Sweat trickled down my spine and temple, burning my eyes as it caught in my lashes. I blinked quickly to try and clear them, chest heaving from exertion as I walked on wobbly legs back over to my seat.
Chris was running us ragged. At least it felt like the scene—one during which I spent most of the time fighting and running like mad in this stiff, itchy suit—was coming together. But when I finally sat down, all my muscles quivered into rest with an ache. I could already tell that my entire body would hurt tomorrow morning, and I was dreading the hours of training we'd have to go through to start the day.
Cillian collapsed into the seat next to me, panting as hard as I was, and two runners brought us bottles of water and towels with which to mop up our sweat.
"Good work, man," Cillian muttered to me between panting breaths. He tossed his towel over his shoulder and cracked open his water bottle.
"You too," I said, not having enough energy to say anything more. I didn't know how I was going to do anything else, and we still had a few hours left of the day.
I ran the towel over my head before remembering that I shouldn't mess up my hair. We only had a ten minute break. But I didn't care at the same time. It felt good to ruffle my hair. It relaxed me and woke me up all at once.
Last night had been nothing short of hell. Lila had woken up what felt like dozens of times, even though it had only been about three. And she'd been sleeping better these last couple of weeks, so aside from hunger (which she'd satisfied the first time) and a wet diaper (which we'd taken care of the second time), we didn't know what was up. She'd been fussier than usual yesterday as well, but we were hoping it was just because she hadn't been sleeping well.
Mads and I hadn't been sleeping well either as a result.
I'd woken up late this morning because of it—didn't even hear my alarm when it went off. But Lila did. Mads gasping awake beside me to tend to her was what finally startled me awake.
We'd both jumped up. I started racing around the room to get ready while Mads hurried to Lila, whose little face was beet red from her tears. But I couldn't stick around to make sure she was okay. Only hurried into the bathroom, sure that Mads would calm her down soon enough.
And she had, and though we were both exhausted from our sleepless night, we smiled a little into the kiss we shared before I left, leaving my girls still in their pajamas, cuddled together and calm on the couch in the living room.
Things had been fine between Mads and I these last couple of weeks. Since our date, we hadn't really fought again. But that didn't mean things were better. Or rather, it didn't mean things were the way they were before.
We were still exhausted. We were still too eager to go to sleep to even think about having sex. We were still spending most of our time apart. And when we were together, we were still too tired to talk much beyond how we spent our days and whether Lila had had a good or bad one.
And we still bickered. And we still got frustrated with each other. And there still weren't enough hours in the day. But we also still kissed each other before going to sleep, and in the morning before I headed out to work. We were still wordlessly there for each other—I took over baby duty as much as I could when I returned home, changing diapers and calming Lila down when she was upset. And Mads rubbed my back while I sat on the floor with Lila to play—worked the muscles that had tensed over the course of the day with her small, but strong hands. Things like that might have meant very little in the grand scheme of things, but they meant the entire world in the midst of our evolving relationship.
Because nothing about our lives as they were now was so bad that we didn't still love each other with everything we had. And though we didn't often get to express that love in the same ways we were used to, it was nice finding new ways to show each other how much we cared.
"Want one?" a voice asked, and I realized I'd been staring off into space, and turning my head reminded me just how tired my body was.
Vanessa was holding out a packet of peanut M&M's to me. I hadn't even noticed her sit down beside me.
"Thanks," I said, holding out my hand so that she could pour some into it. I hoped the sugar might give me a little boost of energy.
"Cillian?" she asked, calling over me.
He turned his attention away from his phone to look at her, and shook his head when he saw what she was offering. "No thanks."
I chewed my M&M's in silence, watching the crew continue to work around us, and felt like I could drift off to sleep if given the right amount of time sitting here.
"You think he's gonna make us run it again?" Vanessa asked, her voice a low thrum beneath the sounds of the crew at work. She shook the bag of M&M's and plucked another one from it's depths.
"I hope not," I said, fear creeping into my veins just as my blood slowed. "I genuinely might pass out if he does."
Vanessa laughed, but she was just as slumped in her seat as I was. "I know. My thighs are on fire from that jump."
There was a part in the scene where Vanessa's character had to leap up onto a platform a solid three feet off the ground. Vanessa was doing her own stunts for the most part, and had nailed the leap every time. It wasn't just any jump either—it was both feet off the ground at the same time and landing with both feet on the platform at the same time. Every time. She had yet to miss one, and I hadn't even kept count of how many times she'd had to do it.
