Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“What?” Bas asked, looking at me curiously.
“I’ll be right back,” I replied, setting the pan I was holding on the counter.
I hurried up the stairs. I could hear Noel talking to the girls in their bedroom and paused outside the door.
“Auntie Myla has a lot of stuff on her eyes.” Ariel sounded fascinated.
“Makeup?” Noel asked.
“I like it,” her daughter replied. “I’m gonna put that on when I’m big.”
It was quiet for a moment.
“Well, maybe Auntie Myla can show you how,” Noel murmured.
“I want you to show me,” Ariel replied.
Noel chuckled quietly. “Then I better figure out how to do it.”
“Why don’t you wear makeup?” Ariel asked.
“I wear makeup,” Diana announced.
I started feeling like a creeper, so I finally knocked on the door.
“Hey?” Noel said, swinging it open.
“You got a sec?” I jerked my head toward the hallway.
Noel looked back at the girls. “Get undressed,” she ordered cheerfully. “And then I’ll help you put your jammies on when I come back in.”
She followed me into the hallway and pulled the door mostly shut. “What’s up?”
“Don’t want you to worry—”
“That pretty much guarantees I will.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Listen, we’ve been keepin’ tabs on your in-laws.”
“You have?”
I nodded. “And it looks like your father-in-law is in Eugene. Can you think of any reason other than you and the girls that he’d be here?”
“No,” she replied slowly, her hands twisting together.
“His job wouldn’t bring him down here or anything like that?”
“He’s retired,” she replied. “But maybe the church?”
“That could be it,” I said, reaching out to stop her from wringing her hands into a damn knot. “That might be all it is.”
She looked at me doubtfully.
“He doesn’t know where I live,” I reminded her. “But I didn’t want you runnin’ errands or somethin’ and gettin’ blindsided.”
“Should I keep the girls home?” she asked nervously.
It was a serious blow, and not a bad one, not only that my place was home to her now, but also that was where she thought they would be safest.
“I don’t think you need to,” I told her softly, running my thumbs over the backs of her hands. “Just stay vigilant, yeah? Maybe keep to our house, Esther’s or my mom’s until we know he’s back home.”
“We can do that.” She nodded. “Flora’s coming over tomorrow to hang out while Esther has an appointment anyway.”
“Good.”
“Mama!” Diana called, throwing open the bedroom door. She stood there completely bare assed. “Took my diaper off!”
“Oh, dear,” Noel said, pulling away while I laughed. “You wanna go potty on the toilet?”
“No,” Diana said firmly, running away as Noel reached for her.
“I better get her dressed,” Noel said to me over her shoulder.
“Come down after they’re asleep?” I asked. She usually stayed in her room after the girls had gone to bed, but maybe since we had company…
“Okay,” she said, smiling.
An hour later the entire group of adults—including Noel—were lounging around the living room.
“What happened to your spot?” Lou teased Cian.
He leaned over and pulled Noel’s feet off the floor, making her yelp as he set them on the coffee table. “She needs to put her feet up more than I do,” he joked, making Noel scoff. She left her feet up, though.
“How much longer do you have?” Lou asked.
“Eight weeks,” Noel replied. “Give or take. It might be a little longer.”
“You’re tiny,” Frankie blurted. She looked around the room. “Was that rude?”
“A little,” Lou murmured.
“Not at all,” Noel said at the same time. “But wait until the last two weeks. My belly will look fake, it’s so huge.”
“Are you getting excited?” Myla asked.
I leaned my elbow against the back of the couch and watched Noel. I’d seen her around Esther, of course, and the other women in my family at various times, but watching her with Myla, Lou and Frankie was different. It took me a minute to realize why. They were obviously in completely different places in their lives, but they were all the same age. Noel was making friends. I wasn’t sure she’d ever really had friends outside of her church, and I had a feeling those were a very different kind of friend.
“I’m excited,” Noel replied to Myla. “And nervous.”
“You’re a pro by this point,” Lou teased. “You’re like, super mom.”
“Not quite,” Noel scoffed. “I’m not as nervous about once the baby’s here… it’s just getting them here.”
“Yeesh.” Frankie shuddered. “I don’t blame you. Childbirth was obviously designed by a man. When I do it, give me all the drugs. Seriously, just knock me out.”
Noel laughed. “I’ve never given birth in a hospital, I’m a little nervous about how that’s going to go.”
My entire body locked and I struggled not to let any horror bleed into my expression. Noel was talking, she was relaxed and having a good time, and I refused to be the one who asked what the fuck she meant when she said she’d never given birth in a hospital.