Call Her Mine (Harmony Pointe #1)- Melissa Foster Page 0,86
his stomach. Their lives hadn’t woven together seamlessly, but how could they with a new baby and so much of her life still up in the air? They’d stitched and patched their busy lives together, but wasn’t that what happiness was made from? Helping each other when things got to be too much? Reading each other’s minds and stealing away for a quickie when Bea finally fell asleep? Easing each other’s fears about finding—or not finding—Bea’s real mother?
Ben stretched and rolled onto his side, a sleepy smile curving his lips. “Want me to finish?”
She shook her head and blew him a kiss. They’d fallen into a schedule of sorts, though it was fluid and changed often. With Roxie watching Bea for a few hours each day, they were both able to catch up on work. The mural was finished, and the bookstore was almost ready for the grand opening. Aurelia was having a hard time deciding what to read at the grand opening, but she had it narrowed down to either Pride and Prejudice or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Ben’s latest deal was transitioning smoothly and moving right along, but there were late nights and stressful days, so they alternated nighttime feedings, sharing the burden of exhaustion. They’d both put certain parts of their lives on hold, and now that things were falling into place and they had a schedule of sorts, she hoped to give Ben a little room to reclaim the parts of his life she knew he missed. And the truth was, she missed seeing her friends, too. Not that she regretted giving up those visits or resented Ben or Bea for it. Life was give-and-take, and with Ben and Bea she’d been given the best gifts of all.
“I’ve got her,” she said. “I was thinking about taking Bea to the bakery this morning. I miss seeing the girls, and I thought you might want to go running with Zane and Bodhi. Willow was at Roxie’s the other day when I picked up Bea, and she said Zane missed running with you.”
“You sure you don’t mind?” He stretched his long legs over the side of the bed and sat up.
“Not at all. To be honest, I’m impressed that you haven’t lost your mind from not running. I know how much you love it.”
He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze, and said, “I miss jogging with you, too. Maybe we should start scheduling an extra hour of Roxie’s time once or twice a week, so we can go running together.”
“Actually, since we stay here in Harmony Pointe during the week, why don’t we ask Lazarus? He’s so good with Bea, and he lives in town and could probably use the money.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He dropped to his knees and knee-walked to her with a playful smile. He kissed her thigh, and then he kissed Bea’s cheek. Aurelia couldn’t resist caressing his face. He shaved less often these days, and she loved his scruff.
“Mother’s Day is next Sunday,” he said. Every year he went to his parents’ house for a big Mother’s Day brunch, and she had breakfast with Flossie. “I know you usually have breakfast with your grandmother, but I was wondering how you’d feel about bringing her to lunch with my family instead. We can pick her up the day before, and since we’ll be at my house for the weekend, we have room for her.”
They’d taken Bea to meet Flossie last Sunday. When she’d opened the door and seen Ben cradling the baby, with one arm around Aurelia, she’d gotten tears in her eyes and said, All my bubbelahs in one place. What a blessing today is! She’d promptly confiscated the baby and spent the next couple of hours gushing over her.
“I think she’d love that.”
“I hope you’re taking notes, because I’m going to need them,” Bodhi said later that morning as they ran around Sugar Lake.
“You’re great with Louie, and Dahlia survived puppyhood,” Zane said with a chuckle. “I’m sure you can handle a baby.”
“You are the definition of clueless, Zane.” Ben glanced at Bodhi and said, “Dude, this is all you need to know. Life as you know it is going to end when your baby is born, and not just because when you’re changing diapers and walking around like a zombie you’ll no longer feel like Bodhi the ex-military stud, but because your worldview will change dramatically.” Not only did Ben drive more carefully, take fewer risks, and notice things like