Ruth laughed. “I’ll get up with her, silly. She’s mine, and I don’t want to hand her over to anyone else.” Then she gasped. “Oh! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, Gabriella. Of course I would trust her to you. It’s just that I don’t want her to leave my arms until she absolutely has to. I already love her so much.”
“Of course you do.” Gabriella squeezed Ruth’s shoulder. “I understand perfectly. I’ve been through it seven times. And you’ll probably go through it again.”
Ruth rolled her eyes, then her expression saddened. “I hope next time it’s not without a husband.”
Kizzy just shook her head. “Can we please get this one to toddler stage before we start talking about Ruth having another?”
“I think it’s Kizzy’s turn next,” Gabriella said. “I want to be a grandma again! Soon!”
“Misty looks like she’s ready to give birth to a whole football team.” Everyone laughed. “Are you ready to go home?” Aaron asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ruth handed the baby back to Gabriella, and Kizzy put down the safety rail so her sister could swing her feet out from under the sheet and onto the floor. She was wearing hospital scrubs.
“Where did you get the scrubs?” Aaron asked.
“One of the nurses had an extra set in her locker. I had my bag packed and ready to go and then forgot it in all the hoopla.”
Aaron laughed. “It’s usually the opposite of that in the movies. The frantic husband grabs the suitcase and leaves his wife behind.”
“Well, this is a new kind of movie. Apparently, the sister and her mother-in-law grab the mother-to-be and take her on a wild ride through a torrential downpour, completely forgetting the bag.”
Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t tell me anything else. I prefer not to know.”
Chapter 12
Gaia smiled as she strolled through the forest, thinking about her date with Aaron. Suddenly, she came to an abrupt halt.Oh no. I’d better check on Pan.“Karma?”
Her sister appeared.
“Where exactly did you put Pan? I should check on him.”
“Would you like me to do it?”
“No, I’d rather see him with my own eyes—not that I don’t trust you, Sister.”
“Of course not.” Karma rolled her eyes, then muttered under her breath, “Once a control freak, always a control freak.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Gaia sighed. “You know I heard you, and I don’t like that term.”
Karma shrugged. “Okay. I’ll try to think of some other expression that means the same thing. Power junkie? Control enthusiast?”
“Marginally better.”
“Meanwhile, the school you’re looking for is in New York. Fordham University. He’s the mascot.”
“Thank you.”
Confronting her sister on her rudeness wasn’t as important as her mission right now. She materialized at the college where Karma had deposited Pan. There was a football game going on.Perfect. Mascots are always at the games, right?Looking around, she didn’t see him.Oh crap.She couldn’t sense him either.Double crap.
She quickly copied someone else’s outfit and stepped up to one of the players on the sidelines. “Where is your mascot?”
The player scanned her up and down. “Aren’t you a little old to be a cheerleader?”
Gaia looked down at her outfit, which matched the girls who were jumping up and down on the sidelines.Cheerleader?She must have picked a uniform that didn’t apply to her. Oh well. Tough.
