setting my hand in the middle of her torso to push her backward into the house. “Go dry your hair.”

“It’s fine,” she argued, pulling on a sweatshirt that was hanging over the couch. “Dan said to hurry.”

She moved toward the family room where I could see Arielle sleeping in the baby swing, but I hooked her with an arm around her waist to stop her momentum.

“Go run a towel over your hair, baby,” I ordered, leaning down to talk directly into her ear. “I’ll get Arie in her seat, and then we’ll go.”

Ani went still under my hand, sighed heavily, then nodded her head and pulled away from me to walk back down the hallway.

As soon as she was gone, I went to the swing and picked Arielle up. She was getting heavier, and my lips twitched as I had to readjust my hands under her little body.

“Time to go to Nana and Papa’s,” I said, carrying her over to the pink car seat I’d bought her when she was in the hospital. I found it at a random store I’d stopped in for a phone charger, and I’d known she needed to have it. After I bought it, I’d told my mom to give it to Ani because the impulse buy had embarrassed me. “Mama’ll bring you a blanket so you’re nice and cozy,” I told Arielle as I buckled her in and tightened the straps the way I’d seen done on the local fire station’s YouTube channel.

“Here,” Ani called, tossing me a light purple blanket. “You get her bundled up, and I’ll grab her formula and some diapers.”

A few minutes later, we were out of the house, and I was driving Ani’s SUV up to my parents’ place while Ani fidgeted in the seat next to me.

“Hey,” I called, reaching out to grab her knee, “calm down.”

“What the hell could be wrong? It must be something huge if Dan made you come get me,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I would have come to get you anyway,” I mumbled, letting go of her knee so I could turn my windshield wipers up. It was raining like hell, and when you added that to the dark sky, it made the road almost impossible to see. “The roads are shit right now.”

“I can drive in the rain,” she muttered back.

I didn’t argue. The last thing I wanted to do with Ani was argue at that moment. I wanted to pull over to the side of the road and pull her into my lap so I could feel her. I wanted her to run her hands through my hair while I stuffed my face into that spot between her neck and her shoulder that always smelled so fucking good.

I was scared out of my mind, and the longer it took to get to my parents, the greater the fear became. I didn’t let myself speculate. I didn’t want to make a list of all the bad things that could have happened to make my dad order us up to the house in that horrible voice.

“I’ll get Arie. You go on inside,” I said as we came to a stop in the muddy gravel driveway in front of my parents’ house. The rain was still pouring down, and I’d rather I got caught in it getting the baby out of the seat than Ani.

Ani’s hand instantly gripped mine, and I turned to face her in surprise.

“I don’t want to go in without you,” she ground out, her eyes wide with panic.

My throat tightened, and I used my free hand to unbuckle my seat belt so I could lean toward her.

“Okay, baby,” I said gently, as her nails dug into my skin. “You scoot over here, and as soon as I have Arielle, you can hop out, okay?”

She nodded jerkily, scooting toward me, but she didn’t let go of my hand.

I pried her fingers away and jumped out of the truck, my coat instantly getting soaked as I threw open the back door. It only took a second to get Arielle’s car seat unlatched from the base, but by then my entire lower back was soaking wet and I could feel rain dripping down the inside of my jeans. I threw the little car seat cover thing over her and pulled her out of the car, snagging her diaper bag as I went.