I glanced sideways at her, knowing that a jump like that took a shit-ton of core strength. "I don't think he'll make you do it again."
A dewy sheen to her forehead still, she gave me a doubtful smile. "We'll see. He's reviewing the footage now. It wouldn't surprise me if he did."
I smirked. "Guess I can't fool you anymore. A month and a half on the job, and you're getting the hang of things."
"I started gathering that on Day 2," Vanessa said, smiling over at me now. She shook her bag of M&M's again and let her fingers dive inside. "No thanks to you."
I felt my brow wrinkle, and tried to feign offense. "Heeey."
My long, drawn-out whine only gained some more laughter, and then she proceeded to offer me more M&M's, as if it were her way of admitting she was joking, which I accepted gratefully.
We were both quiet for a few moments, both thoughtful as we chewed our treats and watched the crew work around us, watched Chris watching the monitor—and maybe it was just me that was hoping the hand curled up around his mouth, and his drawn-together brows meant he liked what he saw.
"It's not what I thought it would be," Vanessa said, seemingly from out of nowhere then.
I was chewing my last M&M as I looked over at her. "What?"
She popped another one into her mouth as she shrugged, and her blonde ponytail swung around her shoulders as she turned to look at me. "Any of this, I guess." She smiled a little, her eyes going back to the scene in front of us. "But in a good way." Then she tacked on a, "Mostly."
I chuckled a little, remembering how I'd felt all those years ago working on Dunkirk with Chris—after those first few days, all I could think was how I didn't know what the hell I'd gotten myself into. "Yeah, it's—it's kind of hard to explain what this is like. You really do have to see for yourself."
She nodded again, and I took a long pull from my water bottle.
"But," I said once I'd swallowed, and sniffled a little before going on, before meeting her eye again, "if you're passionate about becoming better at your craft, you're in the best place you could possibly be."
Vanessa and I had been working together a lot these last few weeks, as our characters spent a lot of time together in the script. Her character was the one who sort of took mine under her wing. Where Cillian's character was all business with mine, hers took to me quickly—knew that in order to keep me obedient and helpful to Cillian's team, I shouldn't be treated like a prisoner. Which, of course, led to a bit of a romance between the two characters, but we hadn't quite gotten to that point in filming yet.
Which was okay. I felt pretty comfortable with Vanessa already, but I didn't mind having the chance to spend more time with her before we would have to pretend to be in love. But I didn't even need these moments of down time to tell that she was a kind person, with an amazing amount of energy and spirit that pulled the best out of the rest of us as actors. Nor did I need to share a bag of M&M's with her to know that she was generous and fun to be around. We got all that in the work every single day.
She smiled again as she considered what I'd said, then admitted, "Yeah, I'm—I'm gathering that, too."
Her brown eyes, ringed with dark liner, were warm, and still sort of introspective as they stared out at the set—like there was more she wasn't saying. But I wasn't about to ask for more. We only had a couple minutes of this break left—if that—and I didn't necessarily want to spend the rest of it chatting.
That was the other wonderful thing about, not just her, but everyone I was working with. No one felt the need to fill the silences. No one felt the need to force the friendships. Maybe it was because we were mostly just too exhausted to speak when we didn't have to, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
Cillian was still scrolling through his phone beside me, and Vanessa didn't seem interested in talking anymore as she polished off her bag of M&M's, so I reached into the pocket of my chair for my phone. It had been too long since I'd checked it.
Mads didn't usually text me while I was at work—only if she wanted me to pick something up on the way home or something like that. So when her name popped up on the screen—two missed calls and a text—awareness shot through me and cleared the fog of exhaustion.
Lila's running a fever, so I'm taking her to the doctor. Don't worry. I've got it under control. x
"Don't worry," she'd said. As if that were possible. And I knew Mads. I knew how she was when it came to Lila. If I was this nervous, she must've been beside herself.
The texts and phone call had come through nearly half an hour ago, and she hadn't texted me again to say whether or not everything was okay.
I was calling her back before I could think any more about it.
Or, at least, I tried not to think any more about it. How high was Lila's fever? Was she hurt? Were there any other symptoms?
That was why she was so fussy these last couple days. She wasn't just cranky—she wasn't feeling well. My heart felt so heavy for my little girl, I was overcome with energy again. I thought I might just run out of this room and straight to my car if Mads didn't answer in the next—
"Alright everyone," Chris announced then, barely glancing around at all of us. "Let's get back to it."
Madelyn's voicemail picked up.
