Page 15 of Family Like This

Me: Thanks. I will take all the pizza, wings, and dadvice you can give me.

Me: How nauseous is she? She likes to tell me she’s fine when she’s not.

Nick Ardito: LOL I have one of those too. She definitely seems nauseous and Dani was hovering over her which was equal parts endearing and pissing your girl off.

Nick Ardito: I will give the best dadvice I can. Maybe Braden and I should start a group chat. We can add Vince too. He’s learned his fair share helping to raise Harper.

Me: Maybe I’ll text Dani since Amelia keeps insisting she’s fine. How the hell did you do this at eighteen? I’m a ball of anxiety.

Nick Ardito: And we have a winner. That’s exactly how I did it. I was stressed and anxious. I also frequently ignored those things to take care of Leigh. I’m guessing you’re doing the same?

Me: Yeah. It sucks that I’m not there every day.

Nick Ardito: Hey, you know if she needs anything to let us know.

Me: Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Feel free to be a spy for me.

Nick Ardito: I’ll do my best. Seriously, congrats.

Me: Thanks. Later.

I quickly switch to my conversation with Amelia.

Me: Hey, how are you feeling?

Amelia: I’m okay. Focusing on work.

Me: Please let me know if you need anything, okay?

Amelia: I will. Talk tonight?

Me: Yeah, sounds good.

I stare at my phone. What else do I say? I want to be reassuring and comforting but that’s hard to do over text. Especially when I don’t know how she’s actually feeling.

To my surprise, my phone rings a second later, and it’s Dani.

“Hey,” I answer. “Do you have psychic powers?”

“Not last I checked. Why?”

“I was just going to text you. I get the feeling Amelia isn’t telling me the whole truth about how she’s feeling.”

Dani laughs. “Unless she mentioned she was puking her brains out this morning while crying—”

“She was crying?” I ask, heartbeat ticking up.

“Yes. Not a ton, but she’s sick as hell and…”

“What?” I ask, stopping in place and causing the people behind me to almost run into me.

“This might be a slight betrayal of her confidence, but I think you should know she was saying she wished you were there. You clearly make her feel better, and she needs that now. I know you’re three hours away, so just do what you can. I’m about to head back in with some soup for her, but I wanted to call you first and let you know. I’d give you thebreak her heart, I break your facespeech, but I know you don’t need it. I’ll be here to help however I can, but she wants you, Miles.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Dani.”

“No problem. Hopefully the chicken soup and mashed potatoes from Marion’s settle okay. I’ll let you know if anything else happens that she has to be strong and pretend she’s fine about.”

I let out a sigh at that. “Thank you.”

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