Page 84 of Poison Aches

“It’s nothing…” Kim murmurs. I roll my eyes.

“Right, and that elephant-sized appetite you ‘suddenly’ developed is nothing. It’s all fiction!”

“You…” Kim points at me, but I ignore her.

“What’s that, Knight? Auntie Kimmie is swimming in de-Nile? Yeah, she tends to do that a lot. You’ll find out later that the adults around you are not much good, poor thing.”

“Ivy, you?—”

Before Kim can swat my arm with her newly elevated Wonder Woman strength, I quickly get up with Knight and make a beeline to one of his many changing rooms.

We’ve done this so many times before, Knight and I, so after I’m done cleaning him up, I pick out a new outfit for him then go back to the girls.

“What? No fair!” Kim immediately accuses. “When did you get that?”

I hold up Knight for both of them to see, mimicking that one scene from theLion King, proudly displaying the words in—curvy rich font—on Knight’s new outfit.

Auntie Ivy’s Handsome Knight

“Oh this? I got it made two weeks ago. It just got delivered.”

“You play dirty, bitch!” Kim accuses, but I just stick my tongue out at her.

“Oh, don’t worry, Kimmy, I left a standing order for the nearest future.” I smile happily.

Her face heats up. “Can you shut up? We don’t know anything yet!”

Anyone listening would think Kimberly is mad, but Astraea and I both know better. She’s excited, secretly nervous, and a bit scared.

I glance at Astraea. She gets it and immediately changes the topic.

“Isn’t that a custom Dior fit?” Astraea asks, shaking her head. “Didn’t you say you’re saving up for med school?”

Ahh crap. Now that my damn brother has blocked all the cards he funds, I’m now penniless. But I can’t reveal my strife to my friends. I don’t need that extra pity.

“Why shouldn’t I spoil my Knight?” I coo at the baby in my arms. He smiles, waving his little chubby arms at me. I hug him to me and take a huge whiff of his dreamy baby scent. “God, I’ll miss this.”

“Do youhaveto go?” Kim asks for the ten thousandth time. I sigh.

“Kimberly, we’ve talked about this already.”

“Yeah, but talking about it and accepting it are two different things.”

What a coincidence. I was just thinking of something similar earlier.

I grab Knight’s bottle, then settle down to feed him.

“You didn’t put up that much of a fight when Astraea left years ago,” I point out.

“Uh, stop deflecting!” Kim snorts, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not.”

“Kim’s right, you are deflecting,” Astraea chimes in, folding her arms as she does. “And besides, I had just gone through heavily traumatic events at that time.”

“Have I told you that I like your new boobs?” I quickly latch on to a change of topic.

“Are you checking me out?”

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