by Vaughn, Eve
Sadie groaned not wanting to think about all the work she had ahead of her. Because she’d had her daughter so early, she didn’t have time to get Elizabeth’s room together. When Sadie would come home from the hospital, she was physically and emotionally exhausted. Fortunately, she’d purchased a bassinet so Elizabeth could sleep in it next to Sadie’s bed until she could get the baby’s room together.
“Well, maybe when Elizabeth is sleeping, we can start working on the crib.”
“I don’t want to move her into her bedroom until it’s all done. I haven’t even started the painting. I got the paint in my basement but I’m not up to decorating today.”
“Well, take advantage of me while I’m there. I want to help you in any way I can.”
Sadie reached out and placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Thanks, sis. It really means a lot to me that you took a week off of work to help me out with the baby.”
“You’re my sister. Family looks out for each other.”
“Well, I still appreciate it.”
When they pulled into Sadie’s driveway, she frowned when she spotted all the random cars parked on the side of the street. “I wonder if the neighbors are having some kind of event.”
Lily shrugged.
Sadie carefully extracted the baby out of her car seat while Lily collected all her bags. When she walked into her house, she got the shock of her life when a handful of people screamed, “Surprise!” There was a huge banner across the wall that read, Happy Baby Shower.
Her living room was filled with her closest friends and family. Her aunt and uncle were here, along with a few of her former coworker. Even Daisy and Rose were in attendance. And standing in the middle of the room was Rhys and Carys.
Lily leaned over and whispered in her ear, “See, I told you he had something important to do.”
Sadie was moved to tears. “What’s going on? Who put this together?”
Rhys stepped forward. “Since you didn’t have a proper baby shower, we thought we’d throw one for you.”
“You did all this?”
“Well, I had help from your sisters of course but I think we did a pretty good job of things.”
“Oh, wow. I don’t know how you were able to get everyone here on such short notice. I mean we only knew about Elizabeth’s discharge a few days ago. Some of the people here obviously traveled quite a distance.”
“That was the tricky part. I knew she would get released around this time so we informed the guests here to keep their calendar open around this time. So when I found out the date, I let everyone know when the shower was. Colin helped in coordinating the travel for our out-of-towners.”
Sadie was moved to tears. “Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much.”
Just then Elizabeth decided to wake up. She squirmed and let out a cry. She was so tiny, her cry sounded like a kitten mewing. “Uh, oh. I think the little one is hungry.” Sadie looked at the crowd gathered in her living room. “Thank you all for coming but I need to feed her. If you’ll excuse me for twenty minutes, I’ll be right back. And I’m sure a lot of you want to hold her so I hope someone has lots of hand sanitizer.”
“Take your time, baby.” Her aunt smiled at her. Sadie was touched that her extended had come all this way to attend her surprise shower.
When Sadie would have headed to her bedroom for some privacy, Rhys gently caught her by the elbow. “Why don’t you feed Elizabeth in her room?”
“Because it’s still empty.”
He grinned. “Are you sure about that?”
“Uh yeah.”
“Why don’t you go in her room and double check?”
“Rhys, I know that the room is empty besides the box for the crib. I don’t have time to argue with you. The baby is hungry.”
“Just humor me.”
She walked past him and headed to Elizabeth’s room if for nothing else than to shut him up, but when she stepped inside, her mouth fell open.
“Well, what do you think?”
Sadie turned to Rhys to see he was grinning from ear to ear.
“I…I’d say this day has been full of surprises. When on Earth did you find time to do this? I only left last night, how did you get this all done so quickly? The crib, the glider, the painting, and stencils?”
“Well, your sisters obviously helped. I got the key from Lily and I brought in my team. I had three painters in here and they were finished last night, with the painting and designs. Colin and I put the crib and glider together. And I noticed you didn’t have a changing table yet so I bought one. What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful. I love it. I’m sure she’ll love it when she’s old enough to appreciate it.”
The room was absolutely gorgeous, painted in cream and gold. Stars and celestial bodies were stenciled all around the room along with pictures of children going on different adventures. Written in a large cursive font over the crib was Elizabeth’s name, and on the opposite wall was the phrase, ‘Oh the places you will go.’ There were stuffed animals, dolls and antique toys strategically placed on shelves around the room. “This is incredible. Someone designed this for you.”
“Daisy and Rose. You know, they actually flew in the night before and they stayed at my place because I didn’t want them to spend the night in a hotel when I had plenty of room. That’s why I declined the overnight visit. I’m sorry about that but I wanted things to be perfect for the two of you when you arrived home.
“Thank you, Rhys. This really means a lot to me and Elizabeth.”
“Why don’t you try the glider out? Looks like, Lizzy is getting restless.”
“Lizzy?” Sadie asked as she sat down in the rocker.
“I like her name just fine, but Elizabeth seems so formal for such a little nugget.”
“Hmm, I haven’t thought of nicknames, but I’m not crazy about Lizzy. Maybe Ellie.” She unbuttoned her blouse and freed one of her breasts from her bra. It hurt a little because it was so engorged.
