Maeve and Nate walked closer to each other with the babies, holding them at an angle to see each other. Then Nate turned to Amanda. “Do you want to hold her?”
Amanda snapped out of it and took Nixie. The innocent life in her arms was half the size of Jesse the first time she held him, and Nate was right. She was as light as a feather. Her movements didn’t even look real. Tears blurred Amanda’s vision. “She’s beautiful.” Amanda pressed her thumb to the baby’s hand. “You are so special,” she whispered.
Memories of her own children filled her heart. Being a new mother and that first feeling of reassurance at the thump of their heartbeat. She carried the baby over to Hailey and Jesse. “Come meet your new friends.”
They walked over, peering at the fragile life in her arms.
“She’s little,” Jesse said.
Hailey pressed her finger against Nixie’s soft arm. “I’ll save all my pretty dresses for you. I’m growing so fast that Mom just bought me new ones. You’ll look so pretty.”
“Awww,” Kimmy said, tears slipping down her cheeks. “She is the sweetest.”
“And you are the most emotional,” Nate said, hugging her shoulder, then pressing his cheek against her head.
Maeve put Brenna back in the bassinet.
Kimmy reached toward Nixie. “I’ll take her. It’s about time to feed them.”
“Again?” Nate shook his head. “I wish I could get her to feed me and give me snacks this often. Sometimes she forgets to eat at all and it’ll be eight o’clock and I’m praying for a PB&J.”
Kimmy rolled her eyes. “You are so mistreated.”
“On that pitiful note, we are going to leave,” Maeve said. “Thank you for letting us join in your celebration. I’m so happy for you two. And for you, Becky. Being a grandmother is going to be exhausting but the best part of your life. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Hailey and Jesse hugged Becky. “You can be our grandma, too, if you want.”
Becky clutched her heart. “I’d love that.” She turned to Amanda. “These two are absolutely the sweetest.”
They walked back outside feeling the joyful light of those fresh new lives. Amanda watched Hailey and Jesse run to the car and climb into their car seats. They were growing up so fast.
24
Amanda had been busy getting ready for school orientation night, and she’d tried a couple of practice runs taking Jesse to the pre-K at church to be sure he wouldn’t have a meltdown when she had to start working.
Not to worry. Jesse loved going, so much so that it had almost hurt her feelings. But the week had flown by and they’d all survived it. Thankfully, the school offered day care for the kids while she worked half days getting her classroom ready, so Hailey and Jesse spent those days together, and both had made some new friends. Matt, who they’d met at church, and Hailey were both excited about the first day of school and had been practicing their alphabet together. Jesse could almost recite it too.
It had been a long time since she’d worked outside the home, and all the additional preparations were keeping her extra busy. So busy that she hadn’t been on the beach much. It was possible she’d just missed Maeve on the new schedule, but she was suddenly worried about her.
Thank goodness the weekend gave her a little breathing room. She picked up her phone and dialed Maeve’s house, but there was no answer.
Amanda checked the timing of the tides, since Maeve’s walks usually coincided with low tide whenever possible, so she planned to catch her in the morning on the beach. She’d get the kids up early, just after sunrise, to walk down to Tug’s Diner. They were sure to run into Maeve there.
“We’ll take the beach walk to the diner this morning. Sound like a plan?” The three of them jogged over the dune to the packed sand, where it was easier to walk closer to the water.
Jesse carried the picture he’d drawn for Maeve. Amanda had rolled it into a tube and put a rubber band around it to keep it from getting caught in the wind and blown out to sea. Jesse liked the scroll, holding it up to his face and looking out at the horizon like a pirate the whole way.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite friends,” Tug said when they walked in. “Where have y’all been? I thought maybe you found