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)
And now, I didn’t know what to do with Titus. He didn’t fit into a box either. He was too big for the box of old friends from high school and couldn’t be contained into Otto’s family’s box either. I wasn’t sure how to categorize him.
He was just…Titus. The more I watched him and talked with him, the more I saw the boy who’d sat with me in the library, talking about everything and nothing, patiently dealing with the fact that the girl he was spending his time with couldn’t even acknowledge him in public.
“Otto’s on his way here to pick me up,” Esther told me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“Sounds good.”
“Do you need anything from the store?” she asked as she stuffed her feet into short rain boots. “We can stop on our way home.”
“I can’t think of anything.” I watched her closely for a moment. Something didn’t seem right. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “My back hurts and I’m tired and grouchy. So, you know, basically I’m just pregnant.”
I laughed and helped her pull on her coat. “Not too much longer to wait!”
“And then I’ll have a newborn,” she replied with sarcasm laced cheerfulness. “Ugh. Ignore me. I’m just having a moment.”
“Have all the moments you want,” I assured her as I walked her to the door. “I’ll make dinner so you can just relax after you get home.”
“You’re the best,” she said, hugging me tightly just as Otto opened up the front door behind her.
“You’re late,” she said in exasperation, pulling away.
“Got here as soon as I could, Sugar,” Otto said, ignoring her tone completely. “You ready to go?”
“Of course.” Otto’s eyes met mine, grinning, as she strode past him onto the porch.
“You remember how to set the alarm?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“If you forget, Titus knows,” he reminded me before shutting the door between us.
I quickly went to the keypad to make sure that the alarm wasn’t about to start blaring. It hadn’t been set.
“I’ll set it again,” Titus said, coming out of the kitchen. “I turned it off while me and the girls were outside.”
“Okay, thanks,” I murmured, backing away.
“Uh,” he glanced at me and grimaced. “Ariel’s kind of a mess. She’s got mud and chicken shit all—” he gestured in a wide circle over his torso. “Sorry.”
“That’s why I brought an extra,” I said, lifting up the shirt in my hand.
“Super mom,” he said softly, smiling before turning back to the keypad.
Ariel thankfully wasn’t as messy as I’d been envisioning and it only took a few minutes before she and Flora were cleaned up and playing Legos in the living room—a rare treat that they were only allowed while Diana was sleeping. My youngest hadn’t quite stopped putting things in her mouth yet.
Looking at the clock, I decided it was as good a time as any to put some dinner in the slow cooker. I was busy pulling ingredients for pork chops and gravy when Titus wandered into the kitchen.
“Did Esther say how long her appointment was?” he asked casually, leaning against the counter beside me.
“About an hour, I think,” I replied, wondering why in the world he was standing so close. Should I scoot over and work further down the counter?
“Alright.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine if you need to leave early,” I said, glancing at him. Was he ready to leave? Once Otto was home, he wouldn’t need to stay any longer. I was sure that we could manage by ourselves for an hour. We had the security system and the shotgun that Esther had stashed on top of the kitchen cupboards. It wasn’t as if we were in any danger.
“I don’t have anythin’ goin’ on,” he replied, watching me. “Just curious how long those things take.”
“Well, it depends,” I murmured, dropping the pork chops into the slow cooker. Was he staying for dinner? How much should I be making? I was too nervous to ask, so I added a couple extra just in case. “Sometimes the appointments are running behind so it takes longer to even see anyone. I think it’s a pretty fast appointment this time, but I think Esther had some questions so it might take a little longer.”
“So, what you’re sayin’ is you have no idea how long they’ll be gone,” he teased.
“Basically,” I said, a huff of laughter escaping me. “I’ve found that there’s never any set timeframe with pregnancy or midwife appointments.”
“Are you bummed that you can’t see the same doctor this time around?” he asked curiously.
“No.” The answer was easy. “I didn’t have any emotional attachment to my midwife.”
Titus watched me carefully but I didn’t say anything more.
I would’ve been happy if I’d never seen my old midwife’s face for the rest of my life. My births had been relatively easy, from what I’d heard from other women, but I’d never forget the look on her face as I’d cried. That memory was the only thing I allowed myself to remember.