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Alex shrugged. “Just worried.”
“And missing him?”
His laugh was light. She knew she hit the nail right on the head.
With a feigned sigh, she hopped to her feet. “Let’s go.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “If we leave now, we should be there by breakfast.”
Alex tried hiding his excitement. “If it’ll make you feel better.”
For that, he got a pillow in the gut.
CHAPTER17
MADISON
Third Trimester
As Madison stood in the nursery, carefully rolling the soft, soothing color up and down the walls, AJ interrupted from behind her. “Don’t you have people for that?” he asked, glancing around at the paint cans and brushes.
“My family has a tradition. The nursery must be freshly painted by family.” She smiled, setting the roller down and grabbing a cloth to wipe her hand. “Besides, I enjoy it. Alex might have money now, but neither of us grew up rolling in cash like Scrooge McDuck.”
AJ tilted his head. “Who?”
How does he not know Scrooge McDuck? “This is the highly rewarding world of sweat equity.”
He raised a brow, skeptical and surprised. Frowning, his focus shifted back to his phone. “What happens when the babies come?”
Madison pressed two fingers into her side, trying to work out a know. Or, a baby’s elbow. “What do you mean?”
“Alex will probably want me to…” He struggled to find the right words. “Move along.”
“Let me tell you something about Alex Drake,” she said, conviction in her tone. “He loves you. So do I. Family means no one is left behind or forgotten.”
A whimsical smile lifted at his lips. “I love that quote from David Ogden Stiers.”
“I was actually quotingLilo and Stitch, but he said it, too.”
Her smile vanished as a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over Madison. Then, shooting pain. She doubled over, gripping the arm of the chair.
AJ flew to her side, dropped his phone to the table and held her for support. “You need a doctor,” he insisted. “I’m calling Alex.”
Madison’s heart sank. She didn’t want to burden AJ with the truth, that Alex was buried under a pile of A-names and phone numbers, trudging through his search for AJ’s mom.
Instead, she mustered a smile, and breathed through it. “It’s just Braxton Hicks.” His face contorted, alarmed. She laughed. “Fake contractions.”
“Fake?” AJ’s arms remained around her. He’d need more convincing.
The pain eased off enough, she could stand. “Nothing to worry about. Promise.”
Unsettled, he rushed away, only to return moments later with a pack of crackers and a ginger ale. “Paco said if you looked woozy, to give you this,” he explained, his voice filled with a mix of care and uncertainty.
Madison accepted the offer, grateful not only for the snacks to settle her stomach, but for the bond strengthening between them.
“You, sit down,” he asked, rather insistently. “I’ll paint.” AJ took the roller and mimicked her technique. “Like this?” he asked.
