Page 434 of Redeeming 6

“Hey, queen.”

Her breath hitched and she turned to look at me. “Hey, stud.”

Hands shaking, I closed the space between us and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. “What’s happening, baby?” I coaxed, reaching for the screaming child. “Why are you crying?”

“I’ve done everything,” she strangled out, hands hanging limply at her sides when I shifted the baby into my arms. “He’s fed, changed, and winded, and he won’t stop.”

“Okay,” I coaxed, settling him into the crook of my arm so that I could wrap my arm around her shoulders. “You’re okay.”

“I’m not, okay, Joe,” she sobbed, twisting sideways and burying her face in my neck. “I’m not okay. I can’t do this.”

“Yeah, you can,” I whispered. “All you need to do is sleep. Just lie down and get some sleep, Molloy. I’ll handle everything.”

“I need to be able to do it myself.”

“You’re already more than able,” I coaxed. “You’re just running on empty here. He needs you to sleep. That’s the best thing you can do for the both of you right now.”

Finally complying, she curled up in a small ball on her bed and closed her eyes, still sobbing as she slowly drifted to sleep.

With the baby cradled in my arms, I slipped out of her room and padded down the stairs, moving to the kitchen to where the sterilizer was located.

“She’s been trying to nurse, but it’s not coming easily,” Trish said when I stepped into the kitchen. “It’s all getting on top of her.”

“Trish, I know you have the best of intentions, but I need you to lay off the breastfeeding talk.”

“I’m only trying to help my daughter.”

“I get that, but she’s exhausted,” I replied evenly, trying not to step on toes, but needing to take control of this shitstorm before it got out of hand. “She can’t do it right now, and quite frankly, her mental health is a hell of a lot more important to me than whether or not my son is breastfed. AJ will continue to thrive on formula, but Aoife won’t, and I need you to tell her it’s okay to do what’s right for her.”

She seemed to consider what I said before releasing a heavy sigh. “I suppose I have been championing her going down the nursing route.”

“And that’s grand,” I assured her as I one-handedly prepped a bottle. “But she’s having a hard time getting through this, and we need to make it as easy as possible for her.”

“I agree.”

“Good.” Nodding, I exhaled a relieved sigh. “Listen, Trish, I know you and Tony don’t exactly trust me right now, and I don’t blame you, but I can’t leave the two of them here and just walk away. I can’t do it. They need me.”

“Yes, they do.”

“I want them to come and live with me.”

“Absolutely not,” her mother replied, exactly as I’d predicted. “You’re welcome to stay and help with the baby as much as you want, but they’re staying with me.”

Deciding now was not the time to poke the bear, I relented, content that I had planted the seed. “I’ll take him in the sitting room for a bit, if that’s okay. Let her get some sleep.”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

Switching on the television for background noise, I settled down on the couch with AJ resting on my shoulder.

“You’re grand,” I coaxed, patting his back to break his wind. “But you need to steady up on the drama. Your poor mam is wrecked from ya.”

He pulled his knees up and released another furious squawk.

“Yeah, I know,” I coaxed, upping the pace of the patting. “You need to take a big shit, don’t ya? Come on, big man. Get it out. Daddy’s here.”

Several minutes ticked by and then I felt a sudden flush of heat against my hand, along with an impressive five-second-long fart.

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