Page 59 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls (Kissing At Work #2)

“When I’m available, my unmarried status is a plus for you. You siphon my time and energy with barely any consideration for this life you’re throwing in my face.” Celene’s nostrils flared with her temperature. “Then, when you’re angry, you hurl it at me as a weapon. It’s fucking disrespectful.”

Byron reacted only to the swear word, tutting, “Watch your mouth around?—”

“I don’t give a fuck, Dad.”

“Fifi, let’s go find your sister. Maybe she got Cheetos.” Briana corralled the only minor out of the room. Reluctantly, Celene was sure, since she loved being in the know.

“Talk about disrespect,” Byron retorted, his gruff voice rising. “I’m your father and I’m in the damn hospital?—”

“ Exactly .” Celene sneered the meanest smile she could dole out as she stressed each syllable.

Donovan cursed under his breath. “You’re in the hospital.

Something’s gone wrong and you’ll need to fix it, won’t you?

You’ll need a lifestyle change.” Her stomach pressed harder against the bed’s side.

“Why didn’t you tell me Shanice struggled through postpartum? ”

“What does that have to do with?—”

“Dad. I know you love her, but admitting you need help isn’t conceding you’re too old.”

It finally clicked. Withstanding the anger sewn into his thick eyebrows, understanding came through. “Yes, it does. I’d been there for your kids’ mothers.”

“And it’s a new day and age.” Celene patted his knee under the cold, starched covers.

The one he’d been rubbing last time. Her point was clear.

“I may not be married, and I may not know how to rock an infant to sleep. God, I may get abandoned by a fiancée and disappear for weeks and take on your stupid pet projects, but I’m not a disposable woman. I’m more than who I’m attached to.”

Celene’s breath faltered when Elise formed at her side, hand clasping her shoulder.

Elise had a smile for Byron. More than Celene could muster. “Celene’s done a fantastic job on the summer house, Dad. Pictures don’t do it justice.”

Donovan nodded dutifully, his black hair too gelled to bend. “Izzy won’t stop asking about it.”

“I put up the security cameras,” Ajay threw in, grinning. “Before that, you didn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking there. It looked condemned.”

Getting backup touched Celene, though she continued searching her father’s face. His frown hadn’t subsided.

Seconds ticked by with the beeps on the vitals monitor.

Seconds, then over a minute.

And Celene tried, “Dad?”

For acknowledgement. An apology. Anything.

Instead, as stubborn as one could be, he hit the console button to slant into its resting angle, his eyes closing. “I need sleep. See yourselves out.”

“Dude, really?” Donovan asked. That granted him Byron’s dismissive wave.

Soon after, they filed out of the room, a sad little procession. Celene could tell they wanted to discuss what went down when all she yearned for was a quiet corner to call Skye. To decompress, to listen to the soft voice that could calm her from over a hundred miles away.

Except she hadn’t let Skye comfort her earlier. Celene had blocked her out.

Shanice showed up around then. She rifled through a massive handbag, likely for an overnight stay, despite any hospital policy. When she peered up at them, her face contorted into confusion, then she shook her head. With a sharp point at Celene and Elise, she led them to the far end of the hallway.

She got right into an explanation, devoid of her usual laid-back disposition.

Her ponytail was uneven, her cheeks sallow.

“My little cousin’s watching Theo for a couple of hours.

Family who’d usually babysit Theo are on a cruise.

” She flicked mascara-free eyes to either Vale sister.

“Byron’s not in a bad place, but I can tell he’s more winded than he’s letting on.

His doctor just told me they’ll keep him for a night. Possibly more.”

Celene exchanged a glance with Elise, noting how perplexed her sister appeared. “What do you need?”

“You two.” Twisting the handle of her bag on her shoulder, Shanice clarified, “You’re Theo’s sisters. Please relieve my cousin and watch him tonight. I’d ask Don, but he and Bri have to get the girls ready for day camp tomorrow.”

