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)
“My dad sold me my house,” I replied quietly. “He already owned it and I’m buyin’ it for super cheap. Payin’ way less than I would’ve for half of what I’ve got. You think that’s charity?”
“That’s different,” she replied, pausing. “It’s your dad.”
“Someone who cares about me is givin’ me a leg up because they can,” I explained softly. “Which is what I’m offerin’ you.”
Noel was silent for a long time, unconsciously swaying Diana from side to side. As she thought about my offer, I reached out and took the baby, settling her against me. Her little bald head was soft against my cheek as I held her, and it felt like there was a knot in my chest, making it hard to breath. I’d picked Diana up a hundred times since I’d met her, but I’d never held her while she was sleeping. There was something different about holding a baby while they were asleep, completely boneless, fully trusting that you’d keep them safe.
“I’d be the housekeeper,” Noel said finally, rubbing her lower back as she gazed up at me.
“It would really be helpin’ me out. The place is a sty.”
“You’re really selling it,” she replied wryly.
“I think it’s a good idea.” I nodded. “There’s space for you there. I think you’ll like it.”
“Are you sure your roommates won’t care?” she hedged.
If they had a problem they were free to move the fuck out. “They’ll be completely fine with it.”
Noel took a deep breath. “Okay,” she replied.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want there to be any hard feelings if it doesn’t work out,” she said nervously. “Maybe it won’t. Living with toddlers is—it’s a lot.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Hey, I was wonderin’ why you didn’t come back inside,” Otto said to Noel, poking his head out the front door. He looked at me. “When did you get here?”
“Few minutes ago,” I replied, following Noel as she moved toward the door.
“Aw, she passed out,” he said, opening the door wider so we could go inside. “Poor thing. Can’t imagine what it’s like bein’ two years old and not understandin’ why that annoyin’ baby is making such a racket.”
“You finally get him to sleep?” I asked quietly as we moved through the house.
“Esther’s nursin’ him upstairs. Hopefully they both fall asleep.”
“Girls,” Noel called softly, catching their attention. “Come on, it’s time for bed.”
It said quite a bit that both Ariel and Flora rose from their seats at the kitchen table without a complaint.
I handed Diana back to Noel and watched as she led the girls upstairs, all of them silent.
“You want a beer?” Otto asked tiredly, heading toward the fridge.
“Sure.”
“We were so stoked to give Flora a sibling,” he said as he handed me a bottle. “And we love Ansel. So much. But, fuck. This is brutal.”
“I can’t imagine,” I murmured.
“You just feel so bad for him. Like, what the fuck is goin’ on that you’re cryin’ all the fuckin’ time, you know? And then eventually, it’s like, Jesus, just fuckin’ sleep, kid. And then you feel guilty as fuck because he’s obviously havin’ a hard time and nothin’ we do seems to be helpin’ in the least.” He shook his head and sighed. “And around and around we go. At least I get a break at work. Esther’s with him all the time.”
“Lou said that premature babies are more prone to colic,” I mentioned, fully prepared for him to bite my head off.
They’d had so many different suggestions and comments over the past few weeks that I knew it was wearing on them.
“He wasn’t that early,” Otto replied, surprised.
“I don’t know, she just said it’s a thing.”
“Huh.”
“She also said that Esther might think about checkin’ to see if he’s got some kinda allergy—”
“To breastmilk?” he replied doubtfully.
“Maybe to somethin’ Esther’s eatin’?”
“Yeah,” he considered. “Yeah, maybe.”
“That’s all I got,” I joked, making him smile tiredly. “She just asked me to pass it on.”
“Lou’s a good kid,” he replied. “Tell her we’ll look into that.”
“Will do.”
We stood quietly drinking our beers for a few minutes as we listened to the little footsteps roaming around upstairs.
“I asked Noel to move in with me,” I said finally.
Otto choked. “You did what?”
“Not with me.” I clarified quickly. “Just into my place.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?”
“Come on, man,” I said softly. “You can’t tell me that havin’ her and the girls here is helpin’,”
“We told her when she was fifteen years old that she’d always have a place here,” he argued, not acknowledging what I’d actually said. “Does she think we want her to move? What did you say to her?”
I raised my hands in surrender and shook my head.
“She told me that she was thinkin’ of movin’ out,” I replied, grimacing as I threw Noel under the bus. I had a feeling she was going to be pissed that I’d said anything to Otto before she could. “I just told her that I had the room and she could live there if she wanted to.”