Page 86 of Family Like This

“Yep. Perfect. Amelia is feeling a lot better.” I pause. “Maybe not perfect. Emotionally, she’s struggling.”

“Not surprising with all she’s been through.”

“I’m trying to support her, but she’s still working through a lot of it herself. New things pop up all the time. She pushes me away sometimes when that happens and that makes my anxiety go haywire. I want to control more things. Fix things. I don’t know. It’s a work in progress.Weare a work in progress.”

“As you should be,” Rae says with a soft smile. “It takes time to build a relationship, and often a lot of reworking as you grow and learn more about yourselves. In both senses, you two are going through a crash course. I have faith you can handle it, though. You’ve watched us all fuck up along the way. You’re bound to have learned something.”

I laugh at that as the timer on the oven beeps. Rae pulls the brownies out of the oven and sets them on the stove, then she gestures around the kitchen. “Want anything?”

“Yes, please.” We each load up a plate and sit down at the counter. “What inspired the baking extravaganza?”

Rae dunks a piece of sugar cookie into her glass of milk. “I needed to fill the house with some warmth today. I was thinking of Gram, so I got out a few of her favorite dessert recipes. Sugar cookies, lemon bars, pecan cookies, and of course, her perfect brownies. I figured it was a good time since Aaron is off doing coaching things today. He’s working hard to learn from Coach Ellis during the summer program, so he’s ready when the season starts.”

“He’ll be great. And all of this is great.”

“What brings you over here?”

I shrug. “Amelia is with Dani this morning, and I hadn’t seen you in a bit, so I figured I’d come see you.”

She squints at me. “Aaron asked you to come check on me.”

I hang my head.Busted.“He kinda likes you.”

“So I’ve figured out. He’s lucky he’s super hot.” We share a laugh at that. “But remember, all this stays between us.”

I hold up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

She gives me a shove and says the same thing she always says whenever any of the guys say that. “Like you were ever a scout.”

“Yeah, Boy Scouts was not our thing. Baseball. Always baseball.”

“So, when are you starting the old man’s league?”

“Wow.” I throw a wadded up napkin at her. “I don’t know. I thought we’d wait at least until our midtwenties.” She throws her head back, laughing. That’s the girl I’ve known since I was six. Her playful side is always my favorite. Her laugh lightens everyone else’s mood when she’s like this. “It’s good to see you happier again.”

“It’s good to feel it. Don’t get me wrong, it still comes and goes. When I think too much about it, I can get lost in the pain, but I also recognize it wouldn’t have been a healthy pregnancy. It hurts, and I think it’ll probably affect me more again when we do start trying, but for now, I’m trying to stay positive. I am glad I never found a nannying job this summer though, even if I’m starting to go a little stir crazy.”

“Want me to bust you out? We can go get some lunch.”

She lifts an eyebrow and looks at my empty plate. “How do you possibly have room for lunch?” I shrug, giving her a wide grin. “Oh, right. I forgot you’re a bottomless pit.” She glances around the room. “I think I better clean up first.”

“I’ll help.”

She’s just climbed off the stool when the back door swings open. Rae freezes, eyes wide as Aaron strolls into the room.

“What smells so good in… here?” He looks around, then pins Rae with a glare. “What have you been doing?”

“Nothing. It was all Miles. I swear.”

Aaron whips his head around to look at me, so I nod. “Yep. All me.”

“He texted that he was leaving to come here less than an hour ago, so unless there’s a time machine…” He stalks over to Rae and wraps an arm around her. “You’re in trouble.”

It still blows my mind how they can go from zero to horny in two seconds or less.

I clear my throat. “On that note, I’m going to get out of here. Maybe let you do that other thing you mentioned.”

Rae stifles a laugh, then flares her eyes. “Okay, thanks. Take some food. Quickly.”

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