Page 79 of Burned

“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?”

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