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My phone dings. It’s Carly telling me she has a coffee for me.
Carly. I feel my anger melt at the mere idea of Carly.
I pick up the phone and call my sister.
“Hello?” she answers groggily.
“Shit, did I wake you?”
“S’okay…” she yawns. “Lilly was up half the night. She’s finally asleep but I’m up getting breakfast for Braed.”
“Where’s your nanny?”
“She’s got a sniffle. I don’t want her near the baby.”
“How is Lilly?”
“She’s perfect,” my sister says dreamily.
I smile.
“You want me to take Braed tomorrow for the afternoon? Carly wants to go to the zoo and asked if we can bring him.”
“I’ve heard all about the magical Carly from my son…”
“Yeah.” I smile, thinking about the magical Carly. “How ‘bout Sunday dinner at your house. Me, you, Dirk, Auz, Carly, Dad…”
“Really?” she asks.
“Really.”
“Aiden…you like this girl that much?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Awe…” She sounds like she’s gonna cry. She sniffles.
“Adele? You crying?”
“Sorry… postpartum shit. I’m like a walking, breathing, emoji. You never know which one you’ll get with me right now. I love that idea. I’m not sure if I can swing cleaning the house, cooking dinner, and making myself look presentable without help, so you might have to settle for me attempting to look presentable.”
“I’ll bring steaks. I’ll grill ‘em and we’ll eat outside so if your pad is trashed, no biggie. Wait… let’s do it at Auz’s house.”
“Even better. What time you want Braeden tomorrow?”
“Eleven?”
“Perfect.”
“I had a talk with Audra,” I say.
“Oh… I know… She told me all about it. It was like a confessional in my house yesterday as she tried to repair the damage of missing the birth of my daughter because she was passed out drunk.”
“Yeah?”
“She showed up here yesterday. Heady stuff. She says she’s divorcing Dad. Wants to make amends with all of us. Offered to babysit for me one afternoon next week so I can go get my hair done. It was a dig about my roots, as you can guess, but still. I should take her up on it.”
“Holy shit. Wonders never cease. You talk to Dad?”
