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“Oh, they’re ones from Harley?” Even that thought warmed her. Harley had accepted Rebel into her life like they were meant to be. Soulmates. The word came crashing through her memory, stunning her.

Rebel sang, her entire body moving with the tilt of her head. “’Arley, ’Arley, ’Arley an’ me.”

“We’ll see Harley again sometime soon.” Miranda smiled and warmth grew almost painfully in her chest. She had said the words so easily and hoped she wasn’t actually lying to her niece.

Rebel returned to playing, and Miranda enjoyed the sound of her chatting in words that Miranda still couldn’t always interpret, but she was getting better. Pride bloomed in her chest that Rebel now had words that needed to be interpreted. Miranda stole another look at Rebel playing and shook her head slightly at all the toys that lay on the ground. There were now more toys in Miranda’s house than she ever imagined necessary for a single child. But that was before all of this had started.

So much had shifted in her world. With a deep breath, she faced the reality that a lot had also shifted inside of her. It had now been two months since Tierney had left. Had it already been that long? Had it really only been that long? She almost couldn’t believe that Tierney had missed Rebel’s birthday. She’d thought for certain that would drag her flaky sister home again.

She returned her attention to the screen, but her mind wandered again as she signed off on one document and clicked on the next. In the back of her mind, she worried about not being at work this morning, but they had all reassured her that they had it covered. She had little other choice but to work from home until she got the paperwork sorted out for Rebel and got her immunizations done. The lack of control rubbed against her like sandpaper against her skin.

She had left three messages for Tierney already, but resigned herself to the fact that it might be a while before her sister listened to them, let alone called back or signed the letter Miranda needed. It might push her to have to take more drastic steps when it came to custody, and that was something she had resisted for the two years since Rebel had been born.

She still couldn’t understand how Tierney and Tori could be the same age yet so completely opposite to each other. Miranda knew without question that Tori would never leave Harley in search of her soulmate. Even though Tori seemed just as determined to find the elusive person as Tierney was, she had such an amazing balance and understanding of who she was.

The sound of her phone made her jump, the chair leaning back a little too quickly for her liking.

“Shit.” The expletive came out before she could stop it.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Rebel mimicked as she continued to play.

“Of course that’s the word you pick up instantly,” Miranda muttered as she lifted the phone and saw an unknown number. She sighed and hit the answer button.

“Miranda speaking.”

“Hey sis!” Tierney’s voice came through clear. Much crisper than she had heard over the last two months.

“Did you get a new number?”

“Yeah, I had to get rid of the old number.”

Miranda bit back the question she wanted to demand an answer to. She could hear all about that later even though she knew what had happened. Tierney had completely run out of money. First, she needed to get Rebel sorted out.

“Did you get my messages?”

“I got one before my phone was turned off.” Tierney’s voice took on that giggly quality again.

Miranda bit the insides of her cheeks. She couldn’t snap at Tierney, no matter how much she wanted to tell her to get home and finally act like the parent she was supposed to be.

“I’m going to the library today and will write up the letter and put all the details that you need for the doctor.”

“Great.” Miranda blinked, ashamed at her instant impression that Tierney would brush off the need for the letter. But to be fair, she had a pretty substantial track record of putting Rebel second on her list, after the search for her soulmate.

“So, when are you going to send me photos of her birthday party?”

“What?” Confusion swam through Miranda’s brain. What was Tierney even talking about?

“It was her birthday, Miranda. Don’t tell me you didn’t have a party for my baby!”

“I know that, Tierney.” Miranda tried to bite back her tone, but was Tierney serious? She hadn’t bothered to even call on her daughter’s birthday and now she expected photos of a birthday party Miranda was supposed to have had? No communication about it either.

“So what did you end up doing?”

“We didn’t really celebrate it,” Miranda said between clenched teeth.

“What? My baby turned two, and you didn’t do anything?” Tierney’s pouty whine came through the line, and Miranda had images of dogs in the neighborhood all looking up in search of the sound.

“Well, I didn’t want you to miss out.” Miranda slowed her voice with all the effort she could muster. “So I thought we could celebrate it a little later, once you get back home.”