Chapter Eleven
Going home with Carter had been more than a little nerve-wrecking for Eliza. She didn’t know what to expect or how to act in his house, which brought back unpleasant memories of bouncing back and forth from one foster home to another when she was a child, and put even more stress on her already overtaxed and ill body. Audrey sensed her mother’s anxiety and sickness and was clingier and crankier than usual.
Carter set her up in his bedroom and fussed over them, fetching things for Audrey and holding the baby when Eliza made one mad dash after another to the bathroom. By that point, there was nothing in her stomach to throw up, but that didn’t stop her body from trying to repeatedly turn itself inside out anyway.
Within a couple of hours of arriving, all her worries about Carter and his expectations of house guests had been put to rest. As far as she was concerned, the man had the patience of a saint. Anyone who could juggle a fussy baby, while holding her hair back as she retched into the commode couldn’t be anything but wonderful.
Once her stomach gave her a temporary break, exhaustion settled over her like a wet blanket. She crawled into bed with Audrey and closed her eyes, hoping for just a few minutes of peace.
When next she opened her eyes, her head ached and her throat burned. For a moment, she was disoriented and unable to remember where she was. When her memories rebooted, she blindly reached out for Audrey and touched nothing but the cool bed sheets. She jerked upright, her head spinning at the fast movement, and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She stood on trembling legs and stepped forward, only to smash her big toe into something hard and unforgiving.
Pain blasted through her foot. She swore and sat back down, rubbing her sore toe.
The bedroom door creaked open and light spilled into the room from the hallway. Trish walked in carrying Audrey. “Hey Eliza. How’re you feeling?”
“I…” She released her foot and shook her head, trying to jostle herself awake. “Maybe a little better. I’m not sure.” She ached all over and felt like she hadn’t slept in a month, but at least her stomach was calm for the moment. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A few hours or so. It’s almost ten.” She sat on the foot of the bed. “I hope you don’t mind, but Carter asked me to come over and sit with the baby while he ran out to pick up a few essentials for you and Audrey.”
“No, of course not. I appreciate everything you and Carter are doing to help us out.”
“That’s what family’s for, dear.” Trish held onto Audrey as the baby strained forward, reaching for Eliza. “Audrey just had her diaper changed and chugged down a bottle of milk. She might be ready to go back down if you’d like a little company.”
“Yeah,” Eliza agreed. “That would be nice. I woke up missing my little cuddle bug.” She took Audrey off Trish’s hands and snuggled her daughter close. Audrey fisted her hands in Eliza’s shirt and rubbed her face against her chest and neck.
“Well, unless you need something, I’ll leave you to rest and go back to watching my program in the living room until Carter comes home. He should be back any time now.”
“We’re good. Thanks Trish.”
“Don’t mention it. Just call out if you need anything.” Trish rose to her feet and left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
Eliza stretched back out on the bed with her girl lying on her chest and rubbed Audrey’s back until her daughter’s breathing turned deep and slow and her own eyes became too heavy to keep open.
The next morning, she awoke to the sound of Carter’s voice and Audrey’s excited babbling. With a groan, she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes to a room filled with sunlight and the sight of her two favorite people. There was a white crib at the foot of the bed that hadn’t been there the night before. Carter was in the process of installing a bright, jungle-themed mobile on one end, while Audrey lay on her back inside and gazed up at him in wonder.
“Morning,” Eliza said, her voice crackling. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Good morning.”
“Hey sleepyhead. I was starting to think you were going to sleep the day away.”
She frowned and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “What time is it?”
“A little after noon.”
“Wow.” She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since Audrey was born, much less slept past noon. “You didn’t have to take care of Audrey by yourself all day. You should’ve woken me up.”
“You needed the rest.” He smiled over at her. “Besides, Audrey and me have been passing the time just fine. We went grocery shopping and picked up a few things I didn’t think about last night. Speaking of which, I bought you some cold pills and headache medicine, but you were both sleeping so soundly when I got back that I decided not to disturb you.”
“Did Audrey sleep through the night?”
“She woke up around three, but a bottle put her right back to sleep.”
“That’s good.” She could be a handful to get back to sleep some nights.
“How’re you feeling?”
“A little better, I think.” She ached all over and felt like her head was stuffed full of cotton wool, but at least she wasn’t puking her guts up at the moment. “Getting some rest helped, I think.”
“That’s great.” He twisted something on the mobile and set it into motion, making the jungle characters go round and round. “You do look like you have a little more color back in your face today. Last night you were white as a sheet.”
Being pale had been the least of her worries the night before, not that she wanted to talk about that anymore. “The crib and mobile are cute,” she said, changing the subject. “Where’d they come from?”
“The magic hospitality fairy brought it to the house while you were snoring into my pillows.”
“I do not snore.”
“You did last night,” he said with a completely straight face. “Sounded like someone was sawing logs with a chainsaw in here.”
“Oh whatever.”
Carter grinned. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”
“I’m not mad.” She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it. “Jerk.”
He laughed and bent to pick up Audrey. “What do you say, Audrey girl. You want to go see Mama and tell her how much you like your new bed? I could use the brownie points.”
“It’s a beautiful crib, but you really didn’t have to go to that much trouble. Audrey would have been fine sleeping here with me.”
“It’s not a big deal.” He handed Audrey over and sat beside them. “This way you can both get a good night’s sleep while you’re recuperating and Audrey will have a bed here for the future if she needs it.”
“Thank you for being so thoughtful.” She kissed Audrey’s head and breathed in her sweet baby scent.
“Anytime. I’d do anything for you and Audrey.”
He really was too good to be true. She wanted nothing more than to lean forward and kiss him.
“You can lay one on me anytime you want.”
Eliza swallowed. “Um, did I say that out loud?”
He nodded. “You did.”
Oops. Leave it to her to embarrass herself within minutes of waking up. “As much as I would love to kiss you, I don’t think that’s a good idea at the moment.” Besides being sick, her mouth tasted like something crawled inside it and died while she was sleeping. “I don’t suppose you have a spare toothbrush I can borrow?”
“I do. It’s one of the things I ran out for last night. I had to guess which brands to buy, but there’s a bag of female grooming supplies on the sink in the hall bathroom. If I forgot anything or you prefer something else, just let me know and I can run back out for you.”
“I’m sure whatever you got is fine. I’m not picky. Honestly, just the thought of hot water and toothpaste sounds like heaven right now.”
“All right. Well, how about Audrey and I hang out and fix lunch while you shower? Do you feel up to eating anything? I could heat you up some soup.”
Eliza thought about it. Her stomach didn’t feel upset, but she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to risk heaving her guts up again. Some soup broth and crackers did sound good though. “Yeah. That would be really nice, if you don’t mind watching Audrey for a little longer.”
“Not at all. Audrey’s my buddy.” He held his hand out in front of her and let her grab onto his fingers. “Aren’t you, sweetheart?”
Audrey chased Carter’s fingers with her mouth, trying to chew on them.
Carter twisted his fingers upward and tickled the underside of her chin. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Watching the man she loved with her daughter made Eliza’s heart melt. The words they’d exchanged the previous afternoon almost seemed like a dream. The timing might not have been perfect and the community center certainly wasn’t the most romantic of venues, but that didn’t change the significance of the moment or the feelings behind those three little words they’d spoken. They loved each other and that was all that mattered. Everything else could be figured out in time.