Page 119 of Sven

“I’m sure Sven will bring the Pack ’N Play,” Natalie said.

“Should you remind him?” Hillary asked.

“He’s her father. He’s got it.”

Both women looked at her like she’d grown another head. She almost forgot that most fathers weren’t as up on what theirbaby would need, but Sven was not a clueless, bumbling father. That’s part of what she loved about him.

That thought stopped her in her tracks.

That she loved him.

Did she love him? If she was being honest with herself, she did. Somewhere along the line of watching him with Winnie, the late-night conversations, and all the incredible sex, she’d fallen in love with Sven Olsson.

“Okay, well, let’s reconvene in the morning and get a plan of action,” said Hillary as she stood. “We’re going to figure this out, Natalie,” she said, looking her squarely in the face.

The guilt Natalie felt over being everyone’s problem threatened to overtake her. But she wasn’t the problem. The problem was squarely on the hateful people who had put her in this situation, and, in turn, put these new people in this situation.

Hatred has a ripple effect, and if you allow it to go unchecked, it reaches far and wide. She didn’t know how, but it was going to stop here and now.

Natalie blew out a breath and nodded. Quietly, she followed Sasha up the stairs into a guest bedroom.

“Thank you for this,” Natalie said through her emotion.

“Please, think nothing of it. We’re a family, and we protect our own. We’ll figure this out,” she said as she put her hand on arm. “You just get settled with this little cutie, and Sven and Conner will be back soon.”

Sasha shut the door behind her. The ambient light from the window was the only light in the room. Settling on the bed, she lay Winnie next to her. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. Screaming and throwing things wouldn’t have been helpful, even though she was dying to. This was affecting her life and the life of others. She needed to find a way to stopthis problem at the source, but the rage was pulling her down. A rage she did not even begin to know how to deal with.

40

Sven

“Did you get everything?” Conner asked.

“I think so,” Sven said, looking around.

He had an overnight bag with a couple of outfits for him and Natalie. Then he had the Pack ’N Play and a bag full of diapers and food for Winnie, along with changes of clothes and some of her favorite toys. It almost looked like he was going to be staying at Conner’s for a month as opposed to what would just be a couple of days until this all died down.

“I swear, this is just a couple days. Babies need a lot,” Sven said.

“I get it. We’re good,” Conner said before picking up the Pack ’N Play and one of the bags, making his way out to the car.

The reporters had cleared out, but Sven knew they would be back in the morning. It had been a perfect storm of the baby story breaking, and now this.

As Conner pulled out into the street, his phone rang. It was almost midnight, so it must have been Natalie. He dug his phone out of his pocket.

His heart dropped when he saw who it was on the screen. “It’s my dad.”

Conner looked over at him. He didn’t know that kind of relationship he had with his dad. Sven had met Conner’s entire family. The McPhees were amazing. All of them. The dynamic in Sven’s family had to be so foreign to someone like Conner.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself for whatever his dad was getting ready to throw at him.

“Dad,” he said, holding the phone to his ear.

“Well, it looks like shit really hit the fan,” he said with an air of superiority that made Sven pulse with anger.

“I’m handling it,” he ground out.

“Are you?”

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