Page 12 of Family Like This

She squeezes my hand. “A few more weeks and he’ll be back for good, right?”

I nod, not liking the excitement I feel in my stomach at that—or the fact that I want him here with me every night.Here. Are we going to raise a baby here? Together? Will we have separate spaces?What the hell are we doing?

“Breathe.” Dani’s voice is calm and quiet. “Stressing out won’t help you right now.”

One step at a time.

“Can you grab the notebook off the coffee table?”

“Sure.” She gets up and leaves the room, returning a second later with the notebook that has our plans in it. Somehow, we missed the wholewhere we’re going to livething.

I open it to this month and put that on the list in big letters.

“What’s that?” Dani asks.

“Our planning notebook.”

“That’s adorable.”

“Miles has anxiety. It helps him manage that, and it helps me take things one month at a time.”

“That’s good.”

I groan. What’s not good? That my body feels like it’s on fire and I’m going to—

I dive forward and retch a few times. Nothing really comes out, but I start crying anyway. “How am I going to make it through work like this?” I whine.

And I amnota whiner.

“First, we’re going to make sure you eat some light foods. Second, worst case, I’ll cover for you. But if you’re okay telling Leo, you know he’ll be supportive. Maia was a teen mom, after all.”

I nod. “Okay. Water. And there’s mashed potatoes in the fridge.”

“I’ll get them and let Leo know we’ll be late.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Ames. I’ve always got your back.” She squeezes my leg, then leaves the room.

I sit for a minute, then slowly hoist myself off the floor.

I am strong enough to get through this.

Miles

“Are you sure you’re okay to have coffee?” Mackie asks me as we stand in line at one of the coffee shops on campus.

“Believe me, I’m sure. My anxiety is better and my need for caffeine is high.”

“Fair enough. My need for caffeine is always high. I think my blood is fifty percent caffeine at this point.”

“Seems dangerous,” I say with a grin.

She flashes me her trademark Mackie smile. One part innocence, one part sweetness, one part pure mischief. “Nah. I built up a resistance. Like iocane powder.”

I laugh out loud. “Think anyone else ever gets our old movie references?”

“How dare!The Princess Brideis a timeless classic.”

---