Cal pushes a button under the counter, unlocking the door and buzzing her in.
She walks in carrying her new baby boy in a camo sling on her chest, looking annoyingly gorgeous for someone who also got no sleep. Seems her newest addition is more voracious than Morgan was.
She smirks at us. “Tell me you’re not feeding him again.”
“Don’t start,” I say, flushing but not bothering to finish buttoning up.
Cal wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and lifts his chin. “Hey, if she’s makin’ it, I’m takin’ it.”
Renae rolls her eyes.
“Where’s Morgan?” I ask, my heart always aching a little when I don’t get to see her.
“With Randy. She was all about getting ice cream at the park. They’ll come along in a bit, I’m sure. Anyway, I brought more lactation bars from my newest batch. And the infant diapers my big boy has already outgrown.”
She met her now husband about eight months after she went overseas. They were working together as air traffic controllers. High stress meets hot mess she said. He’s ten years older and treats her like a queen and Morgan like his own. She found her happiness and everything just feels like a fairy tale all around.
“Did you have any luck finding Mom?” I ask, but she shakes her head.
“No, and I’m not going to put any more effort into it. She’ll find us when she wants something.”
A few months back, a bounty hunter contacted me asking if I knew where she was. We’ve had little contact since Cal made a visit to her house just after I came here. I’m not sure all thatwent on, but he came home quieter than usual saying until she made amends and proved she could stay clean, there was a no contact order in place.
I had asked if Roger was still at the house when he came back and he just gave me this look. All he said was Roger took a trip and there was something in the way he said it, I knew not to ask for details.
It hurt not having contact with mom, but I also knew it was the right thing. About a month ago, we saw in the local news there was a court case, some drug charge or something, and she skipped bail. Renae took it on herself to at least check she was okay, but when Mom doesn’t want to be found, she can really disappear.
Renae comes to the counter, pretending not to notice Cal’s hand under my skirt while she glances at my belly. “You’re getting huge, little sis.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
“She’s getting fucking more beautiful every day. I love huge. I want her big as a fucking house.”
Renae chuckles. “She barely reaches your chest and for her, huge is most people’s goal weight.”
It’s true. I eat everything, but besides my butt and hips taking on a couple more inches, Cal still carries me around like a toddler. Our size difference is another small-town gossip topic.
Let ‘em talk. I see how the women of this town look at my husband. When I see them staring, I put my hands up like a toddler. He picks me up, and I stick my tongue out, wrapping myself around his massive body, knowing this man will never let me fall.
She sits down and quiets for a beat as she rocks softly back and forth, her arms wrapped under the camo bundle of baby. “I never did say thank you. For those months. For what you did.”
I stiffen, reaching out and brushing my fingertips along thesmall visible area of baby head peeking out from the fabric, brushing the single tuft of dark hair.
Cal’s fingers slip out of me trying to be discreet, his hand coming to rest on my knee as his other arm slides around my waist, giving me that sense of security he somehow knows I need right now.
I meet my sister’s eyes. “I wasn’t sure if you ever knew…”
“I knew. Morgan practically kept pulling my shirt off,” she says softly. “And I’m so grateful you took care of her like she was your own. You were her mom when I couldn’t be. And I’ll never forget that.”
Tears sting my eyes. Hormones. Gratitude. Love.
Then Cal shifts under me, his hard-on still hard, and I know it’s gotta be uncomfortable as hell.
“I thank you, too,” he says, kissing my shoulder and clearing his throat. “The day you dropped her off at my place all swollen and desperate. Changed my fucking life.”
Renae wipes her eyes, putting her hand over mine on Damon’s head. “Alright. Go do your filthy stuff. I can see I’m interrupting. I’ll go to the park.”
I give her a sheepish grin, wanting to get fucked as badly as I know Cal wants to fuck me right now.