“Hold on. I have to get the rest of the groceries.”
She disappeared back outside, leaving me with a time bomb ready to blow at any second. I gently rocked her, hoping to keep her peacefully sleeping until her momma was back.
But every time Lizzy walked through the door with groceries, she disappeared again for more. Seriously, it was like she brought the whole store with her.
Finally, she closed the door and took off her hat, tossing it on the chair that I had just removed all my clothes from.
“There’s a coat rack,” I pointed out.
She looked around the house and frowned. “It’s clean in here.”
“I know that.”
“Why is it clean in here?”
“Because it was dirty,” I said in frustration.
“I know, but you’re always dirty.”
She kicked off her boots and set them on the mat to dry. Then stripped off the layers keeping her warm and hung them up.
Willa started to wiggle again, and I strode over to Lizzy, holding her out. “Here, she wants you.”
“Oh, no. That wasn’t part of the deal,” she laughed, slumping down in one of my chairs.
“But…she’s yours,” I continued. “She needs…something.”
“Cuddles,” Lizzy yawned. “And walking. And feeding. And more cuddles.”
Willa let out a cry, wiggling in my arms.
“Lizzy, seriously, I don’t know what to do!”
“Hey, we made a deal.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “We did?”
“On the phone. I ordered groceries for you and picked them up. I delivered them. Now it’s your turn to follow through.”
“Follow through on what? I didn’t ask for your help!”
Willa let out another cry, but this time, it didn’t stop. I bounced her, I rocked her, I walked around the room. Hardly anything calmed her down.
“Lizzy, what the hell do I do?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be coming to you for help.”
“Why didn’t you go to Mom?”
“Because she would just do what she’s been doing for the past week. She would tell me that this wouldn’t be a problem if I hadn’t gotten knocked up before I was married. And then she would tell me that I brought this on myself, and now I have to deal with the consequences. Frankly, I’m too tired to hear that right now.”
“But—”
Hell, I couldn’t talk to her like this. Willa wouldn’t stop crying, and at this rate, my eardrum would be blown in just minutes.
“Look, this has been great,” Lizzy said, “but I’m gonna go in your guest room and catch up on sleep.”
“Wait!” I cried out as she got up and headed for the room. “I don’t know what I’m doing!”