Vanessa sighed beside me and hauled herself out of her chair. "Here we go," she said, giving me a smile before pausing, studying me. "Everything okay?"
Cillian was already on his feet heading towards the set. I had yet to move.
"Yeah, er... think so. It's just my wife, I missed her call." I looked up to meet Vanessa's eye, still holding onto my phone. "Our daughter's running a fever, so she was taking her to the doctor. I just wanted to see how everything turned out, but she didn't answer."
"Oh," Vanessa said, looking concerned. "Well, give it another try. I'll tell Chris you need another minute."
"Thanks," I said, grateful to her for knowing that continuing to work didn't feel right just yet.
Vanessa smiled and headed off towards the group, and I pressed Madelyn's name again, slightly more worried now that she hadn't answered right away.
"Hi, you've reached Madelyn—"
I hung up, telling myself that everything was okay. That they were fine. That she was probably driving, or had her hands full getting into the doctor's office—or maybe she was with the doctor. There were plenty of perfectly good reasons as to why she wasn't able to answer my calls.
Which didn't seem to ease the unsettled feeling in my gut.
"Harry!" someone called, and I looked up to see one of the runners, Hailey, standing just at the end of the set, staring at me. "We need you."
"Yep," I said, tapping out the rest of my message. "Just a sec."
Sorry I missed your calls. Just had a quick break. Probably won't be able to answer again for a while. Let me know how everything goes when you have a second. Love you. x
It was the best I could do under the circumstances, and she'd told me not to worry, so things couldn't be that bad. But I hated that I wasn't there for her. For Lila. Hated that I had missed her call. Hated that I hadn't looked at my phone as soon as I'd sat down ten minutes ago—maybe then I would've been able to reach her. And I really, really hated that I couldn't run out of here to meet them.
But there was no help for that now.
"Right, Harry, okay," Chris said, turning from me back to the cameraman for a second, nodding his head a little bit as he reached up to grip my shoulder and returned his attention to me. "We're gonna have you all run this scene one more time, and this time, I want you to—"
I glanced up just in time to catch Vanessa smiling at me over Chris' shoulder. Grinning was more like it, actually. We both knew this was coming, and though neither of us relished the thought of having to run through this again (quite literally), it helped to share a smile with someone who understood.
Mads and Lila were at the forefront of my mind through the next hour and fifteen minutes of shooting. And by that time, despite my tired body, I was running back to my chair to check my phone.
She's okay, thank God. Just a cold. The doctor says it's nothing to worry about. I'll tell you all the details later. Love you too.
There was some relief in seeing that response—in knowing that Lila was okay. But I wasn't totally relieved yet. I needed to hear her voice.
I was calling again before I could stop myself. And keeping my eyes out on everything going on around me. Cillian was still talking to Chris—the two of them looked deep in thought about something—the crew was busy mopping up the latest damage (a scene with a fire hydrant gone awry), and Vanessa was standing at the catering table, laughing with the people hovering around the food.
Only an hour more, I thought. Only one more hour until I could head home.
"Hi, you've reached Madelyn—"
"Damn it," I muttered, hanging up, staring down at the phone with disdain, with something that felt like anger. I knew it was really frustration paired with more nerves—why wasn't she answering?—but that didn't change the fact that it heated me the way anger did.
"C'mon, c'mon," I muttered as the phone rang again. And rang and rang and--
"Hi, you've reached Madelyn. I can't get to the—"
I bit my lip and tapped the screen a little harder than necessary to end the call, ready to type out a text and hopefully figure out why the hell she couldn't answer her phone.
"Everything okay?" a voice asked.
Vanessa was standing just a couple feet from me. Once again, I hadn't even noticed her arrival.
"Fine," I muttered, tapping out the rest of the message to Mads. I knew it wasn't convincing, but I didn't want to start airing out my frustrations to Vanessa. Something about that didn't feel right.
She sat beside me. "Your daughter's okay?"
I took a deep breath and pressed send, needing a moment afterwards to process Vanessa's question—the wariness in her voice. But that just made me realize that maybe she was thinking Lila wasn't okay, which would explain why I was so on edge all of a sudden.
I took another deep breath and tried to relax. "Yeah, she's okay. Just a cold, apparently."
Vanessa nodded—or so I thought. I could only see her out of my periphery. I was rereading the text I'd just sent, clutching my phone in the hopes that Mads had just been in the midst of changing Lila's diaper, or had her hands in the sink, or had managed to slip into the shower or something and would call me back any second now. For the moment, I stared at my text and breathlessly awaited the appearance of three little dots to signal her impending reply.
