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I frowned. She definitely wasn’t going to be eating this dish garden. “Is this Emmaline Hauser’s apartment?”
“Who’s asking?”
“Um, Mason Brooks from The Mason Jar.”
“Oh,” her voice brightened, “we like your food.” A buzz followed by the release of a locking mechanism was my only clue to entry.
I swung the door open. “I’m glad, I think,” I muttered as I fought my way through the door with everything I was holding.
A door down the hall opened and I was met with a statuesque brunette with wild dark curls as I came around the corner. She had her arms folded as if she was guarding the entrance.
She tipped her head and scanned me much like the lens outside. Suddenly, she nodded and took the bags of food. “You can come in, I suppose.”
“Kitty, who’s at the door?”
I heard Emma’s voice before I spotted her, and my stomach pitched as if I was careening down a black diamond ski trail.
And just like that trail, there was no turning back now.
NINE
Who was at the door?
My brother had a shift at the clinic today, I was pretty sure.
Maybe.
What day was it?
They’d all blurred into feedings, changing diapers, endless laundry, and the occasional moments of sleep. I wasn’t sure when I’d changed my shirt. I sure as hell hadn’t brushed my hair.
Or my teeth.
I was still wearing a damn diaper.
Okay, so it technically wasn’t a diaper, but it sure felt like one. Because my body sure as hell wasn’t my own right now. It belonged to Adriana and so many aches I couldn’t think around them for hours at a time.
Currently, my boobs were on fire, and I had two hours before my little girl would be looking for more food.
I should be pumping for backup milk later. I was about to turn around and go into my bedroom when I heard his voice.
It wasn’t one I’d forget any time soon. I caught myself dreaming about it when I was extra exhausted. The quiet firmness under the worry. His big hands on me.
I pasted a smile on my face and nearly tripped on a rattle. I caught myself on the arm of my couch. “Hey, Mason.”
He hurriedly rushed inside, dropping a bag and a…was that a plant? He set both down on my overcrowded dining room table. He gently took me by the elbow. “Are you okay?”
Kitty stood at the door, her mouth hanging open. Her editing glasses were pushed up on top of her head, a little crooked in her wild curls.
“I’m fine. I’m really sorry.” I glanced around at the chaos. Baby shrapnel everywhere. Diapers, clothes, Amazon boxes that came in from my family. There was another tower of them in Adriana’s room as well as mine.
My brothers and sisters weren’t sure what to do with me being away from Clintondale, so they just bought me things. I appreciated it, but I was drowning. And in the dark of the night, I wondered why I wanted to do this myself.
A piercing cry bleated out of my pocket.
Mason’s eyes widened. “Wow.”
I flicked the volume down. “She’s got her mama’s lungs on her. Sorry. I have to—”
