Chapter Twenty-Two

“D id you ever babysit growing up?”

“Why?” With a gentle touch, Susan dabbed the infant dry before laying her on the changing table.

A subtle scent of lavender and oatmeal filled the cool September air that drifted in from the open window. Far better from the noxious mess they discovered not thirty minutes ago.

“Because you’re an excellent diaper changer.” He pulled Audrey’s crib sheet off and cringed as he neatly folded the worst parts in the middle and wrapped the outside to cover the potential toxic spill. A skill he’d perfected over the past several weeks as they figured out what formula didn’t cause Audrey such unstable diaper situations.

The corner of her mouth curled up. “Are you complimenting me on something you hate doing, hoping I’ll do it more often?”

“I would never!” Reynolds feigned shock right before he disappeared down the hallway. “I’m gonna go burn this.”

“Good idea.” No sooner had he left the room, than Audrey kicked her feet and peed. “Seriously, kid? At least you’re on the changing mat. Regretting not taking that formula out of your diaper bag when Aunt Jade and Uncle Edmund took care of you yesterday.”

She cleaned Audrey up in quick time, the chore more like a habit now. Done with little fanfare and almost no thought. After she laid her heart out weeks ago and they’d become officially complicated, Susan and Reynolds found an easy rhythm in every aspect of their lives.

That included hazardous situations like this one.

Audrey happily kicked her feet and babbled while Susan nodded. “You’re right. Your daddy is amazing. And curse him for being sexy while helping with diaper emergencies.”

Reynolds’s exuberance wasn’t limited to his parenting duties. The man radiated confidence and happiness while his seductive ways kept Susan more than jubilant.

So much so that Peyton recently asked her if it was already October.

Each day they got closer to the deadline, Susan let the grip of control loosen and believed they would make it. All three of them would be this wonderful family.

Maybe one day make it four of them since Reynolds recently suggested after Audrey was officially theirs, they consider adopting another child.

Although she appreciated his positivity, doubt quietly crept in, but she refused to let it take hold. She’d never be able to gather all the pieces of her shattered heart if she even approached the thought of this collapsing.

Breathe, Susan. With expert skill, she dressed Audrey in a Wonder Woman–themed onesie. She kissed the baby on the forehead, marveling at the child’s ability to change the entire mood of the house. “You done exploding?”

Audrey cooed and sucked on her fist.

“You’re hungry. How about we try a bit of sweet potatoes and apples today?”

“So, did you? Babysit?” He leaned against the doorway. The crisp scent of his soap drifted around her, sending libidinous butterflies flittering in her panties.

“For someone other than my siblings? No, there was never time.” Susan dropped the dirty linens in the hamper as her sexy Adonis stood in the doorway.

“Why not?”

She held up her hands and pointed to Audrey. “Watch her, please. I need to clean up.”

“Gladly. Come on, sweet girl.” The steady beat of his footsteps behind her indicated he waited for Susan to tell him more.

As she entered the bathroom, a quick look at her reflection left much to be desired as she’d yet to clean up after her very busy shift of prenatal visits and delivering two babies.

Mascara smeared under her eyes, her hair needed a good brushing, and she for certain wanted a shower. “Peter and I shared parenting duties for the first few years. We worked our schedules so one of us was always home with Edmund, Lucy, and Mom in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. Helped with homework, chores, grocery shopping, that sort of thing.”

“Your mom couldn’t help at all?” Resting the baby against his shoulder, Reynolds rubbed her back.

Susan closed her eyes and exhaled her annoyance at his honest question. With them steamrolling toward the finish line, she promised to be more forthcoming about her sad backstory, even if it hurt like hell to talk about. “Mom struggled to get out of bed most days.”

“She that banged up after the accident?” His gentle prodding helped peel back a layer of pain Susan never addressed.

And she hated it, as burpees-are-great-for-building-your-core-and-upper-body-but-they-suck-to-do hated it.

Reynolds settled on the edge of Susan’s bed; Audrey waved her arms as she sat in his lap. Odin flopped down in the doorway.

The baby’s bright-eyed wonder indicated she would fight her afternoon nap again before she passed out for a few hours.

And maybe give them a few hours of alone time.

With her hands clean of toxic waste, Susan dried off. She turned, leaning against the counter. “My grandmother, Mom’s mom, she was all about the fifties housewife thing so that made our mother the same.”

