Page 47 of The Sweetest Chirp

“Oh, of course!” Mom squeals, but then Maeve gives her a look.

“Where? In your room?”

Mom gives her a dark look. “William can sleep on the couch.”

“What?” I ask, confused. “Aren’t there a few guest rooms on the second level?”

Mom bites her lip, and Dad speaks for her. “We are renovating the library and offices. So, everything is packed in the extra rooms.”

“Oh wow,” I say, surprised. I know that I can get a hotel until I figure something else out. Before, I’d have asked Maeve, but I know that’s not possible at the moment. I know she feels so much anger for me, and I won’t ask to invade her space.

I hid her baby’s baby.

“I’m so excited for you. We’ll find a place in the city.”

“The hell you will,” Maeve says beside me, giving me a dark look. “You are both welcome here. I have rooms available and would love to have you here. I know your parents don’t want you so far away in town. Not when we have time to make up for.”

I meet a pair of eyes that match Thatcher’s in every way. The darkest brown. I swallow hard, my throat working as I choose my words carefully. “Are you sure?”

It’s Don who speaks next. “Why are you asking that? You are always welcome here.”

I feel like I’ve been thrown off a roof, that stomach-twisting feeling as I hold Maeve’s gaze. “I thought you wouldn’t want me here after everything.”

Don sighs deeply as Maeve just watches me. Her lips turn down in a frown as she sighs just as deeply as Don did. “You are family, no matter what, Audrina,” she tells me, reaching out to cup my face. “I love you like my own, and as hard as it is for me to understand what you and Thatcher have going on, I will because I love you more than my need to know why you ran and kept my grandchild from me.”

My chest tightens. “I’m sorr?—”

She squeezes my chin, stopping my words. “None of that.” She taps my nose then looks at Arwen. With the widest grin imaginable, Maeve signs,We will go shopping tomorrow to buy you everything for a brand-new room!

My own room? Like Bluey?Arwen asks, looking from her baba to me.

“What is Bluey?” Mom asks, and I grin as I nod to my baby.

“It’s this really cool show with this awesome dad. You’ll watch it on repeat when you hang with Arwen,” Thatcher says then as he carries in a box. He crouches down, opening the flaps and looking at Arwen.This one?

She nods happily and then signs,Daddy, I get a room here. Baba is taking me shopping for my own room. Like Bluey.

Maeve pats his arm. “We’ll go while you’re at practice. She can have the room next to yours, and Audrina on the other side.”

“Oh, we have been sharing,” I start, but Maeve waves me off.

“She needs her own space, and you do too, my love. I promise.”

Thatcher looks at me. “Are you okay with that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve always slept with her.”

“And you still can,” he promises, leaving me speechless. He looks down at Arwen, grinning just for her.Just like you wanted. Are you excited?

She wiggles.So excited. Can I have a Bluey bed?

He chuckles.I don’t think Mommy would fit in a Bluey bed.

She’ll sleep in your room with you, and I’ll have mine.

God help me. The thought of sharing a bed with Thatcher again has me burning all over. Thatcher snorts at that and then looks at me, waggling his brows. “I like the way she thinks.”

“Not funny.”

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