“Just … fair warning. Don’t even bother showing up to class that day.”
Whoops and hollers broke out for a moment, and as the room emptied out, my rather juvenile husband turned back to me and smiled.
I leaned against the side of the desk, and as the last of the students cleared out, he reached for my stomach and stepped up close to me.
“I’m going to go pick up Hannah from your sister.” He leaned down, kissing my cheek. “I’ll see you when you get home tonight.” He smiled, caressing his palm over my belly.
“Okay.”
The door opened, and the first of the returning students walked back in. His hand grazed down to my hip, and he leaned down giving me one more kiss on my forehead. He winked just before he turned and walked out.
Kane
“I’m just saying…” I popped an apple slice in my mouth as Hilde scowled at me disapprovingly. “…she just didn’t seem to think trick-or-treating was a necessary thing for a one and a half year old.” I bit off a small piece of apple, stripping the peel from it before holding it up to Hannah’s mouth. She practically took my fingers off as she attacked the apple.
“Well, that is just hog manure,” Hilde retorted.
“Agreed. I mean, she’ll be the cutest damn ladybug this town has ever seen. And I will totally split the loot with you if you can talk her into it.”
Hilde nodded. “Okay. I’m on it.”
“How was Hannah Montana today?”
Hilde scowled at me again. “Do not call my niece that. She’s going to start tweaking soon if you keep calling her that.”
“Twerking, Hilde. It’s twerking. And Hell’s already tried to teach her. Hannah’s just not coordinated enough yet. Soon I think though…” I offered Hannah another bite of apple as she cooed and giggled and then shark bit my fingers.
Hilde rolled her eyes at me, and I smiled back at her. Hilde did a lot of eye rolling and scowling when it came to me, but … she still liked me. Mark told me so, and I believed him. He was blunt after all—a man would have to be to be married to Hilde.
She finally sighed. “She was a peach. We dropped Sienna and Brody off at school, went to the library, came home, took a nap, ate, played, ate, played some more, ate some more…”
“Cool.” I shifted Hannah over to my other hip as I pulled my car keys out of my pocket.
“Hey, when are you planning on the upstairs bathroom tile job?”
“Probably two weeks. I’m fitting it in between the McAllister project and a roof I want to get done before it gets much colder out. Plus I’m taking a couple classes this semester, so I have to work around that. Will that work?”
“Sure.” She tossed the apple core in the sink, rinsing her hands. “Don’t know why you’re bothering with school, given how busy you’re staying with the carpentry.”
I snorted. “This coming from the woman who chastised me for dropping out of high school once.”
Hilde stared at me for a moment. “That was a long time ago.”
And that was a Hilde apology.
I paused for a moment. What was one supposed to say to a veiled apology like that? Thanks? You’re forgiven for being a judgy biotch?
“I better go,” and a sincere smile was what I eventually settled on. “Tell Sienna and Brody I said hi when they get home from school.”
“Okay,” she said as she walked up to me, smacked a kiss on Hannah’s cheek, and patted me on the shoulder.
“Okay, shorty,” I said to Hannah as I buckled her into the carseat. “It’s just you and me for a few hours until mama gets home from her night class.”
She smiled and giggled, reaching for my chin and pulling my whiskers.
We spent the next few hours playing and watching football in the living room, and when Hannah fell asleep on my chest as I lounged against the end of the couch, I checked my phone to see the time. She’d be home soon.
I brushed Hannah’s light brown hair off her forehead. She looked like us. Of course she was supposed to, but it was still such an incredible thing to see Helene mixed with me in this beautiful little girl. Never in a million years did I imagine my life would amount to so much—so much that I was able to share part of myself with Helene to create something new and amazing. There was a time when I didn’t think I had anything good enough in me to share in that way.
But I was wrong. Thank God I was wrong.
“I love you, Hannah,” I whispered, knowing she couldn’t hear me.
Thirty minutes later, Helene walked in. Her lips pulled up sweetly as she set her briefcase down by the door. She slipped her heels off, and she walked toward me. She leaned over the sofa, peeking at Hannah’s face.
“Hi, baby,” I whispered as I reached for her tummy.
“Hi.” She kissed me. “I’ll put her down.”