Page 28 of Mad Love

“Let’s ease into this, okay?” I say. “Sadie’s been through a lot the past few days. Caleb was born on the fifth of December and I’m probably partial, but he’s the best baby that ever lived, aren’t you?”

Caleb makes a sound like he’s agreeing with me, and my parents laugh.

“Would you like to hold him?” I ask my mom.

She nods eagerly and I carefully pass him to her. She looks down at him in awe as she holds him, and her eyes are overflowing when she bends down to kiss the top of his head.

“I’m your grandma,” she whispers against his hair. Her eyes lift to mine and she gives me a shaky smile. “Weston, he’s a dream.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and nod, too overwhelmed to speak.

“I just don’t get why your sister didn’t tell him about the baby…but now you’re living here?” Olivia says.

“Olivia, let’s not do this right now,” I warn.

“But is that wise? You don’t even know each other,” she pushes.

“It was an abrupt decision, yes, but the priority is Caleb, so we’re doing our best to put aside our differences and work together for his sake.”

“That’s all very progressive of you, but they kept your son from you, West,” she says.

“Enough, Olivia,” Dad says.

I glance at Sadie to see how she’s handling this, and her eyes are glassy, but she’s standing tall.

“My parents and I were led to believe Weston didn’t want to have anything to do with the baby. They don’t know yet that Caleb’s his.” Sadie looks at me. “My dad is a big fan.” She looks at my family again and presses her lips together. “And honestly, I’m still trying to make sense of what really happened.”

Everyone’s quiet for a second and my mom speaks first.

“I hope we can all continue to be a united front for Caleb.” Mom looks down at him and blinks back tears. “You don’t know our son well enough yet, but I can promise you that he will love this child with his whole heart and do his best to take care of him. The fact that he had you move in here should prove that.”

She glances up at Sadie and Sadie nods.

“I’m starting to believe that,” she says softly.

CHAPTER TEN

THE GRILLING

SADIE

God, this is torture.

Weston’s family is nicer than I expected, but there’s still a lot of resentment under the surface.

I can’t blame them for that.

If I were in their shoes, I’d hate me.

We eat and Caleb snoozes as his grandparents hold him. Olivia shakes her head when Lane tries to hand him to her. I’mnot sure what to make of Olivia, but I’d be protective of my sibling too—I guess I already have been. And seeing Caleb being so loved, it seems like my protectiveness of Sasha may have been to Caleb’s detriment.

When Weston’s sister Felicity and her husband and son arrive, the mood lightens considerably. Owen is nine and so cute and funny, and Felicity and Sutton are warm and friendly. It’s hard not to stare at them because they’re beautiful people and so obviously in love. Weston and Felicity’s closeness reminds me of Sasha and me, where they’re hugging one minute and she’s tripping him the next. But most of all, they are ecstatic about Caleb.

My parents call to say they’ll be later than three. I’m restless and don’t know what to do with myself. As the day goes on, I wonder even more what I’m doing here. Weston clearly has backup. He wouldn’t need me to make this work. And when his parents and Olivia talk about work, I’m reminded that they’re all lawyers, and Sutton is a freakingjudge.

“What do you do for fun, Sadie?” Felicity asks.

“The past couple of months, it’s been all about this guy,” I say.

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