Fate Attracts

Chapter Nineteen

Sipping my ginger tea, I try to not think about the way my stomach is rolling. Ever since Tate left a week and a half ago, my body has been at war with itself. It seems as if my stomach is threatening to rid itself of its contents all day and night, making it hard to catch even a minute of sleep. The ginger tea I found in the back of the pantry is helping a little bit, but only enough where I am not constantly wincing every time I move.

"Hey," a groggy voice calls from the doorway. Turning around, I see Liam walking towards me, his hair in disarray and dark bags under his eyes. Matty doesn't look much better. He is only a little over two months old, but he seems to have quite the personality already. The past few nights have not been kind to anyone, the little boy crying his tiny lungs out.

"Good morning," I mumble, taking another long drink of tea. The scalding liquid runs down my throat, but the quick way it calms my stomach down has me not minding the temperature.

Liam lets out a quiet scoff, his blue eyes rolling in aggravation as he pours himself a cup of coffee. It takes the hot water a couple of minutes to filter through the grounds and drip into his cup, and Liam watches it intently the entire time. Once he has it in his hand, he makes his way over to the barstool to my right, settling Matty comfortably in his lap as we both stare out the kitchen window.

"'Good' isn't the proper word to explain how my morning has been." He rubs Matty's leg as the baby starts to fuss, attempting to calm him down before he can really get himself going.

Setting down my tea, I take Matty from Liam, watching as my friend slumps in relief once the baby is out of his arms. "Another rough night?"

Liam looks over at me, his eyes at half mast as he fights to keep them open. "You have no idea." He takes a long pull of his coffee before resting his cheek against his hand. "Matty has been insufferable ever since Ethan left. Ethan was always the one who got up with him in the middle of the night, and he always cuddled him back to sleep once he was done nursing. Now, Matty just screams once he realizes that we aren't Ethan. The only way to get him to calm down enough to go back to sleep is to wrap him up in one of his daddy's shirts."

I nod my head in understanding. The scent of Ethan would still be strong on his clothing that he left behind. Looking down at the little baby in my arms, I see that he is wrapped tightly in a beige t-shirt.

Liam must realize what I am staring at because he lets out a tired sigh. "The scent is almost gone from that one and there are only a few more left. I don't know what we are going to do once we run out of shirts."

"Did you try laying him on Ethan's pillow?" Liam's head snaps up at my words, his eyes widening a little bit in excitement.

"I hadn't thought of that." The smile quickly slips from his face though. "Isn't that too soft for him to sleep on? I don't want him to be in danger, no matter how happy it would make him."

A small smile spreads across my face at my friend's worry. "He should be fine if you just lay him on his back and swaddle him tightly. He won't be able to roll over, but he can still smell Ethan's scent around him."

Liam's face breaks out into a wide grin, his blue eyes twinkling at his new found excitement. Matty seems to notice Liam's change of mood because his face relaxes from the hard frown he had been wearing.

Liam leans down so that his nose is touching Matty's. "Did you hear that, little love? You are going to sleep like a dream all wrapped up in your daddy's scent."

Matty doesn't understand, but his blue eyes widen at Liam's words, causing the both of us to laugh at the baby's expression. Liam presses a small kiss to Matty's cheek before sitting back up and taking another sip of coffee.