Page 171 of For Wrath and Redemption
“Thank God,” Torren says with a grin.
I shake my head and bite back my smile. He’s an ass, but I don’t exactly disagree with him on this one.
“So where did you come up with the name?” Sav asks, and I decide to answer.
“Theodora after my brother, and Andrea after Claire’s mom.”
“Well, it’s beautiful.”
“You know I love an old-fashioned name,” Mabel chimes in with a waggle of her brows. “That’s why I picked mine.”
Claire’s jaw drops. “Mabel isn’t your real name?” Mabes shakes her head slowly. “What is it?”
Mabes sighs dramatically, then lies. “It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten it.”
Claire looks at me, and I throw up my palms. “Don’t look at me. She’s been Mabel since I’ve known her.”
“Do you know?” Claire asks Sav, and Sav shrugs.
“I know everything.”
Mabel laughs, then changes the subject. “Anyway, we brought you a few things.”
“You guys don’t have to keep bringing me stuff.”
“To be fair, only the food is from us,” Torren adds.
I tilt my head. “What?”
“We brought sushi because we knew Claire was craving it for the last month of her pregnancy,” Sav says, pulling sushi rolls out of the insulated cold bag.
“Oh yum.” Claire looks up at me. “Can you put Teddy in her bassinette?”
I take my daughter and put her in the bassinette. We’ve only been home a day and a half, but we’ve basically been moving the bassinette wherever we go. Kitchen for cooking. Dining room for eating. Living room for lounging. Where we go, Teddy goes.
Claire is surveying the sushi when Mabel slides the vase of flowers in front of her.
“This and the gift bag are a special delivery.”
“From who?” Claire asks, reaching slowly for the bag.
She holds Mabel’s eyes, and Mabel gives her a small smile. “Open it.”
Claire hesitates, and I watch as goosebumps rise on her forearms. I think I see a slight tremble in her fingers as she reaches into the bag, and when she pulls out the gift, tears well in her eyes.
It’s a little orange sleeper with dinosaurs on it. It’s obviously used. The color is faded and there’s fraying on the hems, but I can tell it means something to Claire. Tears stream down her face as she flips over a little notecard, and I read it over her shoulder.
Gabe and Charlotte have outgrown it.
It’s your turn now.
-Lennon
Claire laughs and glances up at me.
“This was mine. Well, Macon’s first, and then mine. My, um...” She sucks in a shaky breath and laughs again. “Nephew and my niece wore it when they were infants, too. I guess...Well, I guess Lennon wants me to have it now.”
I put my hand on her shoulder and smile. I know what this means to her. I can only imagine what she’s feeling. I don’t even know her brother and stepsister, but I almost want to cry too.
