Page 67 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

“Oscar's here. He wanted to see you and Sophie. I told him you were sleeping, so you can go back to bed.”

She grinned and pulled her hands through her tangled hair, working out the knots. “I've missed Oscar.” She skipped down the stairs.

I stopped her at the bottom with a hand on her shoulder. “He says he's seeing someone. It sounds serious.”

“Oh, good.” Her smile grew. I didn't see any sign of jealousy and my own green-eyed beast cooled. “I'm so happy for him.”

“What do you feel like eating?” I asked. “I'll cook a big brunch for everyone.”

She looked at me like she was really seeing me for the first time that day. “You don't have to do that. I'll just grab a bowl of cereal or something.”

“I want to do it,” I said. “How about pancakes and bacon? I've never done it before, but Mom can direct me.”

Her stomach grumbled and she slapped a hand over it. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Noah.”

I couldn't resist, I pressed a kiss to her hand like some cheesy knight in some cheesy story. She pulled her hand away and shook her head, but her smile didn't slip.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Aubrey

I pulled the Christmas paper tight over the box and pressed down a piece of tape to hold it in place. I reached for the other side, but a knock at the door made me freeze in place. I was in the living room wrapping presents for Sophie, May, Nora, Noah, and everyone else while Nora was out with Cody and his family to see the local Christmas parade. I had skipped it, because Sophie and I'd had a rough night and because I didn't think she would have liked the crowds or the noise or the cold winter air. I was seated amid piles of stuff, only a quarter of it wrapped, and everyone I knew should have been at the Christmas parade. It should have been safe for me to spread everything out and wrap, but someone was knocking at my door.

I looked around at the mess and sighed. It had to be Noah at the door. He'd been over every day for the past three weeks and he was starting to chip away at my defenses and my good common sense. He was just always around when I needed him and he kept complimenting me. It was driving me crazy. And sleep deprivation was making me crazy enough as it was. I tiptoed to the door, careful not to wake Sophie who was sleeping in her bouncy chair next to the tree, and opened it a crack, just enough to peek out. It wasn't Noah on the porch. It was my aunt Mimi, May next to her with a huge grin on her face.

“Look who I found,” May said, her words a bouncy sing-song exclamation.

I flung the door open and pulled them inside, giving them both big hugs. “Oh, my goodness,” I said to Mimi. “How are you here?”

May shut the door and Mimi wrapped an arm around my shoulders and walked with me into the living room. “What happened in here?” she asked in a loud voice.

I shushed her, pointing to the sleeping baby. “Don't look at anything,” I hissed at May, even though I was almost certain I'd wrapped all her gifts.

May shrugged and sank onto the couch while Mimi bent over Sophie's sleeping form and made kissy faces at her.

I grabbed Mimi's arm and dragged her past the mess in the living room and into the kitchen. I turned on the coffee maker, Mimi was a coffee junky so I didn't even need to ask if she wanted some. We sat at the center island, me with tea, May and Mimi with coffee and I asked again how it was possible Mimi was there.

“I had the weekend free,” Mimi said. “Hank and I are going to his Mom's for Christmas, so it made sense to visit you now. He wanted to come, too, but he'd already volunteered to help at a school Christmas thing this weekend. I've got a car full of stuff for Sophie.”

I put a hand to my hair. “If I'd known you were coming, I might have washed the baby spit-up out of my hair, but it's so good to see you.” Mimi wasn't close to her family, so she visited her husband's family for the holidays. She and I used to take a trip somewhere tropical every Christmas, until she got married. The past few years, I'd taken myself somewhere I'd never been. There were so many places to see, many of them in the United States. The previous year, I'd spent Christmas in Ireland, touring the sites and trying out the food. It had been a bit lonely, but also thrilling, to travel alone.

“You look beautiful,” Mimi said. “I never would have guessed you popped out a kid four weeks ago. How's everything going?”

“It's good. I have a lot of help. The lack of sleep is the hardest to deal with, but with Nora, May, and Noah all here to help I'm able to nap whenever Sophie sleeps, so I can function.”

“Except when you're wrapping presents,” Mimi said.

“Everyone's at the town parade, so I took the chance to wrap presents.”

“I love wrapping presents,” May said with a little bounce. “Can I help?”

Both women were happy to help and Sophie woke up not long after we got started. Mimi and May kept wrapping while I nursed her, so everything was wrapped up and under the tree by the time Nora and Noah got home.

They were happy to see Mimi, too.

“Why don't you take Mimi out for a tour of the town?” Noah asked. “I can stay here with Sophie.”

He'd made the same offer for the parade, but I'd turned him down, even though I was dying to get out of the house for a bit. I hadn't felt ready to leave Sophie alone. Now that Mimi was there, though, the temptation was greater. “Are you sure you'll be okay?”

---