AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Harper, I’m sooo sorry!”
I shushed him with a finger against my lips. He saw Emma and began tiptoeing immediately.
“I— I had no idea Erika was—”
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “Here. Help me get up.”
He extended an arm, and pulled me easily to my feet without disturbing the sleeping baby. Together we stared at her for a few quiet moments.
“She’s a trooper,” I murmured.
“She is.”
“Let me get her to bed.”
Moving slowly I carried her down the hall and into the nursery; where Adrian and Jax had set up a second crib. Emma was big for her age. Soon she’d be reaching up with her tiny arms and climbing out, and then they’d have to get her a little bed with rails. I remembered my brother Max doing exactly that. Of course, as a big sister, I often saw it as my duty to help him escape…
Max.
My heart hurt a little, just thinking about my brother. I remember the day he’d turned nineteen and moved to Oahu, determined to learn how to surf. He’d come back several weeks later, only to tell my mother and I that he’d be moving there indefinitely. Hawaii was like that, he told us. It sucked you in. Kept you from wanting to be anywhere else.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d wanted to drop everything and join him.
Reaching down, I painstakingly managed to transfer Emma to the crib without waking her up. She twisted around a little, though. I pulled her little blanket up over her legs, and spent the next several minutes gently rubbing her back. Eventually she stopped moving and lay still, sleeping peacefully as I crept from the room.
I reentered the living room to find the lights dimmed, and candles lit. Adrian had already eradicated the mess in the kitchen I’d intended to tackle. He’d cleaned up, taken out the garbage, and done the dishes. He’d also changed from the button-down shirt and slacks to a pair of mesh basketball shorts and the softest-looking T-shirt in the universe.
“You tired?” he asked.
“Not even a little bit.”
“Good, me neither. Sit down and relax. I’ll be right back.”
I sank into the couch, just as he returned with a bag of microwave popcorn. The blue lettering on the side read ‘extra butter.’ Just like old times.
“Pick a movie,” he told me, dropping the remote in my lap.
I scooted over as he sat down beside me. Two empty glasses rested on the coffee table before us. And between them…
“You brought the bottle,” I smiled wearily, nodding toward an uncorked merlot.
“Sure did.”
“Good move.”
“The only move,” Adrian grinned, “on a night like this.”
He poured, we clinked glasses, and we proceeded to stretch out. I surfed briefly with the remote, then stopped on the first comedy I saw, which happened to be Stepbrothers.
Anything to make me laugh, I figured.
“Listen, Harper…”
“You’re going to tell me you’re sorry about your ex showing up here,” I headed him off. “That you didn’t know she was even in town, much less coming to get Brayden.”
“Well, yes.”
“It’s fine,” I told him. “I’ll admit, I was a little rattled when she ripped the baby out of here like she was carrying the nuclear football. And even I was shocked at the all-new levels of bitchdom she’s obtained. But then again, Erika was always a bitch, Adrian. I still don’t know what you saw in her.”
