Page 106 of The Golden Hour

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

HONEY

“How are you doing, Honey?”

Honey’s shoulders rise at that question.

It’s a very kind question, and the people who have been asking her are more so.

But it’s also a hard question to answer.

How is she doing?

Fine, relatively.

She feels like she’s been doing well with motherhood.

Fifty-two days postpartum, and her body is feeling back to normal—with a couple of differences. She cannot laugh too hard, sneeze, or cough, without losing some control of her bladder. A couple more tiger stripes on her breasts, her belly, her hips. Her belly has deflated. And her breasts are not as sore anymore.

Overall, she’s happy with that.

Daisy is doing phenomenally.

Their daughter has been hitting every milestone Dr. Adonis expected for where she started. The blonde doctor even commented on how beautifully she’s doing, and how well Honey is doing as her mother.

She smiles and glances down at Daisy by her feet, sleeping peacefully in her car seat. It’s still jarring to see how much she’s grown in the last two months. The dark hair she was born with has changed to match her own honey blonde. Her facial features are forming, and she sees that Daisy looks just like her.

Besides her smile.

Honey got what she wished for. Her baby girl has her father’s smile.

And secretly, she’s very happy with that.

Mason’s smile can still make her heart sing, as evidenced by last night when she followed the sound of someone singing “Hungry Heart.”

Honey stood outside her bedroom, peeking through the open door and watching Mason and Daisy together.

For one moment, she forgot.

And it was bliss.

Daisy did not look all that impressed with her daddy and his singing, but she giggled a couple of times when he hit an awful note or pulled a funny face.

The sound, the sight, the feeling settled around Honey like a warm hug, and she just watched them bond.

It was everything she had ever wanted.

A happy home full of giggles and music and love.

“Well, would you look at that?”

Honey looked over her shoulder at her mother standing behind her, smiling at the scene.

“Still on my shit list,” Melissa said, “but he’s gaining some inches. I’ll admit, him sleeping on the ground gained some major ground.”

Honey frowned at those words, not understanding what she meant. “The ground?”

Melissa huffed a laugh.