Ella
“Cora?” I gasp the minute I get the phone to my ear, still scrambling out of bed and tangled in the sheets.
“Hey, Ells,” she says, her voice somehow both tight and bored at once. “Sorry to wake you up – ”
“You didn’t wake me – ” I say quickly, reaching for Rafe in his crib and scooping him up in my arms. Behind me, I hear Sinclair climbing out of bed too, coming to my side.
“I didn’t?” Cora asks. “Why actually.” Her voice goes stony. “Don’t tell me. Knowing you and Dominic, I probably don’t want to know.”
A little laugh bursts from me as I shake my head, trying to get back on track with this conversation. “Cora,” I say, looking down at Rafe’s bright, wide -awake face, “what’s up? Why are you calling? Is the baby -”
“Yeah,” she says on a sigh. “Roger insisted I call. Baby’s on its way!”
“Oh my god!” I shriek, spinning to Sinclair and beaming at him for the second time this morning. “It’s time for the baby! We’ll come right away -”
“No, take your time,” she says on a sigh and I frown at her even though she can’t see me.
“Cora, what is going on? Why are you calling in the middle of the night for us to come but then also telling us not to hurry?”
“Because my stupid mate made me call you,” Cora says, her voice annoyed. She lowers her voice to a whisper. ” He’s completely freaking out, Ells, even though everything is progressing totally normally -”
“Awww,” I say, passing Rafe to Sinclair’s waiting hands and smiling up at him. “Go easy on him, Cora! He’s a first-time dad!”
mutters, making me laugh again, “if he’s this
well, should we come?” I ask, looking up into Sinclair’s face, a silent question in my eyes. Can we go? Is there any pressing national business that
Ella, I don’t think my body is anywhere close to ready to push but Roger just wants everything in
I say cheerfully, nodding up to Sinclair who gives me a wink and starts to walk away to the closet to get himself and Rafe dressed. “Honestly, Cora, if he’s freaking out
of it
something in the background, his voice thick with anxiety though I can’t hear what he’s saying. My heart swells a little for my secretly-sweet brother-in- law, who I know has his
as soon as we can. And we’ll let Henry
sigh. “See you
call through the phone before hanging up and tossing it onto the bed. Then I practically skip into the closet in my
right?” he asks, cupping
think so,” I say, nodding up at him. “Apparently she’s still got time – Roger’s just
says with a laugh. “Roger’s great under pressure except when it comes to things that are completely out of his control. It’s going to drive him crazy to have to watch Cora have to go
selecting some clothes that I hastily pull on. When I’m ready, I turn to take the
to him, plucking a little squeeze pouch of baby food off its place on the shelf and sitting down with him in our little arm chair so he can have something to eat while Sinclair finishes getting ready. “And then, in a couple of
and I laugh, because the way he looks at me when I talk – god, it’s as if he’s
thinking about how he’s going to react when there’s a little
my eyes fill with tears when I realize that in
the title has already passed to
that I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice when he
as I laugh at my own ridiculousness. “I didn’t
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