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“I will do it. You keep working. Be happy, Agatha.” He kissed her forehead and headed down the stairs, knowing she needed her time in her studio to herself, though he hoped that she was willing to be herself with him also.
On the main floor, he smiled and wondered if that was where she had been when her song timer had gone off the other day. Did she always come down the stairs singing and happy? He knew she must.
Sitting on the floor with Poppy, Chris held her hands so that she could wobble stand—she liked to do that. Even today, she was less wobbly and would try to take steps, usually twisting and falling to the ground in her attempt. Her tiny green pants were topped with a once-white shirt. Now it had odd, multicolored stains from lunch.
Looking at Agatha’s daughter, he could already see her in the baby’s eyes and nose. Their shared dark coloring was the most obvious, but she already had her cautious yet easy laugh that was all Agatha. In just three days, he knew that.
Poppy was giggling as she tried to crawl away from him. She had mastered crawling and was quick when she wanted to be. Suddenly, the door opened, and a blonde carrying a car seat walked into the house and stopped when she saw him.
He knew immediately that it was Sera, Agatha’s stepmom. Even if he had only seen her once, the baby seat in her arms was a dead giveaway.
“You,” she said without enthusiasm as she looked him over before her eyes landed on Poppy. Though she nearly smiled at the baby, she stopped herself and frowned at them both.
“Hi, I’m Chris Lowell,” he said, but he figured she already knew who he was by her greeting.
“Yes, I know. I’m Sera Dean, Agatha’s mother.” The woman wasn’t even ten years older than Agatha. But after knowing Agatha for as long as he had, he knew Agatha also felt like Sera was her mother, no matter her age.
“Agatha’s upstairs, drawing.”
“I don’t like this. I just want you to know that I do not like you or what you have done to her. She deserves so much better than you.” With that, she took her baby and left the room, heading for the stairs, ignoring Poppy as she went. Poppy, though, watched the woman with sudden attention.
Chris watched her go and wondered what he had done to Agatha that made this woman hate him already. What had Agatha told her?Nothing came to mind as Poppy got away from him as she tried to catch up with the woman, who wasn’t a fan of either of them.
It bothered him that she didn’t like him. Over the years, many people had disliked him, but none had been important to Agatha. Not one that could change Agatha’s mind about him, and that was what worried him the most. Losing her.
With Poppy back in his arms, he wondered how the conversation was going upstairs. Was Sera going to be as mad as Agatha thought that she was going to be? Or would she be happy to have Poppy in the family? He hoped it was the latter. Agatha already felt bad enough about the entire situation.
