Shelly is the next to walk in. “I thought you might want to nurse before you get your dress on.”
I sit down, taking Rio from her arms. His little baby brows pull together as he scowls at me. “Oh, are you so hungry?” I ask him. He can’t stay grumpy at his mama for long. A little smile pulls at the corner of his mouth as his lunch comes into view.
Just like Daddy.
Shelly fusses with my curls which have grown well past my shoulders now.
“Knock, knock,” a woman hollers from the other side of the door. When she pokes her head in, Shelly pats me on the arm.
“Come on in,” she tells Jesse. “I’ll come back for Rio in a bit.”
“Thank you.”
Shelly and Jesse give each other a hug and then Jesse sits on the bed, setting her bag at her feet.
“I’m so happy you’re here. I didn’t know you were coming.”
She smiles. “Dirk and I are always up for a good road trip.” She reaches out and pushes the blanket down so she can see Rio. Her eyes meet mine. “He’s beautiful.”
“He looks just like his daddy.”
Her head tips to the side, and she studies me. “Motherhood suits you.”
I blush. “Oh, I don’t know about that, but I do love it.”
“How are you adjusting to club life?”
I switch Rio to the other side as I think about it. “I guess okay, but I sure do miss having the twins around to guide me. It’s not easy being the president’s wife.”
She laughs. “I hear you there.”
“Are they doing okay? Have they settled into their new roles?”
“They really have.” She watches Rio for a few minutes lost in thought. “I have something for you.”
“Okay.” She seems hesitant to give it to me.
“Two things actually.” She leans over and pulls a blanket from the bag beside her.
My hand flies to my mouth as she stands and holds it open. It’s my grandmother’s quilt! The one that was on my mother’s bed.
“How did you know this was special to me?!”
Jesse runs her hand over the soft squares my grandmother cut so many years ago. She shrugs. “I didn’t. I just thought it was too pretty to leave behind. It wasn’t until I met with your father that I knew it had been your grandmother’s.”
My heart stops. “My what?”
“Your grandmother’s.”
“No. No, the part about my father.”
“Oh that,” she says nervously tapping her fingers over her forehead. “I … um … well, I kind of went on a search for him. I know it was wrong of me, and I only did it because I almost missed a relationship with my father. I couldn’t stand the thought of you missing …”
I interrupt her rambling explanation because I know she means well. “Jesse, it’s okay.”
She spreads the blanket over my bed. “I wanted her to be here with you today,” she continues, wiping her eyes. “God, I’m getting to be such a fucking softy in my old age.”
“You’re not old.”