Page 82 of An Unfinished Memory

“It’s supposed to be cold and windy tomorrow,” Vienne said. “I doubt they’ll cancel the game, but I can take Ro. Ivy too.”

Aggie pointed to Sutton. “In the morning, you’ll wake them to bring them to my place.” She aimed atherself. “Then I’ll take Ro and Ivy to Vienne.” She switched to point at Vienne.

That was a lot of running kids all over town. Sutton went into the clinic early. Grayson and Ivy would be beside themselves waiting for news about their new brother or sister.

Sutton slid her gaze toward me, a question in her eyes. Did I mind? I would’ve been staying with her tonight. I was disappointed, but I didn’t care that she was helping Cody and Tova. I was still in the same zip code as her.

But I also wanted to help, and no one was asking me. They weren’t used to counting on me. “I’ll take the kids to Grayson’s game. I can stay at Cody’s instead of heading home tonight.” I wouldn’t have been driving home, but it’s a detail they didn’t need to know. “I’ll sleep on the couch and take Grayson. I can bring Ivy with me, or she can come here.”

Everyone fell quiet and stared at me.

“You’d be okay staying at the house?” Cody asked carefully. “With Sutton?”

Sutton’s stare bored into me, stunned, but also waiting to see how the rest would accept my offer.

I was about to laugh, but then I remembered. He didn’t know Sutton and I were hot and heavy. “As long as she doesn’t mind.”

Vienne folded her hands and pretended to wait for Sutton’s answer. Good thing Eliot wasn’t here, or he’d be chortling, and I’d have some explaining to do.

“It’s fine,” Sutton answered quickly. Did I hear eagerness too? We used to love having Ivy and Grayson over. “I’d appreciate Wilder’s help after the kids are full of chocolate and marshmallows and Aggie’s punch.”

“The punch isn’t spiked,” Aggie said. “They’ll befine. Unlike my brothers, who drank their fair share of spiked punch in high school.”

Tova raised a brow at Cody, but he shrugged. “I’m not as guilty as Austen, and I think Eliot learned from us how not to get caught.”

Everyone looked at me since Eliot was still by the grill. “Ray scared me straight after he caught me at a pasture party. And Eliot drank on our land, not anyone else’s.”

“What happens on Knight land,” Cody recited, “stays on Knight land.”

“Thy Knights’ will be done,” Ansen said, a plate full of burgers in his hand.

“You learned that the hard way.” Eliot snickered.

Ansen’s fond gaze touched on his wife.

Aggie’s grin was shameless. “I used to hate that saying. Until I got Ansen.”

“Yeah, he put up such a fight,” Eliot said sarcastically. “Food’s ready. Tova called first in line, and I’m not arguing with a woman in labor.”

I wasn’t either, but I had that woman in labor to thank for getting a sleepover with Cody’s kids and Sutton. Something that I had thought would never happen again.

Seventeen

Sutton

I lay on Ivy’s blankets. She was tucked underneath them, doing long blinks, on the brink of succumbing to sleep. “Is Tova going to be okay?”

This wasn’t the first time Ivy had asked the same question. “She’s had no complications, has a good medical team, and your dad.”

“Mommy had a good medical team and Daddy.”

My heart broke for the scared little girl. “I know, honey. And I know it doesn’t help to tell you this is different, but it’s normal to be scared. Having babies is as scary as it is exciting.”

She yawned and clutched her blankets. “Are you going to have a baby?”

She’d also asked me the same question when she was younger. The answer used to be that it hadn’t happened yet. “I don’t think so.”

“You don’t want one?”

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