Page 183 of More than Friends

“Who is?”

“I don’t know. Will probably.”

Will shoots Keene a look, who just shrugs.

“Trouble with Maggie?” James asks.

“I don’t know. She’s hardly speaking to me.”

“Is it because you left her with your newborn son to go on an adventure in another country?” Keene asks.

“I went to Canada. That barely counts as a different country. She told me to go.”

They all look at me skeptically.

“She did.”

James lifts his gun. “Pull.”

We watch him shoot three disks in a row.

“Elizabeth looks better,” I say.

He nods. “She does. I’m glad she came. It’s going to take some time, but she’s in a much better place than she was a month ago.”

“She had us really worried,” Will says.

“I know. Me too.”

“Glad she was able to get help,” Eli says.

James nods. “Me too.”

After dinner, we all sit around the fire pit roasting s’mores and telling stories. All the little ones are in bed. Elizabeth sits in James’ lap. He has his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She seems more like herself although a bit more quiet than normal. It’s a relief to see.

Maggie has been pretty quiet too. She has the baby monitor at her feet and picks it up and looks at it every few minutes. Finally, she looks at it and then stands up. “Got to go. Little man is ready for his late night snack. See you in the morning.”

I hang out for a little while longer and then head back to my room. When I open the door, I nearly have a heart attack. Maggie’s sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

I hold my hand over my chest. “Maggie, were you trying to kill me?”

She smirks. “No.”

“I thought you were feeding Ian?”

“He just finished.”

“Oh.” I kick off my shoes. “What’s up?”

She leans her weight back onto her hands and looks up at me – with a look I haven’t seen since before Ian was born. “I had my six-week postpartum appointment.”

I clear my throat. “Yeah. How did that go?”

“I’m all healed.” A small grin spreads over her face. She’s giving me whiplash. I thought she was mad at me earlier and now this.

I swallow hard and just stare at her as she starts to unbutton her top. “Oh, um, do you feel ready?”

“What do you think?” She pulls off her shirt. “Come here.”

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