She smirked remembering the fights and pushback. “Mom tried hard to sway Lucy and me in that direction. Our grandparents insisted we attend boarding or finishing school or wherever uber-rich people send their daughters to brainwash them. Dad stepped in, and refused to send us away. Caused a rift between my mom and her parents so we never saw them again. Mom clung to my father like he was her only lifeline.”

Susan appreciated his thoughtful ear as she shared more of her life with him than she ever had with anyone outside her family.

“Sounds like your mom was lost.”

“More than lost. The moment our mother heard our father died, she quit.” She quit on all of us.

“What do you mean she quit?”

Audrey stretched and yawned.

“She quit being a mom. An adult. She cried all the time because our father was gone. Because she was alive. Because her injuries were so severe, it hurt to move, but it hurt to do nothing. She chose the path of least resistance. Lay there, waiting for death to take her.”

He gave her a knowing nod. “That had to be rough for her.”

“It was, and I hurt for her, but we needed her.” Sitting next to him, Susan stared straight at a blank space on the wall. “We all knew she lived for my dad, but when he was gone, I realized she lived for him. Everything was about him. Every decision. Every meal. What she wore. Every breath was about making him happy.”

“Was your dad a difficult person?” Reynolds wrapped an arm around her waist, encouraging her to move closer.

“Not at all. In fact, he was very laid-back. I rarely heard him yell. They never argued, at least not in front of us. They didn’t always agree but seemed to find middle ground.” She drummed her fingers on the comforter. “Looking back, it was so clear how much of herself she gave up to be his wife.”

“What do you mean?”

How good it felt to release this frustration. She’d been carrying it around for so long. “My mom was raised by a woman who was all about the man being the head of the household. That women are there to make their husbands’ lives better. Easier. Less complicated.”

“Yes, such a healthy outlook on the world.” He placed Audrey on his shoulder as she settled in, her eyes slowly blinking.

“When my dad died, she decided she had nothing to live for. That her world ended.”

“Her kids weren’t enough?” The sharp edge of his response told her his question was rhetorical as he understood what happened when parents checked out.

“No. It wasn’t enough. I had to keep it together. Make sure everyone got what they needed. I had to—”

“Give everything up to save your family.”

“Yes.” He gets me. “Charlie did put some happiness in her last few years.”

“We gotta get that guy out here.”

She rested her head on his shoulder as Odin meowed from the doorway. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He kissed the top of her head as Audrey’s drowsiness disappeared with Odin’s complaints. She wriggled to turn, excitedly squealing at Nanny Cat.

As soon as Audrey’s approval caught his attention, the cat sauntered like he walked the red carpet at a Hollywood premiere.

“For listening. Hearing me.” For twenty years, deep-seated anger took up residence as permanent knots in her shoulders. It kept her from enjoying the world around her and simply accepting the things out of her control, like matters of the heart.

For the first time, Susan allowed her heart to take the wheel. And it felt wonderful.

To think, all she had to do was move across the country, during a snowstorm, and deliver a baby in a convenience store with a man who took up permanent residence in her lizard brain.

Now, two weeks until the deadline, things looked positively promising, and all of this rom-com-level happiness was due to the man sitting next to her.

She leaned in and kissed the now-sleeping baby in his arms. “She just passed right out, didn’t she?”

“Babies are all or nothing.”

Audrey’s soft snore brought a smile to Susan’s face. “Wanna put her down and join me in the shower?”

He leaned in and whispered, his words hot on her ear. “Be sure to get that raspberry vanilla soap because I’m gonna clean you up before we get really dirty.”

“How dirty?” A thrill danced up her spine.

“Filthy.” He playfully growled before placing Audrey in his room.

Susan turned on the water, and as she waited for it to heat up, she stripped and stepped in. The steam fogged up the glass as she turned the intensity of the shower to massage the knots out of her shoulders.

But after a few minutes, Reynolds hadn’t joined her, which was very unlike him, especially when sex was the point. She cracked the shower door. “Reynolds? You coming?”

Nothing.

Without washing her hair or body, she grabbed her wrap, dried off, and opened her bathroom door to find him sitting on the side of her bed. “Reynolds?”

His shoulders were rigid, like he stood at attention. “Lori called.”

That sent her heart into a rapid rhythm. “And?”

“He’s back.”

“Who’s back?” Although the sadness in his voice told her everything.

“The bio father.”

“And?”

Reynolds exhaled a long breath. “He wants to meet Audrey.”