Page 36 of Guarded

As she walked back into their bedroom, her body heavy and aching with exhaustion, her cell rang. She glanced at the screen to see if it was important, ready to ignore it if it wasn’t.

Taya. Probably calling about the shower this weekend. At the moment, not as important as getting more sleep.

Briar set the phone down on the bedside table and sank onto the mattress. She didn’t want a baby shower. She didn’t want houseguests. She wanted peace and quiet and sleep, just her, Matt and Rosie.

When she lay down and tugged the covers over her, the phone rang again. This time it was Trinity. Briar stared at it a moment, made up her mind to tell her friend how she felt about the shower. So she answered.

“Hey, how are you feeling today?” Trinity asked brightly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired before. Not even during training.”

Trinity chuckled. “Rosie running you ragged already?”

“We’re still trying to figure out a routine.” She drew in a breath. “Look, I know it’s late to do this, and I really appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to in organizing everything, but I think we should cancel the shower.”

“What? Why?”

Because I’m fucking wrecked and I don’t feel like having to socialize with a bunch of people.“Matt’s mom and sister are coming in the night before. I’m gonna be busy. It’s too much.”

“I’ve already talked to Matt’s mom. She and Matt’s sister are going to set everything up, take care of the cleaning, cooking and laundry so you can focus on Rosie. You don’t have to do anything except eat and open the gifts.”

Hell.Briar bit back a sigh. What was wrong with her? The women coming over were her friends and extended family. Most other women would be ecstatic about their friends throwing them a shower.

“I know parties aren’t your thing, but you literally don’t have to do anything but show up,” Trinity went on. “Rosie’s the main attraction, not you. If you’re not feeling up to it when we get there, you can always stay upstairs to sleep for a while and let us look after the baby. Then you can come down when you’re ready and in more of a party mood. And it’s only for a couple hours. We’ll be out of your hair by dinnertime, and we’ll clean everything up so you don’t have to do a thing. There’ll be lots of leftovers, too.”

Well, leftovers were good. And she didn’t want to seem like an ungrateful bitch. She was tired and cranky as hell, but that didn’t excuse her from being rude to anyone else, let alone the people who loved her. “Okay, you’re right. Thanks.”

“It’ll be great, you’ll see,” Trinity said excitedly. “Everyone can’t wait to see you and Rosie.”

****

Show time.

Squaring her shoulders, Briar lifted her chin and checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The shower was about to start.

She had covered the dark circles under her eyes with concealer, something she’d never bought in her entire life until this morning, but it was necessary to make her look human. Last night had been tough even with Matt helping and she hadn’t caught up on enough sleep between Rosie’s feedings this morning.

At the moment the guys were all at Bauer and Zoe’s place to hang out for the afternoon. She was glad that Matt was getting the downtime. In between returning to work and helping out overnight with Rosie, he had to be tired too. His mom and sister were downstairs with the baby right now, watching her while Briar got ready. They were great with her, and it was nice to have a little time to herself.

Her mother-in-law gave Briar a smile when she walked into the kitchen. Pat had Rosie expertly cuddled into one shoulder while she stirred a pot of something on the stove. “This little one’s getting hungry again, I think,” she said, turning to Briar.

“I’m sure she is.” Briar took her daughter, the way Rosie melted into her hold making her smile.

She went into the living room and sat on the sofa to nurse her while Matt’s sister Karen bustled around the room setting up the table and putting up decorations. Everything was pink. Pink balloons. Pink streamers. Pink flowers and tablecloth.

“You guys really didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” Briar said as she arranged a blanket over her chest and maneuvered Rosie into place to nurse. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and hid a wince when those hard little gums clamped onto her sore nipple.

“It’s no trouble. Besides, it’s Rosie’s first party,” Karen said, beaming.

Trinity and Taya arrived a few minutes later. Briar stayed where she was, angling her face up to accept the cheek kisses from her friends.

“How’s our little piglet of honor doing today?” Taya asked, shifting Hudson on her hip. He was crawling now. Wouldn’t be long until he was walking.

“She’s trying her best to suck me dry but she just can’t take a full feeding yet.” Briar felt bad for her. Poor little thing was always hungry.

“Well, top her up then. She’ll be ready to be passed around when everyone else gets here.” She focused on Briar. “How are you feeling today? Nursing getting any easier?”

“Pretty good, actually. And sort of.” Matt had taken a feeding at two this morning, allowing her to get another bit of sleep. She didn’t feel quite like a zombie at the moment.

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