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I make my way out to my car. Maybe if I see Graham again and he asks me out, I’ll say yes, and on that thought, I head to my last patient’s home.
My patient is easy and I’m in and out of there in a half hour. “See you next week, Mr. Roberts.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grumbles from his recliner.
Mr. Roberts doesn’t see it, but when I open the door and step outside I’m smiling. He’s a grumpy Gus, but I know he loves me. He’ll refuse anyone else if they try to put him on someone else’s schedule.
I head toward my sister and Ben’s home—they’ve got a parent/teacher conference for Natalie and I volunteered to look after the other kiddos. Of course I am their favorite auntie. Oh, Ben’s sisters are great, but they have families of their own, so it’s much easier for me to watch them. I pull up in front of their house and then climb out of my car.
As the front door opens, I grab my backpack, and when I come around I’m hit by the sweetest little girl in the entire world. “Aunt Haddie.” She hugs me around my waist and gives me a squeeze.
I stroke a hand over her tawny braids. “How’s my girl? Are Mom and Dad going to get a good report on you today?”
She steps back and places her hand on her hip. “Well duhh!” Natalie struts back to the house with me chuckling as I follow behind her. They are going to have their hands full with her. I step inside and find Paisley crawling on top of her dad, who’s lying on the floor.
Paisley squeals when she sees me so I pluck her right up from the floor, kissing her chubby cheeks. “What’s up, bro?”
Ben gets up and gives me a hug, and a kiss on top of my head. Abby is seriously lucky, her husband is so sweet and freaking hot. “Thanks for coming and watching the monster crew.”
“Any time.” I hand Paisley back to her dad and find Abby and the boys painting at the table. “Hey guys.” The boys both turn to me, smiling, sliding out of their seats. They come running toward me so I squat down and open my arms.
They’re little brutes already and knock me on my ass. I cover them with smooches until they squeal. I watch Rion and Dalton run into the backyard and start wrestling. Abby comes over, holding out her hand to me and helping me up. I look her over and notice she’s gotten skinny.
“What’s up with you being all skinny? Why haven’t I noticed this before?” Oh god, what if she’s sick?
Abby grabs my biceps. “I can see the nurse wheels spinning. I’m fine, I wanted to start working out since we’re done having babies, and a friend of Ben’s owns a Crossfit box, so that’s what I’ve been doing.” She flexes and that’s when I see she’s cut.
“Holy shit, maybe I ought to join and do it with you.” I’ve always been skinny and no matter how much I eat, I don’t gain weight—it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because I can satisfy my sweet tooth whenever I want without feeling guilty. It’s a curse because I’m built like a boy and am constantly being told I should eat more, even though I do, a lot.
“Come with me tomorrow. Mom’s watching the kids so I can go since Ben’s working.” We make plans and I follow her inside.
“Natalie, get your shoes on,” Abby tells her before disappearing down the hall.
They leave a few minutes later and I sit down on the floor with Paisley while the boys disappear down the hall to their room to play. My sweet little niece crawls onto my lap. I grab my phone and take a selfie of us and then post it to Instagram with the hashtag baby love.
Not even two seconds later a CAnderson69 likes my photo. “Who is CAnderson, Paisley?” She grabs my phone, trying to put it in her mouth. “Um…no, little girl.” After screeching at me, she grabs her baby doll and rocks it. I can only shake my head.
I pull up the profile and see that it’s Chris—since when is he following me on Instagram? I scroll through his pictures—in half of them he’s surrounded by beautiful women. Women with curves, big breasts, and skimpy clothing hang on him like he’s the king of the world…barf.
I barely see Chris and all of a sudden I can’t seem to get away from him everywhere I go. “Let’s go check on your brothers.” Paisley holds her arms up to me. I scoop her up and carry her down the hall to the boys’ room. We find them playing trucks—well, it is more like demolition derby.
“Aunt Haddie, I want a snack.” Dalton drops his truck and runs past me with Rion following close behind. Double trouble is what I like to call them. I don’t know how my sister does it. They jump from one thing to another. I look down at Paisley. “I guess we should get a snack.” She gives me a slobbery, toothy grin, and then goes into a baby babble tirade.
They haven’t eaten dinner yet, so I get them set up with some grapes and animal crackers after sticking Paisley in her highchair. While they eat, I pull out my notes for my mental health nursing class. We’ve got a quiz on Friday and I want to be prepared.
Ben, Abby, and Natalie return home a half hour later, and of course my niece is getting excellent marks and her teacher loves her. After giving her snuggles, I decline their invitation to stay for dinner. I love them all, but I’m obviously not going to get any studying done here.
Abby walks me out to my car. “Thanks again for sitting with the kids.”
“You do not need to thank me. I love spending time with them.” I open the passenger side door and toss my backpack inside.
She sighs. “I know you love it, but sometimes I feel like I take advantage of you.”
I can’t help it and start to laugh. “You seriously think you take a-advantage of me.” I wipe the tear from my eyes and get control of myself. “I love you. I love your husband, and I love those rowdy heathens you call your children. I’d do anything for you—for them.”
Abby kisses my cheek and then hugs me tight. “I love you. Oh do you want to go with me tomorrow?”
I’m not what you’d call athletic—oh sure, when I was younger I danced, but I’ve never done sports. I’d only run if someone was chasing me. Of course I do like the idea of spending some uninterrupted time with my sister, who is my best friend. “Yeah okay, but you’re responsible for getting my carcass home.”
