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Cass nodded and pushed his chair back. “That’s probably a good idea.” He stood and glanced over his shoulder to the window. The snow had stopped falling, but that tug in his gut was still there. “I’ve got an errand to run, and then I’m heading out to Westside to hang with Brendan and Laurie later. Do you mind if I take the truck?” He turned back to his dad. “It handles much better in the snow than my car.”

His dad’s expression tightened, and when he didn’t answer right away, Cass forced a smile.

“I’ll be careful.”

“I know you will.” His dad shook his head. “Can’t the errand wait? The roads are bad.”

Cass laughed lightly. “Mom’s worrying is rubbing off on you?” When his dad didn’t answer, Cass swallowed hard and dropped his eyes. Maybe he should just stay in. It was bad out there, after all.

His dad cleared his throat, and when Cass lifted his eyes, he saw his dad frowning. The older man sighed. “Just come and say good night to your mom before you go? And promise me you’ll be careful. I don’t want a call in the middle of the night that you’ve been in an accident or anything. Got it?”

Cass huffed a quiet laugh but nodded solemnly. “Yeah, of course. Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t thank me. Just bring yourself and my truck home in one piece later.”

“I will.”

“Alright. Come on. Hopefully your mom’s not already asleep.”

With a quick nod, Cass grabbed his wallet from his desk and shoved it into his back pocket. Then he followed his dad down the hallway to his parents’ bedroom so he could say good night to his mom.

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do when he showed up at the hotel to check on Ash, or even if he’d be welcome, but the buzz of unease that had been swarming around in his chest all afternoon seemed a little less insistent now that he’d made his decision. He only hoped that he’d get there and find he’d been worrying about nothing.

That would be the best outcome.

Grant (Thursday, December 9, 2021 – 5:29 p.m.): shit bro that snow storm is all over the news here. looks bad

Grant (5:31 p.m.): at least u have extra time to study for finals since ur stuck in a hotel right?

Grant (5:32 p.m.): text me back. let me know ur alive and what ur plans are. i’ll come over and help unpack when u get home

Chapter Nine

Ash

Ash let his eyes close, reluctantly giving in to the exhaustion that had been clouding his mind since the onset of his migraine earlier. He’d been sleeping in fits, not unlike his niece, but the sleep hadn’t been restful or even helpful. His head still felt like it was being split down the middle, and every other thought he had seemed to fizzle out before he could finish it. And if he tried to stand up, the world turned.

Baby Bri slept in her bassinet on the bed not more than a foot away, comfortable now after Ash had managed to change her diaper for what had to be the tenth time that day, play with her for a few minutes, and feed her. The room was silent, except for the occasional sounds of soft suckling coming from the bassinet, and he welcomed it, letting himself drift off again, even if only for a few minutes.

When he woke to quiet gurgling and rustling not long after, an immediate sense of nausea and a deep, empty ache in his stomach replaced the vaguely comfortable sleep he’d found. Bri seemed to have some sort of sixth sense for knowing when he was awake, because she cooed and started making these adorable babbling noises like she was playing with the sounds.

Ash opened his eyes halfway, swallowing back the ick that pushed up his throat, and propped himself up on one elbow to see over the edge of the portable bassinet. Bri turned her head toward him and made a noise that sounded something like a laugh. Then she started kicking her feet and cooing happily while reaching up to stuff her hand in her mouth.

She was just about as precious as a baby could possibly be, and that both broke Ash’s heart and simultaneously hurt so much that for several seconds, he really couldn’t move. He just stared at her through his slight-too-fuzzy vision, wishing he’d wake up or something and find out it was all one big, long, awful nightmare.

When he finally regained some semblance of control, he scooted closer to the bassinet and reached his hand in. She brought her hand up, opened her fist, and managed to grab his finger.

He smiled weakly. “You’re too cute, sweet baby girl,” he murmured. She stopped gurgling long enough to smile up at him while tugging on his finger to bring it to her mouth. “Hungry?”

Squinting, Ash turned enough to look over at the clock on the nightstand. It was off by a few minutes, he remembered, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was just after six, meaning they’d been sleeping for almost an hour. Bri had eaten right before they’d napped, so, theoretically, she shouldn’t be hungry yet.

However, if he’d learned anything in the last few weeks, it was that “theoretically” didn’t really matter when it came to Bri’s feeding “schedule.” Since they’d finished up all the stored breast milk Ashlynn had saved and switched Bri fully to formula last week, Bri’s eating habits and needs had been a bit of a roller coaster. The general advice he’d been given—by her pediatrician and Shaina and Joanna and every bit of advice he’d looked up on the Internet—was to let her eat as much as she wanted as often as she wanted. Unfortunately, that had meant too much guessing sometimes as Ash had tried to figure out what exactly Bri’s “I’m hungry” cry was. Sometimes, she was just fussy. And with all the traveling yesterday and today, any attempt at feeding her at regular intervals had been futile anyway.

He did know he’d fed her around five, and even in his migraine-induced haze, he also knew he was taking good care of her. But at the same time, the emptiness in his stomach reminded him just how much he’d been neglecting himself.

When was the last time he’d eaten?

Bri gurgled something and tugged on his finger, and he forced himself to smile as he started talking nonsense to her.