“Give me that nugget, right now,” Charlie said. “Oh, and also how are you feeling and whatever?”
Wren smiled and handed the bundle over. “Meet, drumroll please, Liam Ace Morrisen.”
“Ace?” Charlie asked, rocking and swaying with babyLiam, completely lost in his eyes. “As in number one? First? First of many? And who the hell is Morrisen?”
“Just something we’re trying on,” Wren said. She took a look around. Home looked…different. There were distinct vacuum lines in the carpet. “Is it cleaner in here?”
“We tidied up a bit,” Tristan said. “Sorry we didn’t have time to do more. There’s a few meals in the fridge, and you should have a DoorDash gift card in your email.”
“And wine,” Charlie added. “I brought lots of wine. It’s in the kitchen.”
“In the kitchen, you say?” Wren said, already halfway there. When she got there, a glorious selection of reds and whites was spread out on the counter. She didn’t even know where to start. She wondered if she could drink them all at once.
Meanwhile, Charlie was completely transfixed by Liam, lost in his eyes.
“You OK?” Arthur asked her.
“Yeah.” Charlie sniffled. “Yeah, I’m OK.” She handed Liam gently back to Arthur and said, “But do you think I could talk to Wren alone for a second?”
26
Arthur and Tristan waited uncomfortablyin the building’s lobby to give the girls some space. Arthur bounced Liam mindlessly. He was calm and sleepy.
“So what’s that all about?” Arthur asked.
“Well, there’s no easy way to say it, I guess. But we’re moving.”
Arthur’s heart dropped. “Oh,” was all he could say.
“We love it here and everything. But I finally convinced Charlie that there’s more to see out there.”
“You know Wren’s gonna kill you, right?”
Tristan laughed. “To be honest, I could use a little bit of a fresh start. Figure out what I want to do next. I hope she understands that.”
Liam let out the most adorable little yawn, his tiny arms trying their best to stretch.
“Can I?” Tristan asked.
Arthur nodded and handed him over. Tristan held Liam like a plate that had just come out of the microwave. Arthur laughed and helped him adjust.
“You can put one arm under here, and a hand behind his head. Always support the head.”
“You’re so good at this.”
“I’m just well-read. In reality I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Could have fooled me.”
A long silence while Tristan, getting the hang of it, rocked Liam back and forth, mesmerized by him.
“I don’t know how to thank you guys, for everything you’ve done,” Arthur said out of the blue.
“No need,” Tristan said. “Happy to help a friend.”
“You pushed your honeymoon back to help us out. That’s above and beyond.”
Tristan smiled and shrugged.
