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“I hadn’t thought that far ahead, to be honest,” he said. “But I do have food at home, so we’ll be fine.”
“Well, let one of us know if you need something,” Charli told him as they walked to the doors.
Blake would have loved to spend the afternoon hanging out with the Halversons, but it was important for Amelia to be comfortable and for him to do what was necessary to make her feel better.
At the truck, he settled Amelia in her seat, but she woke up as he was buckling her in.
“Daddy?” she asked, glancing around. “Where are we?”
“We’re at the truck. Church is over, so we’re going home.” He leaned into the truck so he could see her more clearly. “Are you feeling okay?”
She stared at him for a moment and frowned. “Just tired.”
“When we get home, you can go back to sleep. Okay?”
Nodding, she squirmed in her seat, settling low in her jacket.
When they got home, Amelia changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. Blake was worried, but she said she was only feeling tired, though she didn’t want anything to eat. Not even her favorite berries.
Once she’d fallen back asleep, Blake changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, then went to the kitchen to make something to eat because even if Amelia wasn’t hungry, he was. Thankfully, his aunt had taken pity on him and brought over some containers of food a few days earlier, so he pulled out the one with lasagna in it.
The apartment was quiet, so while the microwave heated his food, Blake found the TV remote and turned it on. He switched to the sports channel, figuring that would at least give him something to watch while he ate since he didn’t have Amelia to keep him company.
Sometimes the quiet of the apartment, even when Amelia was awake, was hard to take. He was used to having buddies around, providing constant noise and companionship.
Now that it was just the two of them living together, with neither of them very chatty, they often used the television or music to fill the silence.
Once the food was hot, he took his plate and a glass of water to the couch and set them on the coffee table. His mom would have had an absolute fit if she’d seen him eating while sitting on the couch. But she wasn’t there, and likely never would be, so he’d do what he wanted in his own home.
It was actually quite rare that they ate in the living room. Well, at least meals. They mostly just ate snacks on the couch or at the coffee table, but he wasn’t too uptight about that.
He wanted Amelia to feel comfortable in every corner of their small home. Unlike how he’d felt in the mansion he’d grown up in.
That had been one of the things that had drawn him to Charli back when they’d been together. She’d talked a lot about the home she longed to create for her family. It had been everything his own hadn’t been.
Even the apartment he’d stayed in while in college had been decorated by his mom, and because his parents were paying for everything, Blake hadn’t felt like he’d could change it into what he would have preferred.
After he finished eating, Blake put his dishes in the dishwasher, then checked on Amelia before returning to the couch. He stretched out, propping his head on a cushion. And even though the television was on, it didn’t keep him from falling asleep.
Blake didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when a knock on the door woke him. It took him a moment to realize what it was, and he groaned as he pushed up from the couch. He walked to the door, stretching his arms above his head.
Expecting it to be a neighbor or someone selling Girl Scout cookies or something else, Blake ran a hand through his hair as he pulled the door open. He hadn’t even thought to check through the peek hole to see who was there because security wasn’t something he was terribly worried about in Serenity.
However, if he’d checked, he wouldn’t have been so surprised when he saw Charli and Layla standing in the hallway.
“Hey,” he said, aware that he probably looked a bit disheveled, considering he’d just woken up.
“Hi.” She gave him a smile. “Hope we’re not disturbing you.”
“Not at all.” He stepped back and motioned to the living room. “Come on in.”
Charli put her hand on Layla’s back to guide her past Blake.
“Have a seat,” he said, glad that he hadn’t left his dirty dishes sitting on the coffee table.
“How’s Amelia?” Charli asked as she and Layla sat down on the couch. She set the bag she carried onto the coffee table.
Blake dropped down in his recliner. “She’s been sleeping since we got home.”
