I let out a faint giggle. “Don’t say that, or tomorrow night I’ll have to stay up when it’s your turn.”
“Hopefully, he’ll be a better baby tomorrow night.”
“If I were paired up with Kai, he never would’ve called. He’d tell me to stick Gandalf in a closet and then get online to play a game with him.”
“If Kai ever had to do this assignment, I pity the poor person paired up with him. He blows off everything.”
“That’s usually what I like about him. But now he doesn’t get how important it is that I do well in my classes.”
“Well, you sure told him this afternoon in the cafe. He was quiet on the drive home.”
I’m taken aback. “Really? He didn’t talk himself around in circles?”
“No. He just sat behind the wheel and seemed to be thinking hard as we made our way home.”
“Huh. Well, that’s something.”
“Look, I know it’s not much, but I hope you know I’ve got your back.” He sighs and I hear a rustling as he shifts in bed. “I know what it’s like to put your all into your schoolwork. You’ve got me to talk this stuff through with. That is, if Kai won’t be there for you.”
“Thanks, Milo.” I awkwardly clear my throat. “But I’m sure Kai is coming around. It’s just been a big change in our usual dynamic.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Not to mention Tabitha clawing her way into his life. Ugh. I still can’t comprehend how that happened.
I shake out of my nagging thoughts and listen for noises coming from Gandalf. “He’s so quiet,” I whisper into the phone. “You should go back to sleep. I can handle this.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asks tenderly.
I nod against the phone. “Yeah, he seems to have settled. Maybe the trick was being on the phone with you.”
A murmured laugh comes through the phone line. “Okay then,” Milo says softly. “Remember to call me back if he starts screaming again.”
“Okay, I will.”
We hang up and I slump against the bed, breathing out slowly. Wow. I hope Gandalf feels as at ease as I do.
I drift back to sleep without another interruption until 6.00 a.m. Aunt Maddy traipses around the house, gathering last-minute items for her trip.
I groggily get out of bed and carry Gandalf out of the room with me.
“Wow, you look bright-eyed,” Aunt Maddy jokes as I meet her in the hall with half-closed eyes.
I gesture at the baby. “He kept me up all night.”
“Aw, poor baby,” Maddy says insincerely. “Can you get dressed? I need to drop you at Kai’s house by 7.00 a.m.”
“We have plenty of time,” I say hoarsely.
“Not really,” Aunt Maddy says, tipping into panic mode. “It takes twenty minutes to get there on a good day. You know how much of a fight it can be against the soccer traffic.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, turning back into my bedroom. “I’ll get dressed way too early just to please you.”
“Thank you,” Aunt Maddy says in a high pitch as she paces back to her bedroom.
I lethargically change out of my pajamas and into sweats. When Gandalf fusses, and I dig into his bag for his bottle, a shrill gasp sounds from Aunt Maddy’s room.
“Maddy? Are you okay?” I call out.
