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Without looking up, I say, “I’m fine. I promise.”
He stands back up without another word but doesn’t remove his hand.
“Shit,” Elizabeth says, scooting back from the wall. “I’ve messed up this rabbit.”
She moves to the side. I crane to look at it.
“Looks fine to me,” I say.
She looks like she might start to cry. “No, it’s not right. It doesn’t look like what you did.”
“Well, it doesn’t have to be exactly like mine.” I’m not sure why this is upsetting her so much. She looks nearly panicked. James sets down his paintbrush and walks over.
“He’s cute. I like him.”
She bites her lip and stares at the wall. Everyone else in the room has stopped painting and is just watching her. Before anyone can speak, Juno pops her head in the room. “Everett is fussing. I think he’s hungry.”
Elizabeth doesn’t move. She’s still staring at the wall. James takes the paintbrush from her hand. “I’ll finish this up. Why don’t you go feed him?”
“You can use my bedroom if you want some privacy,” I say.
She looks at me for a second like she doesn’t understand what I’m saying. James puts his hand on her back, and I swear she jumps just slightly.
“Did you hear Maggie? She said you can use the bedroom if you want?” James says.
She nods. “Of course. Sorry I can’t finish this.”
“We have lots of workers. Thanks for your help.”
She nods again and leaves the room without a word.
No one speaks for a full minute. James doesn’t move either. He just stares down at the rabbit. Finally, Eli steps back and looks at the rabbit. “It looks good. I don’t know why she was upset about it.”
“It’s not about the rabbit,” Celeste mutters.
I look from James to Celeste and back again. James sighs. “She’s just really tired. Everett wants to eat every hour at night. Breastfeeding isn’t going well. He isn’t gaining weight like he should. We’re trying to get to the bottom of it, but it’s exhausting her and feeding him is really painful.”
“That’s tough,” Declan says. “Anything we can do?”
James just shakes his head. “We’ll get through it.”
He kneels down and starts painting in the corner without another word.
Elizabeth never returns. After painting for an hour, Declan moves the glider out into the living room. I cover my hand over my mouth when I walk out of the nursery. They’ve decorated the whole room. Balloons, flowers, streamers, and a huge banner. I blink back tears.
“Oh, you guys didn’t have to do this,” I say as I take a seat in the glider.
“Of course we did,” Zadie says with a bright smile. I scan the room for Elizabeth. She’s sitting on the couch holding Everett, who’s asleep in her arms. She looks like a shell of her normal self, like she’s here but she’s not. I can’t imagine going that long without a decent night’s sleep. Well, I don’t have to imagine it. I’ll be living it soon.
Juno hands me a gift.
“Open this one first,” she says with a bright smile.
I tear open the wrapping paper and pull out a newborn pajama set with a matching hat. “Oh my goodness, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s so tiny,” Juno says.
Ansley tots over and hands me a small gift.