Hope everything's okay. I'll be home in about an hour, but I've got a bit of a break now. Call if you see this in the next few minutes. xx
They didn't appear.
"Must be hard," Vanessa said then, and she settled into her seat beside mine. "Not being able to be there for things like this."
My knee-jerk reaction in the moment was to snap back that of course it was hard. But I did my best to swallow that back until I was calm enough to say, "It's certainly not easy."
Still, the words were short. And I could tell by the silence that followed that Vanessa had noticed.
"Sorry," I said, knowing she was only trying to make conversation. "I—I just—"
"You don't have to explain," she said, and I could tell before looking at her that she was smiling. I smiled back when I caught it. "You're worried. It's what good parents do."
I chuckled a little, feeling the pure exhaustion in my muscles as I leaned down, elbows on my knees, to cover my face with my hands. Through them, I said, "I don't know how I'm going to get through the next hour."
"Ask Chris if you can head out early," she said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
I looked up—over at Chris, who was scribbling something down in a notebook. Just as invested as he'd always been.
"No, I couldn't do that," I said. "We've only got like, an hour left."
"Yeah. We've only got an hour left," Vanessa said. "How much more could he possibly need you in that amount of time?"
We'd already covered everything on today's schedule. The next hour was more about fine-tuning things than it was about filming different scenes. And I didn't even know if he'd need me for any of the fine-tuning—he might not need me at all.
I looked at Vanessa.
She shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to ask, right?"
I shot her one last grateful smile before getting to my feet, and dragging my body over to where Chris sat, still scribbling away in his notebook.
"Sorry to interrupt, but could I talk to you for a second?" I asked.
Chris immediately closed his notebook and ran a hand over his head. "Sure."
He was giving me his undivided attention now, but where it only served to help me when we were in the throes of a scene, now it was only making me nervous.
"I, uh—my daughter was sick today. My wife had to take her to the doctor. But I haven't heard back from them in a while, so I was just wondering, if you don't need me, whether it would be possible if I could—"
"Go," Chris said.
I paused. "Are you sure? Cause if you need me to—"
"We can make do without you until tomorrow," he said with a kind smile, and he wasted no time in opening up his notebook again.
I almost said more, felt the need to explain more, but stopped myself and smiled at him, too. "Thank you. I'll—I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"See you tomorrow," he said again.
And despite my aching muscles, my tired bones, I headed for my dressing room at a jog.
"See you tomorrow!" someone called, and I glanced over to find Vanessa smiling at me from her seat. I smiled and waved back.
Anxious anticipation propelled each step as I circled around my dressing room, changing out of my costume and gathering my things. And I didn't slow as I headed for the parking lot, waving goodbye to the security guards I passed as I went. Once I was in my car, I checked my phone again. Mads still hadn't answered.
"Shit," I breathed, trying not to worry as I started the car.
It was only a ten minute drive, but it felt even longer. Every possible reason for the unanswered texts and calls shot through my head, pinging around like a ball in a pinball machine. Was she hurt? Sick? Had she gotten into an accident? Did she lose her phone? Was she mad at me?
I wracked my brain for a potential reason why she might be, and the only thing that made sense was that I didn't go with her to the doctor today. But she'd told me not to worry about it—unless she expected me to ignore that and meet her there anyway. Mads wasn't usually like that, and we were pretty good at telling each other the truth. But even if she was mad at me for that, she would never ignore my calls. Especially not when it came to Lila.
I was so riddled with nerves by the time I got home that there was no relief in seeing the house come into view or putting the car in park. There was only a breathless anticipation, a needling bit of hope that everything was okay. That everything would be okay as soon as I opened the door.
Madelyn's car was in the driveway. So, she was here. I could put the possibility of an accident landing her in the hospital to rest.
"Hello?" I called once I opened the door.
Silence.
I waited another breath, my heart slamming against my ribcage, and tried to focus. Listen. The house was silent. "Mads?"
Still nothing.
My chest was burning with fear and nerves as I walked into the house, peeling my jacket from my shoulders as I went, peering into each room on the way.
"Mads?" I could only hear the echo of my voice answering back.
When I reached the kitchen, I realized that she wasn't cooking. The stove was clean, with clean pots on top of it. The sink was empty. The counter was clear. And I realized, there was no warm, savory aroma to greet me at the door today, unlike every day for the past several weeks. I knew I was home early, but I wasn't that early. And there, at the end of the counter—Madelyn's phone, plugged in.
