Page 47 of 7+Us Makes Nine

And I felt it slam against my chest as her warmth penetrated my skin.

Chapter Sixteen

Catherine

“What about this?” I asked.

Michaela snubbed her nose at the beautiful dress before she reached for a pair of footie pajamas.”

“You can’t live out of pajamas. You need some real clothes, too.”

“But mine are small,” she said.

“And we already have four in the cart,” I said.

“No school today?” she asked.

“Nope. The boys are at school, but you and I have to find you more clothes. You grew overnight! You’re getting to be a big girl.”

She smiled and ran down the aisle, chasing after yet another outfit that had caught her eye. It was exactly what happened. We all woke up this morning and as I was getting her ready for her half-day at preschool, I found that most of her clothes didn’t fit her any longer. Her shirts were a little too short and her jeans didn’t button. And some of her socks no longer fit! No wonder she’d been eating the house away the past week. Thought I was still shocked. Most kids complained about being in pain and didn’t feel like eating. But Michaela had been the opposite. She ate more than the boys combined and never once complained about pain.

“This?” Michaela asked.

She held up yet another pair of pajamas and I giggled.

Jace gave me his card and told me to get her some clothes, but I wanted to buy her a few of my own. I promised her a new big-girl toy to go along with her big-girl clothes, so I was footing the bill on whatever toy she chose. And it looked like it was going to be a princess pop-up tent for her room. It didn’t shock me, either. Hers had been worn down and was way too small for her now. The one she had her eye on was a different color and had a different princess on it. The one she was looking at would also take up a fourth of the size of her room.

“You sure that’s what you want?” I asked.

“Uh huh,” Michaela said.

“Okay. I’ll get it for you. Under condition.”

“Okay,” she said.

“You have to pick out a pretty dress to wear out this weekend,” I said.

Michaela was a rebellious one. She also wasn’t one to wear dresses. But we were all going to a matinee showing of something at the theater on Sunday and I knew none of the outfits she had would fit her. So of course, in wonderful Michaela fashion, she found the one dress made out of denim that had absolutely no sparkles or anything on it. Just a denim dress with some tulle underneath it to make it poof out like she loved.

I’d never seen a girl more conflicted in her tastes in my life.

“Okay,” I said with a giggle. “Let’s get you some shoes and get out of here.”

I pushed the full cart over to the shoes and we tried on a few pairs. We got her a pair to match her dress, a pair of tennis shoes to run around in, a pair of sandals for the summer, and a pair of flats she could wear with all her other outfits. Then we went up to the cash register to pay for everything. I rang Jace’s card for the insane amount of clothes we’d just bought, but I rang my card for the tent and the dress.

He wouldn’t be happy about it, but he could suck it up. I had more money than I knew what to do with at this point with what he was paying me.

We piled everything into the car and Michaela was such a good helper. She handed me the bags she could reach and I’d put them in the trunk. But we didn’t even get two miles up the road before a park caught her eye. She kicked her legs and pointed furiously, begging me to stop so she could go slide and swing.

And I didn’t have the heart to refuse her.

I parked the car close to the playground so I could keep an eye on it. There was too much money’s worth of stuff in there for something to happen to it. Michaela slid down the slide and learned how to swing herself. I chased her around the park and we tumbled around in the grass. It was a great time, and I knew she would work up an appetite before we could get home.

Then, my phone rang out in my pocket.

“Hello?” I asked.

There was thumping music in the background and I held the phone away to see who was calling.

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