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The woman plopped down next to her and gave her a big smile. Devaney hadn’t noticed when Cosima was farther away but she could see now some scars and discolorations of her skin on her forearms that weren’t covered by the three-quarter sleeve cardigan and her neck, even a few on her face—they looked old but there were a lot of them. Judging by the way Hudson was watching her like a devoted and lovesome grizzly bear, she couldn’t imagine they’d come from him.
“Can I hold him? You can hold Hopscotch and we can trade if you want. But if you want to keep Spaghetti I understand. I don’t let many people hold Hopscotch. She’s my favorite.”
Cosima was definitely a woman—mid-twenties if Devaney were to guess—but she had this twinkly childlike quality that was impossibly sweet. A swell of maternal affection made a lump in her throat that she swallowed and she didn’t totally know why. There was just something about the petite woman that inspired tenderness, and despite feeling like Eric’s little girl still she also felt protective of her new friend.
Devaney handed over Spaghetti and true to her word, Cosima passed her the bunny.
“He’s kind of heavy,” she told the other woman, “he has a hot water bottle inside him. Eric gave him to me to help with my cramps, they’re the worst.”
It was maybe TMI but Cosima was so open and had trusted her with Hopscotch so she figured she could say pretty much anything that was on her mind.
“Doctor Eric is the best,” Cosima said, giving Spaghetti a squeeze before holding him on her lap to investigate his fur and his spines. “Are you his girlfriend? Daddy and Papa thought you might be his girlfriend or his little but Sir told them to leave it alone and that Doctor Eric would tell them when he was ‘goddamn good and ready.’”
“Coco, jeez, language. And manners. Devaney is going to think you were raised in a barn.”
Papa? Sir? What? And now she realized Ian was looking at Cosima the same way Hudson did, although with a shake of his head and a whole lot of indulgent humor scrawled across his features. Was she his little girl too? And who was this sir? So many questions, but damn if she was going to bombard Cosima with them and get scolded for prying.
“Sorry, Papa,” Cosima said with that singsong tone and goofy smile the boys would give her when they knew they were misbehaving but in an adorable way so she wasn’t actually mad.
Okay, so Hudson was her daddy, Ian was her papa—what a lucky girl. They were both infatuated with her, not to mention very good-looking. Not as handsome as Eric of course, but nowhere close to eyesores. And apparently there was a sir too? Damn.
Ian rolled his eyes, and Cosima returned to her inspection of Spaghetti.
“What, Ryker didn’t want to come on this excursion?” Eric asked the men, and Hudson shook his head.
“Nah. His nerves can’t handle Cosy’s driving. Can’t say I blame him.”
“I’m practicing for my driver’s test,” Cosima informed her. “Don’t worry, I won’t drive your car. Just Papa’s.”
Driver’s test? Sure there were some cities where a person could get away with never learning how to drive, but the buses in Clover City didn’t have that kind of coverage and there wasn’t a subway. Maybe Cosima had moved here from New York?
“And I’m much better now! You even said so, Daddy. I know you wouldn’t let me drive if it wasn’t safe.”
“You’re right, babygirl. But you’re still not driving Devaney’s car. I’ll do that. Keys?” he asked Eric.
“Devy, your keys are in your bag, yeah?”
She nodded, and Eric smiled at her and Cosima sitting close on the couch.
“I’ll be right back.”
Cosima kept chattering at her as Eric went upstairs and it was a relief that she didn’t have to come up with anything to say. Silence would’ve meant she’d feel like she had to fill gaps in the conversation and she wasn’t really up to playing hostess. No one here seemed to expect her to, either.
“Want to see the best part about my romper?”
How could she say no when Cosima looked so eager to share?
“Yeah, definitely. I love your outfit.”
“Thanks. Papa got this for me,” she said as she reached back and pulled a hood over her head. A hood that had bunny ears on it for god’s sake, and the long floppy ears had a lining that matched the polka dot print on the rest of the garment. “It has ears so I can match Hopscotch!”
Cosima held out Spaghetti and Devaney traded Hopscotch back, laughing when Cosima pressed the well-loved bunny to her cheek to demonstrate that they were, in fact, twins.
“That is the cutest.”
“I know right? I bet Papa could tell Doctor Eric where he got it if you wanted one.”
“Oh…” Devaney felt her cheeks get hot. Did she? Wearing a bunny-hooded romper didn’t really seem like her, but then neither did a lot of the things she’d found herself doing over the past four days and yet she’d loved them. Maybe she’d love wearing sweet little outfits like she bet Cosima did all the time, too. Or maybe just on special occasions.
