Nash nods and grins at the baby who gurgles happily and drools onto the big hand he has wrapped around her tummy, holding her safe on his knee. “Yeah, she’ll be all right. My mom always said that after six months babies could eat just about anything, as long as the pieces were small enough.”
“She should know,” Mason says. “Nash has, what, ten brothers and sisters?”
“Eleven of us total,” Nash confirms, his eyes still on the baby. “I’m the oldest, so I’ve got lots of practice feeding rugrats. My mama and daddy both worked nights growing up. Most days I was in charge of dinner for the whole tribe and whatever cousins decided to drop by.”
“Seems like you’d be sick of babies,” Aria says.
“How could anyone ever get sick of babies?” Nash jogs his knee and Felicity grins up at him, that gummy grin that always makes me want to scoop my sweet niece up and squeeze her tight.
“The waking up three times in the night part can get a little exhausting,” Aria says in a weary voice, making me feel terrible for not offering to get up with Felicity while I’ve been staying with them.
Felicity is a great baby, but she still wants a bottle two or three times a night, and Aria doesn’t get much uninterrupted rest. It’s really no wonder my sister is cranky. She’s probably severely sleep deprived.
“She should be sleepin’ through the night by now,” Nash says. “She’s just messing with you.”
“She’s a baby,” Aria says.
“Doesn’t mean she can’t mess with her mama.” Nash laughs softly. “They start young these days, don’t they, Skeeter?”
“Skeeter?” Melody asks.
“She kind of looks like a Skeeter, don’t you think?” Nash asks, summoning another happy burble from Felicity. He reaches for his water glass, smile slipping as he meets Aria’s eyes across the table. “I could give you some tips on how to get her trained to sleep better, if you want,” he says in a careful voice.
Aria falters, looking torn, before she finally shakes her head. “Thank you, but that’s all right. It’s just a stage. I’m sure she’ll grow out of it sooner or later.”
“She will.” Nash nods. “But you’d feel more rested, and be a better mama to her, if it was sooner.”
“I’m doing fine, thanks,” Aria says, anger creeping into her tone.
Nash shrugs and smiles his good-old-boy grin. “Just trying to help, Princess.”
Aria clenches her jaw and turns her attention back to her plate, not saying a word. Mason jumps in to cover the awkward moment by asking Melody what she’s been up to during her week off, and soon the table is alive with comfortable chatter again.
Chatter from everyone except Aria.
She doesn’t speak again until over an hour later, when the boys have finished loading the dishwasher, while we cleaned up outside, and Nash and Mason are drifting toward the door.
Aria passes through the living room with a sleepy-looking Felicity snuggled in her arms and pauses at the bottom of the stairs. “Good night, Mason. Good seeing you again, Nash.”
Nash hesitates only a fraction of a second, but it’s enough for me to see surprise and a more mysterious emotion I can’t quite place flicker behind his eyes. “Good to see you, too,” he says. “And to meet Felicity. She’s a sweetheart.”
“Thanks, and thank you for—” Aria breaks off mid-sentence.
Nash is already out the door and halfway down the walk to his car.
Aria glances down at the floor, looking so forlorn I want to run across the room and hug her. “Well, anyway…” She sighs. “Good night, everyone. I’ll see whoever’s here in the morning. Sleep well.”
She turns and walks stiffly up the stairs, and I know right then that I won’t be dragging Mason off to my apartment tonight. It doesn’t matter that Melody promised to stay in her old room so Aria won’t be alone, there are times when a middle sister knows her unique, bridging-the-gap skills are needed, and this is definitely one of those times.
“I know,” Mason whispers, when I stop by the door instead of grabbing my purse and racing him to his car. “Go take care of her. See what’s up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I should be sorry. I should have mentioned your name. Maybe then Nash would have realized you and Aria were related and all the awkwardness could have been avoided.”
I wince. “Our plan failed pretty miserably, didn’t it?”
“Crashed and burned and caught the surrounding forest on fire,” he says with a wry smile.
“Such a shame,” I say with a sigh. “Nash seemed so nice, and I think Felicity is in love.”
“Aria handled that well,” Mason says. “I’m sure it was hard. Seeing a man she doesn’t care for connecting with her daughter.”
I nod. “I’m sure. I should go check on her.”
“Go. Tell her I appreciate her giving me a chance tonight, and that we’ll babysit for her soon so she can get some sleep. I bet we can rig up someplace for the baby to sleep at your apartment, right?”