My eyes moved sideways before conscious thought beckoned them to, and there she was, hair in a bun, dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt, curled up on the couch.
Fast asleep.
I felt my shoulders relax with the relief in seeing her, in knowing that everything was okay. And Lila—I walked further into the room and there she was, asleep in her bassinet.
Both my girls, exhausted from their long day, peacefully asleep together.
After all the horrible things I'd imagined, I was pretty sure I'd never seen anything more beautiful. But even if I hadn't been so worried, it still would've been the most comforting, lovely sight to find upon coming home.
I watched the steady rise and fall of Lila's chest for a few moments, the way her tiny mouth was open to accommodate each breath because of her stuffed nose. Studied the pink in her cheeks, and was relieved to find that they weren't feverish to the touch any longer. Her little hands reacted to my touch—fingers opening then curling up again—and, afraid I might wake her, I pulled away quickly. Glanced at Mads again. Her mouth was open, too.
After the night we'd had, and the day they'd had, I wasn't about to wake either of them. Mads used to be able to sleep through anything and everything, but since Lila had come along, that was no longer entirely true. Somehow, she was always the first up to tend to the baby whenever Lila so much as whimpered. So I carefully backed out of the room and into the kitchen, loath to take my eyes off them, but knowing that I should.
I would order in for dinner. Mads would be fine with pizza, I was sure. And I figured I'd go for a shower in the meantime. But I didn't want to stop looking at them either. I couldn't see Lila over the top of her bassinet from this distance, but I could see Mads. And to see her looking so peaceful, so relaxed in sleep, I only wanted to stare a moment longer.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her like this. The last time I'd seen her when all her inhibitions and worries were washed away by slumber. We both fell asleep too quickly at night. Didn't linger in bed in the morning. And it was nice, not seeing that ever-present crease in her brow. Reassuring seeing the color in her cheeks. Calming to know that she was getting the rest she so desperately needed. And an inordinate amount of love and gratitude filled every ounce of me when all of that reminded me just how hard she was working to take care of our family, every moment of every day.
A smile pulled at my lips before I finally turned away and headed for the stairs, and it stayed with me as I called our favorite pizza place from our bedroom and ordered a couple of pies, lingered even as I stripped down in the bathroom, and stepped into the shower. Relief and gratitude seeped into every thought I had about her as I showered and dressed again, happy to note that there was still no sound from downstairs. And for a little while, I forgot my tired muscles and bones. I forgot that I would have to do it all again tomorrow. I forgot everything but my girls downstairs, and how important it was to me that they were okay.
Those thoughts carried me back down, where I was pleased to find them still asleep. I unplugged Madelyn's phone seeing that it was fully charged and noted my missed calls and texts. Then plugged mine in. I glanced sideways every so often as I waited for the call from the delivery guy to alert me to open the door (I'd told them when I'd called that I didn't want him ringing the doorbell), and it was only after another few minutes of waiting that I heard it.
A small whimper. Followed shortly afterwards by another.
Alarm seized my chest and I hurried toward Lila's bassinet, afraid she would wake her mother.
Lila's fists were curled, and her face was scrunched up in her sleep as I reached into the bassinet. But she only grew louder as I lifted her into my arms, held her against my chest, rocked her hoping it might calm her back into sleep—then Madelyn shifted beside me.
I felt terrible as I watched her wake, as Lila's cries only grew louder and Mads blinked her tired, blue eyes open to find the source of the sound. I was practically wincing when she met my eye and registered the fact that I was there.
Then, those blue eyes widened, and she jumped up.
"You're home?!" she exclaimed, yanking her sweatshirt down, running a hand over her hair, and glancing down at the watch she didn't have on her arm to see the time. "How long was I out?!"
"Sh, shh." I reached out to grip her arm with my free hand. "I came home early."
Lila was crying in earnest now, and Madelyn's eyes went over to her in my arms as she processed that information. "What time is it?"
I rocked and shushed Lila gently, hoping to calm her still. "It's just about six now."
Mads closed her eyes after a second, then brought both hands up to her face. She stayed like that, not saying another word, before removing her hands and all at once announcing, "I haven't even started to think about dinner. Let me just see what—"
I grabbed her arm as she headed for the kitchen, noting with some amusement the red marks on her face from the press of the pillow. "I already ordered pizza. Should be here any minute."
I watched her process that, too, and saw the next thought form on her face.
Before she had a chance to voice it, I said, "I ordered a salad with it, so don't worry about making one. And garlic knots cause I figured why not."
