Page 40 of Duke's Baby Deal
“Bram?” Jason left the sink and came over to me, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. Bax followed him after a glance in my direction.
“I’m okay,” I said. My voice was shaky and strained, and it felt like my stomach wanted to come out with the words.
“You’re white,” Bax said, and put the back of his hand against my forehead.
“I’m fine. My stomach is just upset.”
“Hmmm,” Bax said. “Morning sickness?”
“It’s not morning, though,” I protested.
“It can happen any time,” he said with a smile. “When did you last eat?”
“Breakfast?”
He nodded and tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful look. “Okay, not too long ago. I’ll make you something to help settle your stomach.” He stepped away and turned toward the kettle, sitting on the cupboard after being displaced by the pots of Christmas food, but Holland was already there, filling it from the tap.
“There’s still some candied ginger in the cupboard,” he said. “I didn’t eat it all.”
Bax laughed. “You don’t mind sharing?”
Holland smiled and put the kettle on the stove, moving my carrots out of the way. “No. He needs it more than I do. You remember Florinda, her first?”
Bax grimaced. “Yeah.” He brought me a small bowl filled with pale gold slices of candied ginger. “Eat them slowly, just a nibble at a time. Let your stomach rest a bit while you’re eating.”
I did as I was told, trusting that Bax and Holland knew more than I did. It did seem to work, or maybe the distraction of having to eat it just so was enough to settle my stomach a little. By the time Holland brought me over a mug of nettle tea, I was feeling a bit better, though I couldn’t be sure I’d be able to eat.
“Drink that slowly and let it work.” He regarded me for a minute, wearing the expression of someone watching a particularly interesting bug. Or one they expected to throw up all over them. “Maybe I’ll get you a bucket, just in case. Or do you want to lie down?”
I thought about it. I did, kind of, because the sick stomach brought exhaustion along with it, but it was Christmas, and I didn’t want to miss anything. “I think I’ll tough it out.”
To my surprise, Holland patted me on the shoulder, then mussed my hair. “Good. Can we still borrow your stove?”
I waved my hand. “Sure. I’ll just sit here and not throw up.”
He chuckled and turned back to the food.
I didn’t help much for the rest of the preparations. My parents arrived and we visited while Jason, Bax, and Holland got everything ready, somehow working it out that all the food was cooked perfectly all at the same time. I did set the table, and help with the little low table that Abel had borrowed from the daycare for the pups. They were ecstatic, having their own table to sit at, complete with tiny forks and fancy Christmas paper plates and napkins, a gift from Bax’s mom back in Buffalo Gap. Even little Noah, who was struggling with sharing his Dabi now that the baby had come along, couldn’t have been happier to sit on his purple chair and wait to be served, just like an adult.
The pups meals were brought out first, tiny dabs of everything, accompanied by promises of more if they ate a little bit of all the different food on their plates.
Then it was time to serve the adults. We moved the kitchen table out to the living room and lined it up with the one from the dining room. I still found it strange, almost excessive, to have a separate room for eating in, but I figured Abel had earned it. And Duke had shown me the plans they had for the new houses that would be built. Mostly two together, duplexes, with large yards, and so many trees it would be like living in the forest. Four bedrooms, so the pups weren’t all crammed together. And a room like Bax’s. A dining room.
Duke had volunteered to work construction, even though what he was really good at was stuff like furniture and carving—fine, fancy things that took a lot of time. But this would be a lot of credits and he wanted them. For us, and for the pups. For the right to live in one of those houses, instead of being in one of the old ones, crammed into a long row, with tiny back yards and everyone in your business.
Some day I would have a dining room of my own.
Jason and I set out plates and silverware, three different kinds of pickles, and pepper and salt and whatever else everyone wanted, then we called everyone into the kitchen to fill their plates.
Taden was awake on Abel’s chest, not fussy, but he had that look, like he was trying to decide what he wanted. Bax took him and headed off down the hallway, probably to feed and change him.
Holland handed Abel a plate.
Abel gave it back. “I’ll wait for Bax.”
“He’s going to be a while,” Jason said.
“That’s fine.”
