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“You have to say that. You’re my dad,” she said, pulling the seat belt over her chest and buckling it.
I gave her a look. “I think everyone would agree with me on this. Besides, as long as you’re a good big sister, he or she will adore you.”
“Really?” Her nose was adorably scrunched up.
I loved that she was worried about her sister or brother liking her. It showed she was in touch with her feelings and wanted to be a good person.
“Aunt Sage adored me.” Despite our bickering over the years, Sage had looked up to me when we were kids. She followed me around, wanting to do whatever I did: hang out with my friends, stay up late, and eat junk food.
“It’s going to be different.”
I sighed, hating that she was going through this, but it was a rite of passage. Most kids had siblings they needed to adjust to. Their parents would be focused on someone who needed more immediate attention. It was an adjustment I was positive she could handle with grace. “Babies don’t sleep a lot during the night, and I hate to tell you this, but—” Wren looked at me expectantly. “They cry a lot.”
“Where will I go?” The worry in her voice concerned me.
“I’ll text your stepdad and tell him you can stay with me until they’re ready for you to visit.”
“I can?”
“I don’t see why not. You can’t be with them at the hospital.”
“Yay!”
Satisfied she was okay, I typed out a quick message as I rounded the hood and climbed inside. “Let’s go home.” I winked at Wren in the rearview mirror. It felt great to be taking her to my house and not her mother’s.
“Guess who’s home?” I called when we opened the front door.
Everly popped her head out of the office. “Wren. How was basketball?”
“Great. We played knock-out.”
“You’ll have to tell me what that is.”
“I can show you.”
“Absolutely. Let me grab my sneakers, and we can go out front to practice.”
“Can I get a snack first, Daddy?”
I ruffled her hair, pleased that she’d seemingly shrugged off the shock of her new brother or sister arriving into the world.
Wren dropped her ball and ran into the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” Everly asked in a low tone of voice. “I’m happy to see her, but—”
“Lola’s at the hospital. She’s in labor.”
“Oh. She said it was okay if we kept Wren?”
I checked my phone. George had replied with anokay. “Yep.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“Where else can she go? And besides, I’m her father. Things should work this way. It shouldn’t always be black and white, every other weekend and every Wednesday for three hours. Kids have needs; things come up.”
Everly squeezed my arm. “I agree with you.”
“There should be more give and take.”
