Page 82 of Catching Sparkles

“That’s great,” Josie encouraged him. She, at least, didn’t seem to have any weird bitterness about Rhys, which I was thankful for. “Total uncle material.”

He looked so adorable holding her that I could barely suppress a squeal. The scattered pieces of my heart, what was left of it after Astrid had burst it into a million pieces, started melting like wax in the sun.

Would he ever hold our baby like that one day? It was a crazy thought. He’d barely only admitted that he was bi, but… I couldn’t help imagining it. I was so in love with him I could hardly stand it. I was sure I’d never love anyone in the entire world as much as I loved Rhys Kensington, and if I didn’t have him then the idea of marriage and kids was just completely worthless.

Because I worried I might have been visibly swooning, I tore my eyes away from the two of them, and shifted my attention to Josie. “How are you feeling?”

She sighed a little, but tilted her head. “Exhausted, but relieved. And nervous,” she finally admitted, pushing some of her auburn hair up off her forehead.

“Why nervous?”

“Well, just… They say this is the easy part. Like pushing a watermelon out of a keyhole is easy,” she remarked, rolling her eyes. I snorted, but didn’t really want to think about it too hard. “But then all these sleepless nights are coming up and it’s supposed to be so overwhelming, and…”

“You can call me for help, like, anytime,” I promised. “Seriously, I’ll drop everything for whatever you need. Even if you just want me to sit with her for a few hours while you sleep.”

Her eyes got comically wide and watery. “Aw, Keke! You’re the sweetest.”

“If you need me to pick anything up and bring it over, I’m happy playing errand boy,” Rhys added, and she gave him a very soft and very pleased expression.

“My parents and Benjamin’s parents basically said the same thing,” she sighed. “I’m so lucky.”

“You’re lucky and Astrid’s going to be the most spoiled child in the history of the world,” Benji piped up wryly, but it was obvious he was happy about how willing to help we all were.

We chatted a bit more about the baby and the short term plans Benji and Josie had, until a nurse came to check Josie’s blood pressure, and then informed us she needed her rest. We assured them again that we were available for help with anything they could possibly need.

“Uh, do you mind dropping me back off?” Rhys asked as we stood up to leave.

“Oh! Sure, no problem,” I said, glad he’d thought to ask about it in front of them so it wouldn’t look weird that we were leaving together. The last thing I needed was for Benji to pick up on any weird vibes between us while he was already having weird feelings about Rhys to begin with. I hugged both of them, took another long look at my new niece, and then we headed out.

Out in the car, my phone got a bunch of notifications at once. I must not have been getting service in the hospital, but I hadn’t noticed.

“I have a bunch of missed calls,” I remarked. “But I don’t recognize the number.”

“Well, at least we know it isn’t Benjamin or Josie,” Rhys scoffed, and I grinned.

“Oh, they left a voicemail,” I realized. “Probably someone that doesn’t know how to text trying to place an order.”

Most of my customers placed orders through my social media, so they tended to be younger, but if it was someone local then an older person still opposed to text messaging wasn’t totally out of the question.

I clicked through the voicemail prompts to listen, then put the phone up to my ear, expecting to hear some fragile old lady or something. When my dad’s deep voice came slithering out of the receiver, all my stomach muscles clenched and I nearly fumbled the phone.

My mom had called me a bunch of times in the last year or so, until I’d eventually blocked her number, along with my dad’s for good measure. He’d obviously changed his number or called from somewhere else or something. He informed me, in his signature gruff voice that always made me feel like I was being lectured or insulted, that my mom was sick and it wasn’t looking good.

Rhys reached out to rub a hand over my arm, clearly able to tell whatever I was listening to was making me upset.

“If you’re any kind of man, which I’ve always doubted anyway, you’ll come work things out with her before it’s too late,” Dad said, taunting me through the phone.

Once the message was done playing, I dropped my phone into my lap and let out a frustrated groan, dragging my palms over my face.

“What happened?” Rhys asked.

Nerves were thrashing in my stomach like a pit of snakes, but I painstakingly recounted the message for him. Saying the words out loud made it worse. It made them more real. I resented my mom for my childhood, and how she’d let my dad be so horrible to me. But if I ignored his message and didn’t go and see her… If something happened, would I regret it for the rest of my life?

“Ah, shit,” he responded, his dark eyebrows drawn together in concern for me. “I’m sorry, Sparkles. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I… I don’t know what to do. My mind’s going a thousand miles a minute right now.”

“Here, switch me,” he suggested, reaching out and taking my keys from my hand. When he opened the passenger door and stepped out, I realized he wanted to drive. Feeling weirdly numb, I made my way around the car and slid into the passenger seat so he could. “We were in the hospital for a while. Do you want to grab some food or something? It might help you think.”