Page 57 of Second Chance with Seth

“Don’t worry about it.” He lets his eyes roam over the open-plan living space, the two matching couches, scattered with toys, and a couple of magazines. He puts down my purse and the diaper bag on the seat and turns to face me. “It hasn’t changed at all.”

“Except for all the baby things.”

“That’s to be expected.”

“And it’s not all exactly as it was.”

“Oh?” He looks around, frowning, like he’s trying to spot the difference.

“I’ve changed the bedrooms around.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. I sleep on this floor now,” I say, nodding to the door at the back of the apartment, alongside the bathroom.

“Does that mean River is upstairs?” He looks up toward the room that used to be ours and then focuses on me again.

“She is.”

“Is that easier?” he asks.

“I sometimes wonder when she wakes me at three in the morning, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“When she was born, you mean?” he says, frowning, like he doesn’t understand my logic.

“No. When I was pregnant. I needed to pee roughly every thirty minutes, and getting up and down the stairs to the bathroom was annoying… not to mention dangerous.”

“You didn’t fall, did you?” he says, stepping closer to me, and I let out a sigh, feeling that warm blanket of protection wrap around me. Just knowing he’s here is enough to do that, and I smile up at him. His touch can do it better, but this is working just fine.

“No, I didn’t fall, but I was scared I might, especially as I got more and more pregnant. So, I moved into Aunt Clare’s old room. Initially, I expected to move back upstairs once I’d had River, but after I realized how much space she was gonna take up, I made the move permanent. That meant switching the beds around, and…”

“Tell me you didn’t do that all by yourself,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me.

“No. Owen and Tomas came and did most of it for me.”

“You mean you actually asked for help?”

I smile up at him. “Not exactly. I told Owen what I was planning to do, and he offered.”

“At least you accepted.”

“I did. I knew I couldn’t do it by myself, and once they’d shifted the furniture, I built River’s crib and arranged the nursery, and…” He shakes his head and I stop talking. “What’s wrong?”

“It… It should have been me doing that,” he says, the sadness in his voice catching me unawares.

“I—I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. We both know that.” I open my mouth to contradict him, but he raises his hand, placing his fingers over my lips, and shakes his head. “My fault, babe.”

He moves his hand away, and I whisper, “Mine, too.”

He stares at me, lowering his gaze from my eyes to my lips, before he dips his head and kisses me, just briefly. It’s enough to make my breath catch in my throat, but before I can react, he stands up straight again and says, “What do we need to do first?” glancing down at our daughter, who’s still cradled in my arms, looking up at Seth.

“I usually deal with River first,” I say. “It’s easier that way.”

“Okay. What can I do to help?”

“To be honest, I think it’ll be best if you could take her for me while I get everything ready. It’ll be quicker than me trying to explain it all to you.”

---