Noah came over to me, placing his hands on my hips and looking down at me in the way that always seemed to put me at ease.
“Don’t think about what youthinkyou need to do, or what others expect of you. What doyouwant?”
It was a good question. I looked aside, trying to puzzle it out.
“I want…to be here for the kids. And I want to move ahead in my career, too.”
“Then it’s a matter of working around those two wants. Personally, I think this is a pretty good way to do it. You get to be here, the kids around for whenever you want to spend time with them. And you’ve got your home office for all that, you’ll never have to compromise.”
He gave my hips a squeeze. “That’s what I want for you, gorgeous – to have options, to never have to give up a dream if you don’t have to. When I was coming up in the world, putting in my time as a young doctor, I had to spend so many bloody hours at the hospital missing out on so many hours with my little girl. I would’ve killed for an arrangement like this where I could spend time with Camilla and not have to worry about falling behind in my career.”
“Thanks,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. “I mean, I don’t even know what to say.”
He shook his head. “Don’t say anything. Go out there and kick-arse as a mother and a real estate agent. I know you’ve gotbothin you.”
I was so touched by his support. Tears formed in my eyes, but I wiped them away as quickly as I could.
My phone buzzed over on the other side of the kitchen counter, giving me a good chance to duck away and finish blotting the tears. It was a text from Mom asking if she could come by later and hang out with the kids.
Things with Mom and Dad had been…better. After our very awkward dinner a couple of months back, they decided to give Noah a shot and see if he had what it took to be a responsible father to the babies. Mom and Dad hadnotbeen sold on the co-parenting thing. Despite their laid-back, hippy nature, they were surprisingly conservative when it came to the idea of a committed couple being what kids needed.
Noah and I had stayed firm on the subject, however, letting them know that co-parenting was how it was going to be. While they’d never come around to being cool with it, they were gradually becoming more and more accepting of the idea. It sure as hell didn’t hurt matters that Noah was such an amazing dad.
“What’s up?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder as he poured the last of the coffee pot into his mug.
“The parents,” I said. “They want to do a little visit tonight.”
“Perfect. We can do an early dinner, maybe order some takeout.”
“Works for me. Just as long as it’s not pizza.”
He laughed. “You got it.”
The mention of pizza had been something of an inside joke between the two of us, a reference to the night everything had gone down with Mom and Dad and Cammy, and how we’d ended the night by shoving four untouched pizza boxes into the fridge – pizza that ended up getting gross and moldy since neither of us could stand to look at it without thinking of that horrible night.
Things were better with Mom and Dad. But they weren’t with Cammy. She’d been slowly patching her relationship up with Noah. To me, however, she hadn’t said a single word.
It hurt. I knew she had damn good reason to be mad at me, but it hurt all the same. The worst part was the total radio silence. Anger was one thing – I could handle that; it meant she cared. But total indifference? Not evening asking me how the kids were, how I was handling motherhood? That was painful.
It was all my fault, of course. I was the one who’d chosen to sleep with Noah. The twins were the love of my life, so there was no question about whether or not I regretted what I’d done. All the same, just the thought of Cammy made my heart hurt.
“Anyway,” Noah said. “Text them back and let’s figure out a time—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish. The front door opened and closed, footfalls sounding through the house.
“Yo, Dad! Where are those adorable kids at?”
Noah and I shared a look, both of us wide-eyed and trying to figure out what the hell to do next.
We didn’t get a chance to utter a single word to one another. Cammy marched into the room and stopped as soon as she crossed the threshold and saw that we both were there.
“What the hell is she doing here?” She raised her finger toward me, her eyes on her father.
I had to admit, Cammy looked amazing. She was dressed in a sharp navy business suit, her hair in a sleek ponytail and her makeup gorgeous. A tasteful, black Gucci bag hung off her arm – likely a present to herself for the promotion I’d heard she’d gotten at the DA’s office.
I was stunned. I had no idea what to say.
Thankfully, Noah was there to step in.