Page 50 of Pieces into Place
“Thank you for telling me that story, Mom.”
“Thank you for wanting to hear it.” Isla kissed the top of her head, remembering the first time she’d kissed her. “You know what’s crazy?”
“What?” Blake sniffled as she wrapped her arms round Isla’s arm.
“I’d do it all again if it meant we got to have this moment right here.” Isla put a hand on Blake’s belly bump as Blake snuggled closer to her. “I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too, Mommy.”
No matter how much pain and heartache Isla had experienced in her life, she knew it was all worth it to be able to hold her first baby inher arms again.
Chapter 18
Blake
Aweek had passed since Blake had heard her birth story and one part of it wouldn’t leave her mind. Isla had been so alone, even with people in the room with her. Blake had been there when Alexis had the twins and knew how supported and surrounded with love she had been. And Isla didn’t have that. It broke Blake’s heart and made her want to do nothing more than crawl back into her mom’s embrace and hold her forever.
Blake knew she had caused Isla pain over the years, whether intentionally on Blake’s part or not. That pain was something Isla had carried with her for decades, and Blake knew how draining that was. She’d debated several times about going over to Isla’s house and thank her again for never giving up on her. But instead, Blake used her free afternoon to head over to Mason’s house.
With the twins down for a nap and Harper at school, Blake had kissed Alexis goodbye before heading to her sister’s house. Alexis had asked where she was going and grinned widely when Blake told her. She was so encouraging of Blake rebuilding the relationships with her family that she’d told Blake to stay longer than the twins’ nap time if she wanted.
Parking the SUV in Mason’s driveway, Blake smiled at the house. There was a gay pride flag on the porch, along with a welcome sign with the wordsthe Mackenzieson it. Blake couldn’t stop her smile from spreading as she thought about the paperwork she and Alexis were in the process of filling out to change their names. They hadn’t told anyone yet, and Blake wasn’t sure how she could keep it a secret much longer.
The January air was freezing as Blake stepped out of the vehicle and hurried to the front door. She’d messaged Mason earlier to make sure it was okay before she came over. Blake didn’t want to interrupt nap time for Silas or anyalone timeMason and Chase might have had planned. But Mason had told her Chase would be working and Silas would be asleep, so she’d leave the front door open for her.
Blake quietly opened the front door, feeling like an intruder although she’d been invited. She closed the door behind her, putting her jacket and bag onto the mudroom hooks before looking for Mason. Mason was lounging on the couch, looking half asleep as she mindlessly scrolled through movies on a streaming app.
“Hey.”
“Hey, sis.” Mason patted the seat beside her, and Blake took it. “You need to get back into the TV business. There is nothing good to watch these days.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Blake chuckled. “I’ll get right on that between growing a human and preparing to push her out of my body.”
Mason cocked her head at her as she turned off the TV. “I thought you were working on a script or something?”
“I was.” She gestured to her belly. “But things changed. I had to take a step back from that.”
“You should have had Alexis carry again,” Mason laughed, but quickly stopped as her face grew more serious. “Sorry. I don’t know why I joked about that.”
“It’s fine, Mace. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had the same thought.” Kicking off her shoes, Blake pulled her legs up under her as she turned to face Mason. “I might be freaking out just a little.”
“About the baby?”
“About the birth.”
“Ahh, yes,” Mason nodded, looking at her wrist at the nonexistent watch, “it’s about that time. Six months. Almost to the third trimester. Braxton-Hicks contractions should be starting any day now. Yeah, it’s about time you start panicking about the birth.”
“I love the sisterly encouragement there.”
“I mean, I can show you my birth video if you think that would help,” Mason laughed as Blake stared at her, mildly horrified. “You didn’t know we filmed it, I assume.”
“Youfilmedit?” Blake’s shock had to be evident on her face because Mason busted out laughing.
“Alexis had Molly there taking pictures when Harperandtwins were born.”
“Yes, I know. I’ve seen the award-winning pictures. I just never thought aboutvideoingit.”
“Well, in my slight defense, it’s not like it’s a clear shot right down the main street. Aunt Mel set up the phone to the side. I just wanted to be able to look back on that day in case the pain was too much in the moment for me to appreciate it.”
