“We’re coming to you!” Haddy says. “Aunt Allie told us when you were having your bye week, so we planned a special trip to Newhope. It’ll just be Gina and the girls and me, but it’s so close to Maddie’s fall break, we’re able to make it work.”
“Oh… okay, then!” I smile, and I wonder how Melody might feel about joining me for a visit to Newhope. “I’ll be glad to see everybody, too.”
“Bring that Quarterback Princess with you,” Gina says. “I’d like to meet her… and have a nice, long conversation with her.”
Her feisty tone makes me laugh, not to mention she freakin read my mind. “You planning to kick some butt for me, Geeg?”
“You know I will. Nobody messes with my baby cousin.”
“Uncle Knox isn’t a baby!” Maddie cries, falling back and laughing.
“I tell you, Mads,” I say. “Once you’re the baby, you’re always the baby.”
I don’t bother pointing out Sage is actually younger than I am, and therefore thetruebaby of the family, not counting the grandkids.
I return Cricket to her high chair, but her blue eyes are wide as she watches us curiously. Edward resumes feeding her, and she makes little baby noises between the bites of the cereal.
“We’d better let you guys have dinner.” Haddy stands, lifting the iPad and holding it so they can all wave. “We just wanted to check in and send you all our love.”
Again, my heart swells, and I feel a little guilty for all the bad thoughts I was having about them 48 hours ago.
To be fair, the California cousins couldn’t have come to my rescue anyway. They’re two thousand miles away.
“We love you guys.” I lift Cricket’s little hand, waving to them all.
The screen goes dark, and I turn, watching as Edward spoons the final bite into her mouth. He’s really good about scraping the overflow off her lips with the spoon. I’m going to need a crash course in all this before he leaves me.
“Not all babies look like their fathers when they’re born,” he notes. “It doesn’t mean she’s not your biological child. Not that it matters to you.”
“Right.” I nod, thinking about what I told him, the conundrum. “I’m just going to run change if you’re okay here?”
“We’re perfectly fine.” He washes the baby cereal bowl then walks over to take out a jar of pureed carrots. “One last serving of beta carotene.”
“Just a warning.” I hold out my hand as I walk to my bedroom. “She spit sweet potatoes all over me last night.”
Edward puts his elbow on the table, lowering his shoulders and looking at Cricket in the eyes. “Christine, I do not want you to spit this on me. Understood?”
Again, he waits, and I can’t tell if she’s really processing what he says or if she’s just fascinated by the way he speaks to her.
“Thank you.” He nods as if she answered him. “We’ll start slow.”
I can’t help it. I wait, watching to see how this is going to play out. Edward puts a small amount of the bright orange goo on the tip of the rubber spoon. He approaches her with it slowly, and her big blue eyes watch him intently.
Her lips part, and he slips it into her mouth. I wait…
Her little eyes close tightly, and she shakes her head,doing a little shoulder shimmy. But she doesn’t spit it out. In fact she opens her eyes and her mouth again.
“Seriously, Crick? That’s it?” I groan, shaking my head as I walk to my room. “She only shits and spits on me.”
He’s almost finished with the small jar of food when I return to the kitchen, and not a speck of orange has been blasted anywhere.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised,” I add. “Little girls always love you.”
Edward’s brow furrows, and he looks from her to me. “That sounds strange.”
“It’s true, though.”
“Little girls, like people in general, only want to be heard. And for you to hear them, you have to listen.”
