Page 43 of Ten Kisses

"What does it do?" he asked.

"Well, I'll tell you guys all at the same time, once your mom gets in here. That one right there, that you're touching, it does the same thing as the orange one in my kitchen."

"Hey, Molls, I'm sorry I'm late. Ethan had to jump in the bath for a second.

"Molly was waiting to tell me about everything in her new space," John-Michael said.

"Do you have a new door that leads outside?" Ethan said, finding the door on the other side of the new kitchen.

"It's kind of like going outside," I said. "It leads to Darren and Michelle's garage, and that'll take you outside."

I hugged Sadie. "This is so nice," she said.

I thanked her. I tried to shake off my brother's outburst. I went through the tour with them, giving them a summary of the new machines. Our family was usually so non-confrontational that it made me feel stunned that I was being confronted by first Sara and now my brother. It made me feel bad about something I otherwise felt great about. It made me question my feelings and reevaluate. I thought things were right between Salem and me, but my family was a gigantic part of my life, and it was a big deal to me that two of them were against it.

Chapter 15

Salem

A month later

Salem was with Phillip one Thursday at noon when he got the call from Addie saying her water broke. Phillip had gone to her right that second, and Salem hung back at work to see how things progressed and wait for further instructions from his brother. He called Molly first thing when Phillip left the jobsite.

"Hello?" she said.

"I'm going to be an uncle today."

"Addie?" she asked (since Sadie was expecting also).

"Yes."

"Great, that's awesome. Did she have him yet?"

"No, she just went to the hospital. I think her mom was at the house. Phillip's meeting them up there."

"Where are you? Are you going?"

"I'm still on this jobsite. I need to wrap up for a couple of hours here, unless they need me sooner. But yes, I'm planning on heading over there this afternoon. How busy are you? Can you meet me at the hospital?"

"Yeah, what time?" she said.

"Maybe three or so. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course, I'll come."

"Could you possibly fix her up a little treat?"

Salem knew that Molly had added a helium tank and an assortment of balloons to the mix at her front counter. She would often get orders that requested flowers or balloons, and balloons had been the logical first step.

"Yes, definitely, I'm already on it. I have the perfect balloon already. I knew these babies were coming."

Salem could hear rustling on the other end. It sounded like she was working on getting something together.

"Thank you, Molly. If something changes with them, I'll call you sooner. Otherwise I will just call you in a few hours, when I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Love you," he said.

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