Page 49 of Cross-Checked

No. Fucking. Way. What kind of trick is the universe trying to play on us?

McCabe

Open your door so I can slip in without anyone seeing me, please.

Sunshine

How soon?

Grabbing my key card off the dresser, I shove it into the pocket of my shorts as I crack open my door, peeking out into the hallway to make sure no one is around. It’s empty.

McCabe

Now.

Her jaw drops when she swings her door open to find me standing in my open doorway across the hall.

“No fucking way,” she says, and I chuckle as her words mirror the exact thought I just had. “Did you arrange this?”

“Yeah.” Sarcasm drips from my tone as I take two steps across the hall and into her room, quickly shutting the door behind me. “Just like I arranged for you to move in across the hall from me at home.”

Abby’s gurgling baby sounds draw me into the room, where I find AJ’s phone propped up on the dresser against the TV.

“I muted myself because she was getting distracted any time I said something to Nicholas,” she tells me, grabbing the phone off the dresser and handing it to me as we sit on the bed next to each other so we can watch my daughter.

Abby is standing with both hands on the long bench-style ottoman I now use as a coffee table because it’s padded and she can’t hurt herself on it.

“Hey, Abby.” Nicholas must be sitting on the floor below his phone, because I can just see the top of his head at the bottom of the screen.

Abby’s head turns toward him, and he holds up her favorite puppy, making it dance around in the air in front of him. Abby takes a tentative step, still holding on to the ottoman with one hand for balance. I’ve seen her do this a bunch of times, but so far, she’s never let go of whatever she’s holding on to. I know she’ll get the hang of walking soon, and part of me hopes it’s right now on camera so I don’t miss it. The other part of me hopes she waits until I get home.

Nicholas makes pretend barking sounds, and Abby giggles in response. She steps one foot toward him, and her free arm flies up to help balance her. I can tell she’s not ready for multiple steps, but she might actually take one.

The puppy claps his paws together as Nicholas says, “Good job!” And then lets out another little puppy bark.

Abby laughs again, and leans toward him like she’s thinking about taking a step.

We lean toward the phone, both of us holding our breaths as if breathing might cause us to miss one second of this. And when Abby brings her back leg forward to take a step, she teeters a bit but is able to right herself. She’s standing, all by herself. I can feel my eyes filling with tears as I watch her take one more step toward Nicholas.

That’s when AJ’s hand finds mine, our fingers intertwining tightly as we both take a sharp, excited breath. “Oh my god,” she whispers.

I clear my throat. I’m not going to fucking cry in front of her.

As Abby reaches out to try to grab her puppy, she falls forward onto her hands and knees and crawls the rest of the way. Nicholas must pick her up then, because her head pops up next to his and her eyes light up when she sees the phone.

“Da!”

Tapping the button to unmute the video, I say, “Good job, boo!”

“Da!”

This is all happening so fast. A few months ago, she couldn’t even sit up on her own, and now she’s almost walking and talking. There’s a lump in my throat so thick that I’m not sure I can swallow it down.

Then Nicholas is turning and picking up the phone, holding it out so I can see both him and Abby where she stands on his thigh. She’s got one hand on his shoulder, and is holding the top of his head with the other.

“Alright, we need to start getting ready for bed. I let her stay up a little late,” he says, chuckling. “She got this random spurt of energy and was bouncing all over the place.”

“Yeah,” I say, then clear my throat again because it still feels clogged with all the emotions. “That happens sometimes. Reading her a few books while rocking her before giving her a bottle usually calms her down. Her favorites are in the stack I showed you?—”

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