Page 18 of A Collier First Christmas
“And you’ve got the baby?”
“I do.”
“Wow. That’s, a change.”
I had dressed in record time, tossing my hair into a ponytail and foregoing makeup.
“Ha, ha, ha,” I said sarcastically as I joined them.
“Well, I have some business at the Alpha house today so I’m going to leave you ladies to it.” Then he turned to me. “Do you need me to take Cammie?”
I faltered. He’d never asked such a thing. I looked back to Sydney and noticed she was without Hunter today.
I took a deep breath. I could do this.
“Actually, that would be a huge help. I’m sure Cora will be happy to help if you need it.”
His mother had tried to warn me that I was smothering the baby and needed a break. Last night and this morning had proven that she might be right. Though I hated to admit that.
“Give me a second and I’ll pack up the diaper bag and some milk for her. Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“No, but it’s okay. I can help a lot more this way and this Christmas is important to me too. Besides, I know she’s in the best possible care.”
I leaned in and kissed her sweet cheeks.
“Daddy’s too good to us, right sweetheart?” I looked up at Thomas trying to ignore Sydney’s shocked face. “Just give me a moment.”
“What did you do to her?” Sydney asked as I was walking away.
“Don’t even,” I yelled over my shoulder.
Thomas chuckled. “My lips are sealed.”
By the time I had the diaper bag packed and ready for every possible scenario, he had Cammie strapped into her carrier.
“Bye sweet girl. I’ll only be a few hours and then I’ll swing by and pick her up at the Alpha house.”
“Take your time. We’re fine. Right, whammy?”
I wasn’t sure I could stand to be away from her any longer than that, though.
As they left, Sydney turned to me.
“Well, that was different. What is going on?”
I sighed and then told her how I had realized I was shutting him out not just personally but with Cammie too and how we were fixing things.
It was always a little weird talking about sex with Thomas to Sydney because they had been together for a long time before I entered the picture. Now that she was happily mated with a family of her own certainly helped but still a little weird at times.
“I’m really proud of you, Lil. I know how hard that must have been on you.”
While I didn’t like confiding in my bedroom activities with her, I did tell Syd just about everything else. She knewbetter than anyone how devastating the miscarriage had been and how much I thought about it every time I saw her little boy.
We had gotten pregnant around the same time so her son was a constant reminder of my loss. He was also a blessing, and joy to watch grow up and thrive, even if it was bittersweet.
She also knew how paranoid I was with Cammie and how much that little girl meant to me. I knew I could never survive it if anything happened to her.