I thought it would make her smile. But when her lips only quirked quickly up then back down, mine fell, too.
Mads sunk down onto the couch again, her head in her hands. Lila, thankfully, seemed to have quieted down for the moment. She was looking up at me with no small amount of awe in her eyes. I pressed a kiss to her soft head and shifted her around so that she could sit up, propped against my chest in my lap as I sat beside her mother.
"I can't believe I slept that long," Mads said once I was next to her.
"Why not? We didn't get much sleep last night," I said, and glanced down at Lila, "And this one was asleep, too, so what was the harm?"
Mads breathed a groan but didn't answer.
"I was glad to hear everything was okay today," I said, letting Lila play with the rings on my fingers.
Mads sat back, but again, didn't say anything. Just crossed her arms and yawned.
A stab of something like warning shot through me. "You okay?"
She smacked her lips a little and tried to smile. Her eyes were still heavy. "Just tired."
"And—and Lila, she's... The doctor said it was just a cold?"
"Yeah," Mads said softly, blinking quickly and finding Lila again. "Her temperature was up to 101, and when I called, they said it was probably nothing serious, but to bring her in anyway." She reached out, touched Lila's foot, covered by her soft purple onesie. "Baby girl's got her first cold. Which explains why she's been fussier than usual these last couple days."
I pressed my lips to the top of Lila's achingly soft head, then asked, "So, what do we do?"
Mads shrugged helplessly, her eyes still on Lila, her fingers still at Lila's feet. "Just wait it out. The pediatrician said she's old enough for some Tylenol now, so I gave her a dose to bring the fever down, which must've made her comfortable enough to sleep. But other than that, she'll fight it off."
It was a relief to hear that, but thinking about this morning, thinking about what it felt like for me to hear that they were headed to the doctor...
"That must've been scary," I said, glancing over at Mads now. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here."
Mads met my eye, still leaning back against the couch cushion, and her hand moved from Lila's foot to my arm so that her fingers traced a soft line to my elbow. "She definitely gave me a scare, but it's fine," she said, and pressed a still-tired smile. "We managed alright, didn't we?" She asked Lila, who kicked out a little bit before she started cranking up again.
"Okay, it's okay," Mads said, sitting up and reaching for Lila before I could stop her. "Oh, it's alright, baby girl. You're okay."
She stood with Lila in her arms before I could protest, and swayed a little right in front of me. I was nearly ready to say that I was fine to keep holding her when my phone started ringing.
"That's probably the pizza," Mads said, holding Lila to her shoulder and patting her back.
I stood, watching them for a moment, waiting for Mads to shoot me another smile.
She didn't.
"You sure you're alright?" I asked, heading for the kitchen but keeping myself angled toward them, watching Mads continue to sway with a crying Lila in her arms.
"Yeah," she said looking right into my eyes as she pressed her cheek to Lila's head. She smiled a little wider this time. "Still half-asleep, that's all."
When that smile stretched into something like laughter, I felt more at ease. Still more when I heard her cooing to Lila and pressing loud kisses to her cheeks behind me as I took the call. Still more when I carried the pizzas in and she announced to a calmer Lila that it was dinner time. Still more when she handed Lila to me so that she could grab plates and glasses. And still more when she smiled at me over her shoulder, when she crouched down in front of Lila to press more kisses to her cheek. Still more when that smile, still tired, but content, stayed there as she sat in her own seat.
Things were different between us now, I thought as Mads plopped a slice on my plate. But in moments like these, when it was just the three of us, it was hard to remember how.
___
Author's Note:
A nice long chapter to make up for what, in some ways, has felt a lot longer than a two week wait! Is it just me who feels that way? I MISS YOU GUYS.
Hope you enjoyed this one babes! I'm in Boston for the weekend, and didn't have time to do my usual final edit, so if there are any mistakes, I apologize!! Hope it was enjoyable anyway. These two are still trying to find their rhythm as parents, but I think they're getting there. And there's always something to throw everyone off track anyway, right? Life, man. You can always depend on it to throw a wrench in the works!
This'll be another short note today (I'm getting good at this lol), so please let me know what you're making of the way things are going! Vote, comment, message me, whatever you'd like. And if you haven't already, make sure to check out my newest novel, 'Trace the Edges', available as an eBook or a paperback on Amazon! The link is on my page :)
Thank you guys SO, SO much for everything! I couldn't love you more, to be honest. Lots and lots of love and I'll meet you back here in two weeks. xx