Page 96 of The Golden Hour

He rushed out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom. She could hear him retching, followed by the toilet flushing as she expertly finished changing Daisy into a fresh diaper and a cute little floral onesie. She tossed the dirty diaper into the Diaper Genie and scooped Daisy into her arms.

“There you go,” Honey cooed to Daisy. “That’s better, isn’t it?”

Daisy cuddled into Honey’s chest, making an adorable little gurgling noise that almost sounded like a giggle.

Honey smiled and kissed her head, Mason’s retching reaching her ears once more.

“That’s my girl,” Honey murmured against Daisy’s soft hair, smiling down at her sweet little face. “We make a good team, huh?”

Daisy smiled at Honey like she wholeheartedly agreed.

It was not so funny then, she imagines, but now, Mason’s mouth twists into a wry grin at the memory.

One of those funny parent memories they’ll tell Daisy in fifteen years to tease her, and she will scoff and deny it while hiding her own smile. A nice moment shared between them. Little core memories of these first weeks.

“Even the blowouts,” Mason agrees with a chuckle. “I deserved that… and more.”

“You did,” Honey says, meeting his eyes and allowing herself to share his humor. It feels nice to laugh, and she is glad that Mason can laugh at himself. It feels like progress, a step away from the rigid cocky Dr. Carpenter, and back to the silly and sweet man she was in love with.

Mason sobers up, though, the humor fading from his face.

“I truly regret that, Honey,” he says.

She looks at him, seeing the regret on his face.

“I know you do,” she shrugs. “I knew you did the second you said it.”

“I could say I was exhausted and my mouth moved quicker than my brain, and that is true,” Mason’s lip curls. “But it doesn’t undo it. It doesn’t take the words or their impact back from you.”

“I know all this, Mason,” Honey nods. “It’s easy to rationalize it in my head. But my heart… it’s sore.”

Mason nods before he stares at her for a long moment.

“Do you want me to go back to St. Mary’s?”

The question is so abrupt that it takes her a bit off guard. The expression on his face is dead serious. He’s not asking her to consider the question, he’s asking her for her answer.

And the answer is the simplest thing in the world.

“We need money,” Honey says. “I don’t want to rely on our parents forever. I can’t work right now. We still have a mortgage. We have your student loans. We have bills. We have diapers to pay for. She’s growing so fast. We’ll blink one day and she’ll be six months old. And then a year. And then…”

Honey trails off because she can’t speak anymore without wanting to cry. Her eyes seek out Daisy immediately, sleeping peacefully in her crib and completely unaware that her mother is having a bit of a moment. She’s grown so much in the last two weeks already. It’s scary how fast time goes by. She wants to enjoy every single second with her.

Who knows if she’ll ever have another baby…

Honey clears the emotion clogging her throat at that.

“We need money,” Honey says simply.

Mason nods. “I know, but I could see if I could transfer to another hospital?”

“What are the chances you’d be able to do that now—with a month and a half left of your residency? Won’t it mess things up…”

Mason tilts his head back and forth.

“Not impossible, but…”

“Just… finish the residency, Mason.” Honey says. “But, we can’t go back to how we were. I can’t do this on my own, and it’s not my parents’ nor your parents responsibility to raise Daisy. They’re our village, but we’re her parents.”