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“She might. Let’s go check.”
Elise and I found Catherine in Joey’s new nursery. She wasn’t sleeping in here full time yet, but she took all her naps in her big-girl crib and we were slowly thinking about moving her at night.
When Catherine was ready.
“Hi, you two,” Catherine greeted us. She’d finished feeding Joey and had her on the changing table. “I was just getting this stinky girl all cleaned up.”
“Oh, can I do that?” Elise asked. “Well, Elliot and me? I want to see my brother in action.”
Catherine’s brows rose in surprise. “Sure you can. I’m warning you, though, it’s kinda gross up in here.”
Elise patted my back. “Elliot can handle it.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I thought you wanted to help.”
“I’ll give you encouragement.”
Catherine snorted a laugh. “I think this is a brother-sister thing. I’ll leave the two of you to work out who gets disgusting diaper duty.”
Catherine left us to it, disappearing downstairs to join everyone else. Elise made no move to change Joey’s diaper, but it didn’t bother me to be the one to do it. It was all part of taking care of my girl, and she was always so damn adorable when I had her on the changing pad. She blew raspberries and kicked her feet the entire way through, happy as a clam.
“Should we put on your jammies, little girl?” With my hand on her soft little belly, I reached in the drawer beneath her and pulled out some one-piece cotton footie pajamas. It was cute as hell, with a bunny face on the butt. “You’re going to wear your bunnies tonight, Joey-Girl. We love the bunnies, don’t we?”
Elise sighed as she watched. “She really is yours, isn’t she, El?”
I looked at my sister, whose cheeks were flushed, eyes shiny with unshed tears. “Don’t cry, El.”
She blinked rapidly and dragged her index finger beneath her eyes. “You were always so good at taking care of me, so I knew you’d be a good dad, but I didn’t think you wanted it.”
“I didn’t.” I picked up Joey’s foot and slid it into the leg hole then did the other side. “Not until Catherine and Joey.”
“She’s so cute.” Elise patted Joey’s tummy and slid her hand over the top of her head. “I think it will be easy for me to fall in love with her.”
“I promise you it will be.”
Once I had her all dressed, Elise asked if she could hold her, and I told her of course. My sister carefully scooped my girl into her arms, softly telling Joey her name. Seeing Elise like that, happily holding my girl, settled another part of me that had been off-kilter most of my life.
Elise swayed and rhythmically rubbed Joey’s back while Joey looked her over, deciding what to think of her. After less than a minute, Joey came to a decision, her head slowly descending onto Elise’s shoulder, her little body going lax.
“Oh god,” Elise whispered. “I’m a goner already.”
I chuckled through the tightness in my throat. “See?”
“Can I be Aunt Elise now?”
“Yeah.” I hit my chest to clear away the knot. “That’d be all right with me.”
Understanding passed between my sister and me. We’d gone through hell, and this was our other side. The crumbled foundation of our adolescence hadn’t defeated us. We’d both found our own version of a new beginning, and it was our good fucking luck we got to be side by side to witness each other’s happiness.
The Levys’ days were looking up.
Elise kissed Joey’s head and sighed. “I think you should marry her, El.”
“I’m going to, El. Don’t worry about that.”
“Oh yeah? When’s that going to happen?”
I leaned down, kissed my girl, then whispered in my sister’s ear, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
