Kimber

“He’s great,” Tiana, says when Julián closes the door.

“Yeah, he’s the best. Would you mind holding him for a second? I think my feet are numb from sitting here so long. I need to stretch.” I’m fine really, I could sit forever rocking this warm bundle of love, smelling his head and stroking his chubby arms. He’s addictive, the more of him I get the more I need.

But I want her to feel comfortable and forget that I mentioned the word killer a few minutes ago. Holding a sweet baby will do the trick. Babies make everything better.

“Sure, will he wake up?”

“Maybe, but he’s not hungry so I think you’re safe.”

I stand and she sits on the couch next to me so I can hand her my baby.

“Is it that obvious?”

“What?”

“That I’m not used to tiny human beings?”

“Nah, a lot of people are intimidated by babies. I have two younger brothers so I got stuck babysitting a lot, I’m used to them.”

She adjusts him in her arms and pulls down the blue receiving blanket to peer down into his face. “I only had Jayden and he was older than me. I haven’t been exposed to many babies.”

The way she says her brother’s name and refers to him in the past tense starts an ache in my chest. I can’t imagine how horrifying it would be to find out your brother murdered your parents in a house fire and poisoned your aunt so that it looked like a heart attack. That’s exactly what happened.

It’s been all over the news for weeks, local and national. And as if that weren’t bad enough, his reason for doing it was appalling.

He was in love with her and wanted her all to himself. He’s insane obviously, but I can’t imagine being the focus of all his psychosis. It was his taboo love for her that caused three people’s deaths. Maybe she feels responsible? I think I might if I were her.

“It looks like you’re a natural, he didn’t even flinch.” Her eyes shoot to mine, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no, I just meant he didn’t stir when I passed him off. A lot of times he senses he’s not in my arms anymore when I give him to someone and he starts to fuss. Not you, though, he likes you.”

The corners of her mouth pull up in a relieved smile and she gazes at my baby’s sleeping face.

“So I hear you’re getting married, too, when is your wedding?”

“We haven’t set a date yet. I want to wait for some of this stuff with my brother to blow over, ya know? We’re going through a lot of changes right now and I don’t want our big day tainted by any of them.”

“I understand.” I don’t understand, though. I have nothing in my life to compare her situation with. But I want to be supportive, she has a certain aura about her that makes me want to care for her. It’s probably the damn hormones or maybe it’s because I have that new super-mother gene that makes a woman want to nurture everyone around them.

“I’m sorry, I’m not the best company lately. I have a feeling Drake was trying to find a way to get me out of the house.”

“Stop apologizing, you’ve been through a lot of horrible things. I wouldn’t be hot on leaving the house either if I were you.” I sit back down in the rocker. Standing over her feels like I’m dictating instead of conversing.

“Thanks. I’m not usually a homebody, I just moved home from New York a couple months ago and it’s been quite a change.”

“You’re from Jewel Falls?” She doesn’t sound Southern; I can hear the slightest bit of a British accent in her voice.

“We moved here when I was twelve from the UK, so sort of.”

Shit, there I go bringing up her past again. I read about her parents dying in a fire. I hadn’t realized it was in the UK. That must be why they’re only prosecuting her brother for his aunt’s murder. Getting to know Tiana might be harder than I thought.

“It’s okay, I can talk about my past, in fact, my shrink says it’s good for me.”

I snort, “Shrinks. What do they know?”

She raises her eyebrows like she’s surprised I would have ever seen a psychiatrist.

“I saw one when my husband left me because I was pregnant. He made me feel shittier than I did before I went, so I quit. I don’t like telling strangers my deepest darkest fears, it’s weird.”

“So, this little guy isn’t Garcia’s biological son?”

“Nope, but he loves him like he is.”

“I know, he’s all he talks about, second only to you. I’m sorry about your husband.”

“Don’t be, he did me the biggest favor of my life, he brought me to Julián.”

Grayson’s eyes open and he let’s out a squawk that surprises Tiana. “Oh, he’s awake. Look at his pretty eyes, you’re a handsome boy…” she pauses and looks at me for his name.

“Grayson,” I say with a tad bit of pride. It was my boy name. Julián and I each chose a few of each but it was clear as glass that Grayson was the right choice when we saw him.

“Grayson Garcia, that’s an awesome name you got going on there. I’m Tiana Williams, soon-to-be Valentine, nice to meet you.”

Grayson smiles and my hand flies up to cover my mouth. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen him smile before. He really does like you.”

“Probably just gas,” She says, but he smiles again as if to prove her wrong.

