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Aidan hugged her close as he led her to the kitchen, walking side by side as they’d done so often before. “Let’s have a cup of coffee to celebrate. I’d like to have something stronger, but that can wait until we’re alone.”
The door to the garage opened. Emma stood there staring at them. “Daddy!”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EMMA RACED IN, trailing a plastic grocery bag behind her. “We got Cheerios. Lisa says they are good for me. Do you like Cheerios?” she asked, coming to a halt in front of Aidan as she dropped the bag and put her arms out to him.
“I love Cheerios. We’ll have them for breakfast, will we?” he asked, lifting her into his arms and kissing her cheek.
“We can have them now,” Emma said, planting a big noisy kiss on Aidan’s cheek.
He hugged her, his arms cradling her body as he swayed back and forth. “We can do whatever you want, Emma girl.”
Emma spotted Grace and leaned back in her father’s arms. Her eyes widened. “Do you want to make peanut butter sandwiches?” She wiggled out of her father’s arms to go to Grace. “I help Lisa, but after that we could make some sandwiches,” Emma said, putting her tiny hands on her hips, the way Aidan did so often.
Grace, her heart filling with love for the little girl who had made her husband so happy, glanced at Aidan. “Like father, like daughter?”
“Oh. You mean this,” he said, resting his hands on his hips.
“Exactly.”
Aidan’s smile radiated happiness. “She is amazing, isn’t she?”
“Come on.” Emma took Grace’s hand, leading her to the cupboard and opening the door, peering inside before pulling out a jar of peanut butter. “You get the bread.”
“Are we being just a little bossy?” Lisa said as she entered the kitchen, her arms full of grocery bags.
“Let me do that,” Aidan offered, taking the bags from her and placing them on the counter. “I’ll get the rest of the groceries out of the car.”
Turning to Aidan, she said, “Can you take Emma out with you for a few minutes?”
“Absolutely,” Aidan said. “Emma, Daddy needs your help with the other groceries.” He held out his hand.
“Yeah!” Emma raced past Lisa, red curls circling her head.
“Thanks,” Lisa said, nodding at Grace. “It’s nice to see you.”
“It’s nice to see you, too.” Grace helped take the groceries out of the bag, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. Was it being back in her house again, or was it simply being with Aidan?
She stopped to consider, a bag of Oreo cookies in her hands. It wouldn’t be her kitchen again until she could accept everything that had changed these past weeks, changes that both she and Aidan had to cope with if they were going to be part of each other’s lives.
With Emma out of the house for a few minutes, she turned to Lisa. “Aidan tells me you’re going to Spartanburg soon.”
Lisa hesitated for a few seconds. “Yes. I’m worried about how Aidan will manage. I’ve gotten to appreciate him. He’s kind and considerate, and he is a great dad. The only reason I feel I can leave is that Emma is perfectly happy here with him. At first, it didn’t go so well, but now I have no doubt that everything will work out. The only other thing I wish for Emma is that she have a new mom,” Lisa said, a knowing look in her eyes.
“I want that for Emma, too.” Grace wanted to be involved in Emma’s life, but first she needed to resolve her feelings, find a way past them if she was to be a good mother to Emma.
She hadn’t wanted to face the thoughts that had played in her mind as Aidan talked about kindergarten for Emma. They were thoughts that frightened her, left her feeling alone and inadequate. For all her wishing and hoping for a baby, during which she’d planned and pushed Aidan to continue the treatments to conceive a child of their own, there had been one unexpressed thought lurking in the back of her mind.