Elizabeth cried in her tiny little voice as Sadie guided her nipple to her daughter’s mouth. It took the baby a few tries before she latched on properly but when she did, she suckled with the vigor of one who’s last meal had been a long time ago. Sadie stroked Elizabeth’s cheek as she fed and smiled. “You were hungry, weren’t you? With all that excitement going on out there, mommy was a little distracted.”
Elizabeth ignored her, focused on her task.
Sadie chuckled at her greedy baby. “What do you think if I called you Ellie for short?”
“Would you like that?”
Elizabeth waved her little arm in the arm. It could have been from the fact that’s she didn’t have full control of her muscles yet but Sadie saw it as a sign. “Ellie it is.”
“That’s a beautiful sight.”
Sadie had been so engrossed in her daughter that she’d forgotten Rhys was still in the room. For a split second, she wondered if she should cover up but then thought against it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it already, besides, feeding her child this way was the most natural thing in the world. She would not be shamed by covering up in her own home.
“It’s just a feeding,” Sadie said as casually as she could. It felt comfortable with Rhys standing by watching them. She could almost imagine they were a family but Sadie quickly fought back the feelings she would rather not resurrect.
“I know, but it’s a beautiful thing to watch two of my favorite girls together.”
“Rhys, don’t.”
“Don’t what? Stop loving you? Because if you think I can turn off my feelings at the drop of a hat then I can’t. I love you Sadie and I want us to be together as a family. And I’m not going to hide how I feel anymore. I’ve tiptoed around the issue while Elizabeth was in the hospital but I’m not going to pretend any longer. I want you back.”
“You can’t always get what you want!” she snapped making Elizabeth fuss. “She stroked her daughter’s cheek. “It’s okay, angel. Mommy didn’t mean to frighten you.”<
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Once the baby continued to feed, she turned her attention back to Rhys. “Look, now is not the time or place to discuss something that isn’t going to happen. It didn’t work out between us and now it’s time to move on.”
Rhys clenched his fists at his sides. “Just tell me one thing and I’ll drop it.”
Sadie released a weary sigh. “What?”
“Tell me you don’t love me anymore.”
“Of course I’ll always have love for you. You’re my child’s father.”
“Cut the crap. Tell me you’re not in love with me. Look me in the eye and do it.”
Sadie was a terrible liar. She raised her head and stared into his fierce gaze, but the words simply wouldn’t come. After opening her mouth and closing it again, she looked down at Elizabeth. “What the two of us had is over, okay? Just let it go.”
“You can’t say it can you? What are you so afraid of?”
“And why can’t you simply accept that we are over? Why can’t you take no for an answer? Just please, go. Tell the guests I’ll be out shortly.”
Rhys flared his nostrils, and he looked as if he wanted to continue the discussion but he headed to the door. Before he walked out, Rhys turned to her. “This conversation isn’t over by a long shot.”
Sadie didn’t bother to answer. Once he was gone, she hastily wiped away a tear that she was thankful didn’t fall in his presence. He’d asked her what she was scared of but the truth was, Sadie was scared of everything.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Elizabeth had been home for over a month and Rhys was still no closer to getting Sadie to hear him out about the two of them getting back together. Rhys was at his wit's end. He could barely focus while he was at work to the point where the head of his department had to check on him to see if everything was all right.
His mother, who decided to lengthen her stay in the states to help Sadie out with the baby didn’t help matters. She kept asking him when he and Sadie would stop being stubborn and get back together. It wasn’t as if he didn’t try.
Sadie’s surprise baby shower was the last time he had got her alone to talk. What should have been a happy day of homecoming and celebration had been a day of torture for him. Seeing Sadie laugh and smile with friends and family as she showed off their baby while she basically ignored him hurt. That should have been their day but instead, she’d shut him out. What he found the most frustrating about the situation was the fact that Sadie and Carys were actually getting along. In fact, Carys visited Sadie quite often and had even watched Elizabeth while Sadie napped. Carys was at Sadie’s this very moment.
“Rhys? Earth to Rhys!” Colin waved his hand in his brother’s face bringing Rhys out of his silent musings.
Rhys shook his head and focused on his brother. “I’m sorry, what?”
“The steak is already dead, mate. No need to keep stabbing it like that.” Colin motioned to the fork in his brother’s hand.
Rhys didn’t realize he was poking his food because he’d been so deep in thought. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize to me but clearly coming out for dinner wasn’t a good idea. According to Mom, you’ve been moping around the house and she thought if I took you out, it would help you get out of your funk. If I would have known you’d just sit across from me while desecrating that fine cut of meat I would have taken out that cute blonde I met the other week.”
“Cute blonde? And here I thought you had a thing for Lily.”
Colin’s usual easygoing countenance grew stormy as he furrowed his brow. “Don’t mention that name.”
