Chapter 7
“Don't come back tonight.”
“Audrey—”
“I need to rest.”
I ended the call.
Mom took the papers when my hands started shaking.
“Do you want them put away?”
“No. Please take pictures first.”
She did, then placed them in an envelope.
The flowers were still on the windowsill. I asked her to move them where I couldn't see them.
Later, while Lucy slept, I searched the crib model on the invoice.
I remembered the rounded corners and the wood finish.
I had sent Garrett that exact crib months earlier, along with a message about how it could convert as Lucy grew.
He had answered that we needed to stop buying things just because they looked nice.
I had apologized and chosen something cheaper.
The invoice showed Paige's crib had been paid in full.
I put down my phone.
Then I reached for Lucy's blanket and tucked it gently around her legs.
He had known how to prepare for a baby all along.
PART 4 — THE SOUP I MADE FOR HER
Mom drove us home to her house the next day.
Garrett brought Lucy's car seat to the hospital. He watched Mom help me into the passenger seat and asked how long I planned to stay with her.
“Until I know what happens next.”
He leaned toward the open window.
“It's your home too, Audrey.”
“I know.”
I wanted him to hear that I understood the difference between leaving for a few days and giving something up.
Mom closed the door gently.
Her house smelled like laundry soap and the soup she had put in the slow cooker.
She had cleared the room I used as a teenager. A bassinet stood beside the bed, borrowed from a neighbor whose granddaughter had outgrown it.
On the dresser was a glass of water and a packet of crackers.
I cried when I saw them.
Mom put down the diaper bag.
“Too much?”
“No.”
I didn't know how to explain that it was exactly enough.
For the first few days, I fed Lucy, slept in short stretches, and tried to get through the ordinary discomforts of recovery.
Mom washed clothes and wrote down grocery needs. She asked before taking Lucy, and when I wanted to hold her through an entire nap, she left us alone.
Garrett sent messages about coming home.
He also wanted to know whether I had told anyone about Paige.