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“Jesus. Tell me about it.” My heart’s still racing. Parenting’s gonna fucking kill me.
My phone buzzes with a text. I run a hand through my hair.
“You have to stop distracting me,” I whisper to Harper because I love to give her shit. “I missed four calls from Mikhail and two texts from Polina.”
She snorts. “Not on your life.”
Shaking my head, I walk to the other side of the room and call Mikhail while Harper listens to Ivy chatter on about what she found in her closet.
“Do you ever have your phone on anymore?”
“I called you right back. And excuse me but I believe when you first married Aria you were unreachable too. Give me a minute.”
“No. Answer your fucking phone when I call you or I’ll move her into a separate house.”
I shake my head. “You’ll stoop to that level just to keep me from winning?”
“You have no idea.”
“Did you just call to give me shit about not answering the phone?”
“No. I called to tell you that Aria had our baby early this morning.”
“Wow, you really couldn’t stand it, could you? Congrats! That’s awesome. Just one?”
He chuckles. “Just one.”
“So we’re even?”
“For now.”
We hang up and I turn to face Harper. My heart seizes in my chest at the sight of Ivy on her lap, flipping through a board book.
“We gotta get ready to go, Harper. Let’s get her dressed and go meet Polina downstairs. She said she’ll help the first week.”
“Bear,” Ivy says with wide eyes. She points to a picture of a fluffy little bear on the cover. Then she points her tiny finger at Harper. “Mama.”
Harper smiles and her eyes water. “That’s right, baby.” She looks up at me, her voice a little husky. “She’s always called me Mama. They were good about that. What was up with Mikhail?”
“Aria had her baby.”
She drops the book so quickly Ivy’s eyes widen. “What? And you didn’t tell me? Honestly, you men!”
“What? You hardly know them.”
“But they’re family now! And they had a baby!” She looks thoughtful. “No wonder you were so into me this morning.”
I roll my eyes at her. “I’ll remind you that you were the one that initiated.”
She waves me off. “Boy? Girl? How much did the baby weigh? What did they name him or her?”
Shit. I shrug. “I have no idea.”
She stares at me as if not comprehending. I guess those are things women ask when they find out there’s a new baby. “Listen, we have to go. On second thought, go get changed, Polina will come up and help me get her ready.”
She frowns.
“What is it?”
