Her All Along

I could tell the words had affected Pipsqueak, and she’d come to me about it soon. For now, she ignored her brother and pushed Hazel toward the dining area.

Grace followed, in the middle of tearing off her mittens.

“Thanks for having my back, buddy.”

He inclined his head. “No worries. She doesn’t break easily, though. Don’t be afraid to knock her on her ass when she needs it.”

I knew he was right. Elise and I handled fights well, I thought. Sometimes they became heated, but we shared the same goal—to come to an understanding. But I did hold back on occasion, because I didn’t like seeing her overwhelmed, and fights overwhelmed her. At the same time, she responded best to bluntness and tough love. It was a tricky balance.

Add postpartum hormones to that…

I joined my girls a minute later, and I urged Pipsqueak to order herself a glass of wine while I peered into Hazel’s fortress of protection. I should’ve known that Elise had already removed some of the baby’s layers.

She was still asleep. Christ, I couldn’t believe how easy she was.

“If you’re sure…” Elise trailed off, scanning the wine list.

One glass wouldn’t fucking hurt. Besides, we had enough breast milk in the freezer to last a week.

“Server’s coming, hon,” Elise said. “You want your usual?”

“Yeah—and a beer, thanks. You know what I like.”

Grace busied herself with the coloring book and crayons Elise had brought for her, and I waited until the server had left again before I gathered Elise’s hands in mine across the table.

She adopted a sheepish expression, which meant she was thawing. She knew she was off course.

“I can’t do everything,” she murmured.

“No, you can’t.” I kissed her knuckles.

She blew out a breath.

She was still processing all the changes we’d seen in the past several months, so I waited her out patiently. When our drinks arrived, I took a swig of my beer and reminded Grace not to drink her juice too quickly. Or to fill up on too much bread. To this day, one of her favorite meals was the free bread sticks Darius served here.

He was endearingly cocky about it.

For a man who claimed he didn’t like children or ever wanted any of his own, he was a terrific uncle.

“Ave, how do you stay so calm through everything?”

I leaned back in my seat and shrugged a little. “I don’t believe it will do any good to get worked up.” That was one factor, at least. “I also know that with you—with the two of us—there’s nothing we can’t handle in the long run, and I’m not afraid of hiccups along the road.”

The corners of her lips twisted up, almost reluctantly. As if she wasn’t ready to smile yet.

“One more thing,” I said. “You can’t be forced to reach a conclusion. You have to get there yourself—or you’ll get overwhelmed and unsettled. I don’t mind waiting.” I paused. “I, uh, I will, however, take a page from Darius’s book and be a bit more straightforward in the future.” As I raised a brow and smirked, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

She grinned and blushed. “It’s freakishly annoying sometimes that you know me better than I do.”

“Turnabout is fair play,” I chuckled.

“I guess so.” She bit her lip and raised her wineglass. “To life’s little hiccups, Mister?”

I smiled and clinked my beer to her glass. “To us, Pipsqueak.”

“I wanna toast toooo!” Grace protested.

“Of course, sweetheart.” Elise was quick to clink their glasses together. “To our whole family. We’re the best, aren’t we?”

I saw Grace’s response coming from a mile away with the way mischief lit up her eyes.

“Shit yes!”