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“Callie!”
Turning, I was just in time to crouch down before Marie collided with me and shoved a very fluffy bunny rabbit into my face.
“Marie!” Scooping her up, I balanced her on my hip with a soft grunt. She might be small for her age but she was growing fast. “How are you?”
“I’m good!” she sang. “This is Mr. Leg.”
“Mr. Leg?” I eyed the rabbit and spotted the blue patchwork on its rear leg. “Oh no, what happened?”
“Someone, and I’m not saying who,” Liam chuckled as he appeared. “May have given Mr. Rabbit a few too many spins in the washer so he needed a transplant.”
“Oh no!” I chuckled, admiring the fine stitching. “Well, he clearly had a good doctor.”
“The best,” Marie declared. “So I gave him a new name!”
“Awwh. What are you two doing here?”
“Sawyer,” Liam smiled. “Birthday obligations and I’ll actually be here this time, so I plan to make the most of it. How are things going with the uh… the committee…”
We both glanced down the hall to the glass room I’d just left. Hillary was on her feet, yelling at the others and it was clear negotiations had dissolved once again.
“People are so heated you would think they have a personal stake in it,” I chuckled, wincing as a bead of sweat rolled down from my hairline. Setting Marie on the ground, I quickly wiped it away and smiled.
“I’ll mark them all down as passionate, though. Can’t be accused of not being a team player.”
“Oh, for sure,” Liam chuckled.
My phone pulled my attention as it vibrated in my hand. I hoped it was a response from the caterer.
I wasn’t so lucky.
My heart stopped.
ELI: Time is ticking, darling, and if you don’t pay up soon enough, your mother’s next bill might get lost.
Shit.
“Everything alright?” Liam asked, his face pinched with concern.
I nodded and pressed my palm to my clammy forehead. “Yeah, I’m good. I think it’s the heat, y’know? Uhm…”
Fuck. I wracked my brain for a solution. Eli was getting impatient, and I had to do something. I couldn’t risk anything happening to my mother and I had no idea how facilities like that would handle late payments.
“Would you guys mind helping me out?”
“Yes!” Marie declared, bouncing up onto the balls of her feet.
“I need decoration ideas for Sawyer’s party but I also have to run and do a thing I forgot about. Would you guys be willing to put your heads together and come up with some ideas while I just go and sort something out?”
Liam looked a little apprehensive but luckily, Marie was on my side.
“Yes,” she squealed and turned to Liam. “Can we Daddy, pleaseeee?”
“Sure,” he chuckled, taking her hand. “We’ll set up in the cafeteria because I need coffee. Meet us there?”
“Definitely.”
Liam leaned in and pressed a chase kiss to my cheek, then I hurried away as they headed back down the hallway.
