Page 48

JACKSON

“On a scale of one to ten, how bad was that?” I ask Rosie in the passenger seat. She’s been quiet since leaving the cafe, giving her dad a hug and her mum an awkward wave before we buckled Olive into her car seat and drove away.

Rosie snorts. “A solid six.”

I whistle. “I was expecting a two, maybe a three if we were lucky, so I’ll take a six.”

“I’m just glad it’s over.”

I rest my hand on her lap, squeezing her thigh.

Rosie glances behind her at Olive dozing in her car seat. “She’s tuckered out now.”

“Well she’s about to be handed around like a rugby ball in a few minutes.” I pull into our driveway though I know we won’t be staying long.

I used to take for granted how easy it was to get around before Olive came along. I used to put my shoes on, put my wallet in my pocket and then I would just…leave the house. Now, I have a mental checklist the length of my arm, and a tiny sidekick that needs to be fed every couple of hours .

“Bjorn or stroller?” Rosie asks as she rounds the car.

“Let’s bring both so she can nap,” I say, opening Olive’s door as quietly as I can. She barely stirs when I pick her up, placing her in the stroller Rosie’s assembled without a noise.

When I found this place, I had hoped the proximity to Danny and Anya’s house was a sign it was the right neighborhood, but I hadn’t anticipated them moving back in full time. We now spend nearly all our time at each other’s houses, although they’re heading back to LA in a few months for work.

Nearly everyone we’ve ever met is crammed into Danny and Anya’s garden for their anniversary party. The air is thick and warm, and we can smell the start of a barbecue as we get closer.

“Olive!” Anya calls as soon as we cross the threshold. She beelines for the stroller, ignoring Rosie and I until she realizes the baby is asleep and is best not disturbed, a lesson Anya learned her first night babysitting, when she woke her up on purpose and had to suffer through a sleepless night.

“Hello to you too,” Rosie says wryly.

Anya pulls her into a hug. “How did it go with the parents?”

Rosie shrugs.

“Wine?” Anya asks.

“I’ve got enough breast milk pumped to feed a small infant army. Yes please.”

“I’ve got her,” I tell Rosie when she turns for Olive.

She presses a kiss to my lips before following Anya back into the house.

I’m glad she’s letting loose a bit tonight.

It’s already difficult with a four month old at home, but losing her mum almost completely has been tough.

Thankfully Terry has done his best to be a doting granddad to ease the sting, and my mother came over for the first two months to help, but I know the distance has been hard on her.

Olive wiggles in the stroller, her tiny arms stretching as she stirs. I can’t resist pulling her into my arms. She fusses for a few seconds, staring up at me with her big blue eyes so like her mother’s before she conks back out on my arm, face smushed into my tattoos. She just wanted a cuddle.

I spot Danny near the grill and wander over. “Hey, bro.”

Danny turns ready to hug me but spots the sleeping baby in my arm and awkwardly waves instead. “She looks comfortable.”

I chuckle, swaying side to side as Danny reverently touches Olive’s toes.

“Nice day for it,” I tell him.

“Yeah.” He turns back to the grill. “Though I’m sweating over here. I’m never doing this myself again.”

“As if Anya will let you hire a cook.”

Danny laughs. “It was a struggle to let her get a cleaner to come twice a year to deep clean. And even then we pay her double.”

Anya and Rosie are the same, as stubborn about clinging to as much normalcy as possible. It doesn’t matter that her husband can afford a fleet of staff, Anya would never allow it.

“God, that smells good,” Cassie says as she appears at my side, her red curls bouncing as she jumps on the balls of her feet.

“Here. You can have this non-burnt one.” Danny offers her a burger from the side.

“Non-burnt, you say?” Cassie asks as she assesses the charcoaled burger.

“You should have seen the ones I made before this. ”

Cassie laughs as she takes a bite, her eyes rolling to the back of her head with a groan.

“Do you want to take one to your friend ?” Danny asks her with a wiggle of his brows.

“A friend?” I ask, rounding on Cassie with a grin. “Who?”

Cassie takes an exaggerated bite of her burger, gesturing to her full mouth helplessly before spinning on her heel and escaping back into the crowd.

“Who’s the friend?” I ask Danny scanning the faces gathered. I don’t see anyone I don’t recognize.

He snorts, “Showed up just before you guys did, I haven’t had the–fuck’s sake,” he mutters as his attempt at flipping a burger ends with half of it splattered on the ground.

“I’ll go put the baby down and take over,” I pat Danny on the arm.

“That might be for the best.”

I turn back to the house and glance down at Olive who’s starting to blink back awake. “Let’s go find Mummy.”