“I’m going to sleep in until Thursday,” I said, stretching my arms over my head as Neil and El-Mudad loaded the plates into the dishwasher together. The sight of them doing something so domestic gave me love butterflies, but I wasn’t sure if they were from the wholesome family scene before me or just because I hated loading the dishwasher myself.
“You could leave those for Julia,” I reminded them both, but El-Mudad shook his head.
“It bothers me to leave such a mess all night,” he said with a smooth shrug. “You know, we could get a full-time housekeeping staff here.
“Sophie and I decided against it a long time ago,” Neil said, sounding almost proud of that. “We value our privacy too much.”
“Especially now that we have a delicate situation.” I knew everyone who worked for us had signed non-disclosure agreements, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Both of them looked at me, wide-eyed, and I realized what I’d said.
“No, no!” I waved my arms. “You’re thinking of a delicate condition.” I mimed a pregnant belly. “I meant the thing with Valerie and Laurence.”
“Feel free to stop my heart, Sophie!” Neil slapped a palm to his chest. “I take it you’ve filled El-Mudad in on this delicate situation?”
“She did. And without using any particularly graphic language. I was very proud of her.” El-Mudad winked at me. Then he turned reluctantly serious. “Do you both believe that Laurence might mean to do us harm?”
“It sounds so villainous when you phrase it that way,” Neil said, turning to retrieve the dishwasher soap tabs from the baby-proofed cabinet beneath the sink.
El-Mudad watched Neil struggle for a moment, then stepped in and sprung the mechanism. “You’re truly helpless, my love.”
“It’s feigned helplessness.” Neil straightened and swatted El-Mudad on the butt. “So you’ll feel obligated to stay with me.”
Trying to keep things on topic, I cut in as though our conversation had never drifted sideways. “I don’t think Valerie would let Laurence persuade her to do anything in a legal sense. And I really don’t know how she would contest the custody arrangement.”
“There is no custody arrangement. We were granted guardianship by Emma and Michael,” Neil pointed out, closing the dishwasher drawer and brushing his hands together. “There. Now we can go put our feet up.”
Maybe he just wasn’t interested in discussing the issue at the moment, but this was about Olivia. It was important. “Right, but can Valerie sue us for custody on the grounds that, what? She changed her mind about being okay with it? It’s been almost four years.”
Four years. Four horrible years since Emma and Michael died. It seemed like we’d been carrying the pain for a lot longer.
“I shouldn’t worry about it too much,” Neil said, walking to the swinging door. He held it open and gestured for us to come with him.
“It’s not going to keep me awake at night,” I said with a shrug as I passed him. “But I don’t like the possibility.”
“There’s no real possibility,” Neil assured me. “She’ll find something obnoxious about Laurence and let him go any time now. It usually happens between the three-to-five-year range.”
El-Mudad glanced at me, and I looked down at my feet as we walked.
“That’s not very fair,” I said softly. “Don’t mock Valerie just because she hasn’t been lucky in love in the past.”
“I’m not mocking her,” Neil insisted. “It’s just a pattern I’ve noticed since—“
“Since you broke her heart?” El-Mudad finished for him.
That set Neil back. It took him a moment to respond. “Valerie will do whatever Valerie will do. She has Olivia’s best interests at heart. Laurence doesn’t hold any sway over that.”
“Now, that I believe.” Clash though we might, I couldn’t help but admire Valerie’s iron will and protectiveness over her loved ones.
“He may have some influence in the future, though,” El-Mudad said, without any hint of the nervous humor that had colored the conversation so far. “Perhaps, when they marry.”
Neil laughed. “They’re not going to get married. I can’t even imagine Valerie married. She would hate it. Utterly hate it. And the whole prospect of marriage horrifies her, anyway. You should have heard the haranguing I got when I announced my engagement to Elizabeth.”
Yeah, sure, that was because she hated all marriage and not just your marriage to another woman.
“You’re wrong.” I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to get it out. “Valerie and Laurence eloped.”
Neil stopped walking. “What?”
“She asked me not to tell you. They’re not making it public, yet,” I explained, hoping he would view my loyalty to Valerie as a plus and not a mark against my honesty. “I was mad about that, actually. She seemed to think that you were going to have some big, dramatic reaction...you aren’t are you?”
“Afi! Sophie! El-Mudad!” Olivia’s high-pitched shrieks interrupted us, ricocheting off the walls like audible shrapnel. I didn’t begrudge her excitement. I cherished it because she was thrilled to see me after even a few minutes apart to get ready for bed. But it was going to take me some time to recalibrate my hearing to tolerate toddler screams. She raced down the windowed hall toward us, her hair damp from her bath, her tiny body clad in fuzzy fleece pajamas. “I’m ready for night-night!”