“I dunno, seems like love at first sight to me.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, Grayson, but I’m spoken for by a grouchy Marine. If things don’t work out, you can look me up in twenty years but only if you like older women.”

“Grouchy, huh? I haven’t had the pleasure.” I smile and she chuckles.

“Yeah, I’m sure Garcia told you he’s losing his sight.”

“He did, I’m sorry.”

“He’s frustrated, this all started seventeen years ago and until this year it’s been progressing very slowly. Now he’s only got a sliver of peripheral vision left. And all of my recent drama doesn’t help, he’s getting hit from all directions.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help don’t hesitate to ask. I know I just had a baby and everything but I’m not busy with anything else. I’m an interior designer but I don’t have a lot of contacts here anymore and the company I worked for is too far away.”

Grayson starts to grunt and push his feet around in his blanket. “Maybe you should take him now?”

“He might be hungry, I’ll take him.” She passes him across to me like a priceless Fabergé egg.

“So, you’re an interior designer. I should probably hire you to fix up my brother’s house so I can sell it.”

I whip a receiving blanket over my shoulder to cover my chest and pull my shirt up to offer Grayson my breast. He takes it with no problem. He never had one second of trouble breastfeeding, figures he’s a breast man like his daddy.

“Really? What kind of work do you need done?”

She shifts on the couch and crosses her arms over her chest. Without the baby to hold she seems a little frazzled.

She bites her lip, “Everything?”

“Oh, so a total renovation? I would need help for that, how soon are you wanting it done?”

“Whenever, no hurry.”

“Really? Don’t you want to get rid of it soon? I’d imagine it has a lot of difficult memories attached to it.”

“It does but I’ll never escape the memories. It’s the house right next door to Drake’s, they were best friends.”

“Oh, I see.” I don’t see, I can’t imagine but what else is there to say? “That does make it hard. Give me a couple weeks with the baby and I’ll call some people and see if I can get a team together. Maybe we can make the house look so different on the outside that you forget it was yours?”

Her face brightens and she relaxes her arms placing her hands in her lap. “You could do that?”

“I can do anything.”

“Thank you, Kimber.”

“No problem, it’s what I do.”

“Not just for the decorating, thanks for letting me come over and hold your baby and be normal for a little while. It feels good.”

“Anytime, we military families have to stick together and since we’re all on the same block it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Someone could make a TV show out of it, call it ’The Marine Families of Maple Road.’” We giggle and I suspect that it’s been a while since she’s laughed.

“I’m glad Garcia and Valentine set this up, we should have a little Marine wives club. My friend Mattie and his wife Belle relocated here and they live in the big blue Victorian house on the corner.”

Her eyes sparkle, this woman needs friends.

“The six of us can have a barbeque at our house since you all are still settling in.” She looks around the living room that I finished decorating a week ago. I used my favorite color palate of cream, gold, and pale blues through the whole main level. In this room the chandelier and fireplace naturally became the focal point. Add a few books and a vase full of pale pink roses and lilies and it looks like it belongs on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

“Is every room in your house this great?”

“Yep, I love my work. Knowing how to decorate comes in handy when you have to move a lot.”

“You moved a lot before you met Garcia?”

“My ex-husband was also a Marine. He lives here with his girlfriend, that’s why I moved to California. But Julián got relocated and it’s fine. My family is here and we don’t live anywhere near Caleb. He’s not interested in Grayson, that’s sort of why we got divorced.”

“He didn’t want kids?”

“No, he wanted to string his girlfriend along while he stayed comfortably married to me. We planned on having kids someday but Grayson was a surprise that his girlfriend wasn’t happy about, I guess.”

“God, I’m so sorry Kimber. You’re too nice for all that shit.”

“Yeah, well sometimes nice doesn’t get you where you want to be.”

Her eyes wander to the window and I follow her gaze across the street.

“I understand. Probably more than you know.”

“Is that your brother’s house?”

“Yes, the one you’re going to renovate so that I can’t recognize it.”

“The green one?”

She pulls her eyes from the constant reminder of her crazy brother and looks down at her hands in her lap but not before I see tears brimming in her eyes. “Yep.”

I reach out and cover her hand with mine. It’s strange the bond I feel with this woman who I only met thirty minutes ago. I feel like somehow she needs me. And maybe I need her, too. Military wives and girlfriends really do have to stick together.

“It’s lovely, I can’t wait to get to work on it,” I say, and she raises her eyes from her lap to look at me straight on. There are no tears now. Just like that, she’s willed them away. She’s good at hiding her feelings. I’ll have to remember that.

“Me too.”