they could keep a secret. She knew everything. She knew about the time Ian had rushed and gotten the booster seat in wrong and Kala had ended up climbing over the seats in the middle of the freeway, causing her man to dump his morning coffee everywhere.
“How are you feeling?” Charlotte moved toward the kitchen, hoping there was still some ham left. She could eat.
“I’m good. I’m still bummed about the whole breast feeding thing,” her sister began. “I mean, my boobs are huge. Why don’t they make enough milk?”
Chelsea had a three-month-old and had a terrible time breastfeeding. After Chelsea’s third bout of mastitis had landed her in the hospital, Charlie and Simon had convinced her it was okay to give the baby a bottle. “Hey, you can’t blame yourself for that, and you need to know that fed is best. Always. However you need to feed her is the best way for you to feed her.”
“Says the woman who is already leaking.” But her sister said it with a chuckle. “I know. I just wish it had worked. I think she’s my only kid. I think we’re going to be okay with one.”
She would give her sister no pushback on that. “And however big you want your family to be is fine, too.”
It had taken Chelsea a long time to decide she wanted a baby at all. Their childhood had been rough, to say the least, and losing their mom the way they had affected Chelsea. But after a few years enjoying married life, she’d surprised them all by announcing she would add to the world’s overpopulation with her very own demonling.
Sophy was a dream baby, and with the exception of her breastfeeding problems, Chelsea’s transition to motherhood seemed to have gone off without a hitch.
It hadn’t hurt that she’d had tons of help. Simon’s parents had stayed with them for a few weeks, lavishing affection and help on the new parents. No one should have a say in whether or not a couple had a kid, but she was happy Chelsea had.
“Are you done?” Chelsea asked.
“Giving birth to kids? After this one, yes.” Three pregnancies. Four kids. She was good with pushing no more babies out of her vagina.
“But you’re not done with kids.” Chelsea sighed. “I wanted to talk to you about Sasha’s daughter.”
This was the project she was working on, and Chelsea was helping her. Ever since they’d figured out the man they’d known as Sasha had a daughter, they’d been searching for her and her mother. She’d managed to find Sasha’s real name, and that had led her to Moscow and a woman named Marta who’d been killed in what the reports called a robbery, but Charlie recognized as a hit.
Sasha had angered his SVR bosses. From what Charlie had discovered, he’d likely been ready to blow the whistle on corruption in his department when the men he’d worked for had sold him to Dr. Hope McDonald. Sasha had been born Oleg Federov and he’d “died” according to the records. His wife hadn’t been willing to let it go, and she’d actually been killed. Now his daughter was an orphan. At least Charlie hoped the girl was still alive.
“I’ve hit a brick wall,” she admitted. “I called Dusan.”
Her cousin was the head of an infamous syndicate in Russia. If anyone could cut through red tape, it was Dusan. And they were family. He wouldn’t put the usual strings on her. For a mobster, her cousin had an oddly soft heart. Especially when it came to kids. He knew what it was like to grow up in a harsh environment.
“Good, because I’m at a loss, too. I can’t find enough information about Oleg Federov, and what I can find I have to question because I think Russian intelligence erased what they didn’t want anyone to know,” Chelsea said with a sigh. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. We’re going to find her. I promise you that, but what do we do when we find her?”
She knew what she was going to do. “We give her a home.”
“I knew you would say that,” Chelsea replied. “Have you thought about this?”
Of course she’d thought about it and come to one conclusion. “She needs to come home with us. Unless she’s happy with a good family somewhere, we need to bring her to the States, and you and I are the best candidates. And it’s going to be me.”
Chelsea sighed. “That’s what I thought you