Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
The phone rang, and she gave serious consideration to letting it go because it was all the way across the room and sitting seemed so nice.
But then she remembered that Ian had all three kids, and while it meant she had a quiet house, it could also mean disaster for her husband.
Bud’s head had come up. He’d been napping at her feet as she’d sat and gone through file after file of papers her cousin had sent to her. Not that he didn’t nap most of the time. The dog she’d convinced Ian they needed had started out as an adorable, energetic ball of fluff and had grown into an adorable, lazy ball of fluff. She often caught Bud and Ian napping together.
“You want to go grab my cell for me, buddy?”
Bud’s tail thumped but he did not move. Yep. When he wasn’t trying to herd the girls away from potential danger, the big mutt was storing up energy so he could later hoover up all the food they dropped.
Charlotte yawned and pushed her chair back. There was nothing for it. She was going to have to answer. It wasn’t like she was getting anywhere. Every single lead she got seemed to direct her to a dead end.
Dead. Damn it. That was the one word she hadn’t wanted to associate with her investigation, but it was the only piece of information she’d managed to find.
She picked up her cell, recognized the name of the caller, and swiped across the screen. “Hey, Chels.”
“Hey,” her sister said. “I was calling to see if you needed me to come by. I saw Michael this morning and he told me Ian made a big-ass deal out of saying he was going into the office to finish up all his paperwork before he goes on leave because that’s what good employees do. Apparently Erin flipped him off. She couldn’t help going into labor early.”
Ian was good at pissing people off, but then she happened to know Erin had told everyone she could have the baby and never look up from her paperwork. “He took the kiddos with him. I’m good. It’s the first time this house has been quiet in…forever.”
She stretched, trying to get her back to release. She was pretty sure Travis would end up being her biggest baby. Oh, the doc tried to tell her he was only seven pounds, but she swore there was a toddler in there.
“Ian’s got three kids with him up at the office?” Chelsea laughed. “Well, we’ll see how that goes.”
It would likely go south at some point, and Ian would clean it up and never tell her the tale. He would tell the girls “don’t tell Mom” and actually believe they could keep a secret. She knew everything. She knew about the time Ian had rushed and gotten the booster seat in wrong and Kala had ended up climbing over the seats in the middle of the freeway, causing her man to dump his morning coffee everywhere.
“How are you feeling?” Charlotte moved toward the kitchen, hoping there was still some ham left. She could eat.
“I’m good. I’m still bummed about the whole breast feeding thing,” her sister began. “I mean, my boobs are huge. Why don’t they make enough milk?”
Chelsea had a three-month-old and had a terrible time breastfeeding. After Chelsea’s third bout of mastitis had landed her in the hospital, Charlie and Simon had convinced her it was okay to give the baby a bottle. “Hey, you can’t blame yourself for that, and you need to know that fed is best. Always. However you need to feed her is the best way for you to feed her.”
“Says the woman who is already leaking.” But her sister said it with a chuckle. “I know. I just wish it had worked. I think she’s my only kid. I think we’re going to be okay with one.”
She would give her sister no pushback on that. “And however big you want your family to be is fine, too.”
It had taken Chelsea a long time to decide she wanted a baby at all. Their childhood had been rough, to say the least, and losing their mom the way they had affected Chelsea. But after a few years enjoying married life, she’d surprised them all by announcing she would add to the world’s overpopulation with her very own demonling.
Sophy was a dream baby, and with the exception of her breastfeeding problems, Chelsea’s transition to motherhood seemed to have gone off without a hitch.
It hadn’t hurt that she’d had tons of help. Simon’s parents had stayed with them for a few weeks, lavishing affection and help on the new parents. No one should have a say in whether or not a couple had a kid, but she was happy Chelsea had.
“Are you done?” Chelsea asked.