Rhys raised a brow. It was no secret that Colin had a thing for Sadie’s sister, but apparently, something had happened between the two of them that his brother obviously didn’t want to talk about. Rhys thought he’d sensed some tension between the two of them at the shower, but Rhys had been too focused on his own drama to give them his full attention. Deciding not to pursue the topic, Rhys tried to keep the conversation neutral. “So tell me about this hot blonde.”
Colin shook his head. “Uh-uh. You’re not going to change the subject this easily. What’s going on with you, mate? Mom says you’ve been irritable and snapping at everyone. She and Carys have been tiptoeing around the house to avoid you. What’s going on, Rhys? Is it Sadie?”
“Just like you didn’t want to talk about her sister, I don’t want to talk about her.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. What’s going on between me and Lily is just a little tiff. You, on the other hand, share a child with Sadie and it’s clear that you still have feelings for each other. I just don’t understand why the two of you aren’t back together yet.”
“So this is why you decided to bring me out to dinner? To interrogate me?”
“Like I said, Mom thought it would be a good idea to get you out of the house and this is after all your favorite steakhouse. I thought it would lift your spirits.”
Rhys snorted. “Since when did you start listening to Mom? You were the rebellious one.”
“You can keep changing the subject if you want but it won’t make what’s bothering you go away. Come on, you can talk to me about it.”
Rhys pushed his plate away, his appetite long gone. “You’re not going to let this shit go until I spill my guts are you?”
Colin took a sip from his beer glass before giving him a smug grin. “Nope.”
“You’re such a dick, did you know that?”
Colin chuckled. “I’ve heard that before. Now seriously. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to carry on and pretend that everything is okay when I’m still in love with Sadie. We have a child together and that should have brought us closer but it feels like she’s using Ellie as a shield to keep me at arm’s length. I guess maybe I could learn to deal with this if I knew she didn’t have feelings for me as well but I know she does.”
“How does she use the baby as a shield?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain really but an example is the fact that whenever I try to have a serious conversation with her, she claims she has to check on something for the baby or that she’s too exhausted. She always has an excuse. I know those may not seem like a big deal but when it keeps happening over and over again, you start to see the pattern. Right before she gave birth, I apologized to her and told her that I loved her and wanted us to get back together. She told me that she couldn’t be with me because she couldn’t trust Carys around the baby. At the time, it was sort of understandable given the circumstances, but now she actually lets Carys watch the baby unattended, so that excuse no longer flies. If she loves me and her and Carys have become close, I don’t understand what her excuse is.”
Colin leaned back in his chair and didn’t speak at first but finally, he said, “Well, I supposed when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound rational but have you ever thought that she might be scared? Fear makes people do irrational things.”
“Scared of what?” Rhys pointed to his chest. “Of me? She has to know I’d never hurt her.”
“But didn’t you do it already? Hurt her, I mean? Look, you know I love my niece. But Carys was in a pretty messed up place thanks to that bitch of an ex of yours. Carys did some bad things to Sadie according to you and I can’t fault you for wanting to stand by your child. That’s what any good parent would do. But you were willfully ignorant where Carys was concerned. Even I had suggested that maybe you should get some counseling for her, but you bit my head off.”
Rhys sighed hanging his head. “You’re right. I saw the signs that she was troubled but instead of getting her the help she obviously needed I just bought her things to make it better. Her mother did such a number on her that I wanted to make sure she knew that she was loved and that I’d never abandon her. I guess in the back of my mind, I knew she was running those other women off but I told myself if they couldn’t handle a teenager then maybe they weren’t the right one for me. But looking back, none of those women meant anywhere nea
r as much to me as Sadie does. She’s the one woman who I can truly say I love with everything in my being. And I hate myself for the part I played in pushing her away. I should have listened instead of stubbornly trying to ignore Carys’ problems. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too.”
“Have you told Sadie all of this?”
“Pretty much, but no matter what I say it doesn’t seem like she wants to listen. I’m persona non grata as far as she’s concerned.”
“Like I said, fear makes people act out. They shut down because they’re afraid of getting hurt. Has she been hurt before?”
Rhys nodded. “Yes. Actually, she has. She told me about her past experiences. Her last ex apparently had a daughter as well. She said that they’d been close, but then out of the blue, her ex married the child’s mother. Sadie didn’t find out until his actual wedding day. And apparently before him, she dated a momma’s boy who always chose his mother over her.”
“Yikes. With a history like that, wouldn’t you be a little scared to try again?”
Rhys racked his fingers through his hair. “I suppose so. So are you suggesting that I just give up? I guess it’s what I deserve but—”
“I didn’t say that. But if you’re willing to give up so easily, maybe you don’t deserve her. If she’s not worth fighting for then what’s the point.”
“And what do you suggest I do since she won’t listen to me?”
“Make her.”
“How?”
“Mum and Carys are at Sadie’s right now aren’t they?”
“Yes, they usually go over on Friday night. Sometimes they stay over. You know how much Mum loves babies and Carys is crazy about her little sister.”
“Sounds like Ellie will be in good hands if her mother goes missing for a few hours,” Colin smirked.
“What are you….oh. And how do you suggest that I pull this off.”
