Page 69 of The Ties That Bind
Brie sighed as they pulled away from the hospital. She couldn’t help thinking of Kylie and Faelan. Neither of them got to experience this moment of leaving together with their baby girl.
It was heartbreaking.
Brie glanced up at the sky, overwhelmed with sadness for Faelan.
Sir reached out to take her hand. “Is something wrong, babygirl?”
“Faelan…” she choked out.
“We will see him through the wilderness,” he stated with conviction.
Brie nodded, trusting that they would.
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “It is important to concentrate your energy on yourself and the children for now, so you will be strong enough to help him when the time comes.”
“That is…” She almost said “wise”, but thankfully caught herself in time. “…exactly what I will do, Sir.”
“Good.”
The drive home was nothing like the drive to the hospital. Sir drove to the beach at a leisurely pace to make sure her parents kept up with them in their own car.
Once they arrived home, Brie was surprised to see a number of vehicles parked at the house. “What’s going on?”
Sir smirked. “Rather than feign ignorance, I’ll tell you the truth. Ms. Taylor refused to cancel your baby shower.”
Brie laughed. “Oh, my goodness. That was supposed to be today, wasn’t it?” She looked back at Anthony and smiled. “You little troublemaker.”
“I told them to keep it short so you can rest, but I thought you might enjoy a small gathering.”
Brie recognized the Reynolds’ van and Lea’s beat-up car, as well as Mary’s fancy new wheels. “This is exactly what my heart needed, Sir.”
He helped her out of the car before getting Anthony from the car seat. As they walked up to the door, he said, “You can choose to act surprised or not. It’s totally up to you, babygirl.”
The door swung open before they even reached the porch.
Lea cried, “It’s Stinky Cheese and her littlest Brie!”
Giggling, Brie hugged Lea tightly, then noticed Mary standing behind her.
“It’s good to see you, Mary.”
She shrugged. “Whatever…”
“No, I’m serious,” Brie insisted, releasing Lea to hug Mary.
The girl was stiff in her arms, but whispered, “Good to see you too, Stinks.” Brie gave her an extra squeeze before letting go.
Brie immediately bent down to catch Hope, who came barreling toward her excitedly. Lifting her up, Brie cuddled Hope against her, telling the Reynolds, “You wouldn’t think she saw me last night, would you?”
“It’s the way of little girls,” Brie’s mother said, walking up to her. “Hope will always need her mommy no matter how old she gets.”
Brie smiled at her mom before turning back to Judy. “I want to thank you for watching Hope for us, and for last night’s gift.”
“The truth is we love watching these two play together, Brianna. It’s purely selfish on our part.” Judy coxed little Jonathan to say hi to her, but he was suddenly overcome with shyness and hid behind her legs.
Judy glanced at Anthony in Sir’s arms. “It’s wonderful that Jonathan has another cousin to play with.”
“Do you want to see, Anthony?” Brie asked Jonathan.
