“No arguments.”
She pursed her lips but thankfully listened. “Fine.”
The nurse came in after that, running over everything before she gave us the go-ahead to leave. I helped pack and tucked Audrey into her car seat. She was a real champ and didn’t wake up at all. Hell, she didn’t wake up the whole drive or when we got to Carina’s apartment.
I set her on the floor in the entryway and just stared. “Can we leave her in there?”
Carina stood next to me and stared too. “Umm…I don’t know.”
We both looked to each other with wide eyes, except Carina’s began filling with tears. “Hey, hey. Come here.” I pulled her to me, and she buried her head against my shoulder and sniffed.
“I don’t know, Ian. How am I supposed to do this when we’ve been home for a minute, and I’m already stumped? Oh, my god.” Her breathing increased, and I palmed her cheeks and pulled her head up to face me.
“Stop. Look. Breathe with me.”
She nodded, but tears still tracked down her cheeks.
“I’m going to let you in on a secret. But you can’t tell anyone because it’s mainly how I get through every day coming off like the genius I am.”
She nodded again, but this time, it came with a laugh.
“We Google. Google knows all.”
“O—okay. Let me get my phone.”
I walked the rest of the bags inside while she googled. Her apartment was neat, clean, and perfectly decorated with muted grays and a few splashes of color. By the time I came back, she was reading her phone and chewing on a nail.
“Find anything.”
“Yeah. Looks like we can’t.”
“Okay, then out we go.”
“Hang on, I need to get her sleeper set up.”
“I already saw it set up by the couch.”
She stopped moving and stared at me, confused, before moving past and walking into the living room. She bent over the coffee table and picked up a piece of paper. “Oh, my god.”
I unclasped Audrey, pulling her out, and walked to Carina. “What’s up?”
“I had a few baby items still in boxes and Jake came in to get it all organized and set up. He knew I was finishing up as much client work before maternity leave and planned on getting it done later.”
“Cool.” I was surprised how calm that came out. Rationally, I knew Jake was just a friend, but he was also a close friend who had slept with this woman and broken her heart. I kind of also hated him and the pinch of jealousy he created within me.
“Oh, wow. He also got me my rocking chair I wanted. Oh, my goodness.” Her hand was covering her mouth as tears formed again. “I can’t believe he did this.”
“Probably his guilt.”
That earned me a hard side-eye, but I just shrugged and kissed my baby. Anything to take my mind off the rocking chair I currently had sitting in my apartment that I’d bought a few days ago. It was the one thing she hadn’t got herself, and I was so excited to surprise her with it, but it looked like I wouldn’t get the chance.
Carina took Audrey and gently placed her in the rocking sleeper. “Are you leaving?”
The question was soft and probably meant to come off as indifferent, but I heard the fear that I’d just take off now that she had settled. “No, Carina. I told you, I’m staying.”
She stood upright and faced me; her arms crossed against her chest. “You don’t have to. I’m sure you have things to get done.”
“Carina.” I waited until she looked up before continuing. “I know we need to talk and figure things out. But for right now, let’s get settled and know that I’m here. As long as you want me to be. Maybe even longer.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. We’re in this together.”
Her eyes dropped to the floor, and her hair fell forward like a curtain, blocking her face. “I’m sorry about crying. It’s just these stupid hormones.”
“Would it make you feel better if I cried too? I could work up a few tears.”
Another smile and I wished she could just keep those coming for the rest of forever. She was stressed and emotional, and if my sole purpose was to hold Audrey and make Carina laugh when shit got hard, then I was there for it.
“Now, let’s order in and pass out while we can.”
“Okay.”
We ended up ordering Italian and watching the news on mute because we didn’t want to risk waking Audrey. When we finished, I offered to clean up while Carina took care of the baby.
I worked my way around her kitchen, finding where things went, it didn’t take me long. I picked up in the living room before deciding to go check on my girls. Soft humming was coming from down the hall, and I walked into a sight that stole my breath.