“Big J and I can do it,” Elise proposed, brightening. “I’m not pregnant, but it’s practice.”

A dash of sympathy flipped Celene’s stomach. Conceiving took more than a few sandy romps on a honeymoon, though Elise hadn’t been ambiguous about the baby thing.

Shanice studied Elise for a moment. Celene predicted the refusal plain on her face before she responded, “No. Celene doesn’t have her partner here. Neither should you. Bond with your baby brother, together.”

Her intentions were transparent; they always had been. Shushing Elise ready to argue, Celene grasped Shanice’s hand. Cold and clammy. “We can handle a night with Theo. Sounds?—”

Sleepless? Stressful? Weird?

“—fun,” Celene finished. Hopefully, her smile wasn’t as turbulent as her nerves.

Shanice awarded them her first smile that evening.

Highly symmetrical, much more familiar. “I’ll email you his care routine.

Follow it and your night should be uncomplicated.

” Much more exuberant with this off her plate, she cupped both Celene and Elise’s faces, depositing a peck to their cheeks. “My dearest stepdaughters.”

They burst into laughter, and this time, Celene joined in. A seven-month-old may keep her up all night, but at least she’d be helping the innocent.

Nadine – 5:05 pm

I wanna pinch Theo’s chubby cheeks. So cute.

Celene – 5:07 pm

Everyone says he looks like Byron.

Nadine – 5:09 pm

Imagine carrying a baby for nine fucking months and it pops out looking like your dad. I’d be sick.

How’s brothersitting with Elise?

It hadn’t started yet. Celene had driven herself to Byron and Shanice’s three-bedroom apartment in Harlem, on a street of gorgeous brownstones and livelier energy than her stressed, traffic-laden drive into the city.

Latisha, Shanice’s studious-looking cousin, accompanied Theo napping through her short babysitting stint.

She shut her microbiology textbook with a clap, toed into turquoise ASICs, and wished her luck.

Ominous, but Celene thanked her anyway.

Allowing herself a tender moment alone, Celene had sent Nadine pictures of Theo sucking his fingers in his sleep, stomach-up in a mini crib. Hair curlier than when she last saw him, pooched lips, rolly arms and legs, on a mattress patterned with Elmo heads—cuteness overload.

Then she’d read Skye’s messages. They weren’t questions, nor check-ins on Byron.

Skye – 2:14 pm

I’m so sorry I didn’t have the right words today.

Remember I’m here for you.

Even if your family isn’t.

Please drive safely, Celene.

Celene could only stare, heart pounding in her ears. Because Nadine had been right—Celene had changed. Not into someone perfect, who handled leaving the summer house with grace, but into someone who hadn’t turned cruel or argumentative, not even angry.

Skye offered to rearrange her busy life. She’d wanted to make the trip.

This was bigger than a fumbled reality word.

She prioritized Celene.

Swallowing hard, Celene closed out of her messages. Eluding to marriage and confessing love had nothing on this, as she’d experienced them. However, having priority in another person’s eyes?

Celene sought distraction in Shanice’s evening routine document and found it. Six pages of it.

Ajay dropped Elise off fifty minutes later. Upon arrival, Elise slammed the door too loudly, and Theo wiggled to his stomach, opening his big, dark eyes. Already grizzling.

While waking their brother ticked at Celene’s temper, Elise brought food for them. An acceptable trade-off since Theo demanded two adults’-worth of attention.

Shanice left an adamant passage on baby-led weaning, aka cringing through Theo mashing steamed zucchini, full-fat yogurt, and banana into his mouth successfully half of the time.

The other half went all over the table and floor, and he even flung a fistful into Elise’s white shirt.

She screamed like the drama queen she was, but Theo put her scream to shame.

Theo not only took after Byron facially; he babbled like he owned the place.

Babbling through the bath time that should’ve taken them fifteen to twenty minutes in theory .

They’d spent an hour on that, after which they took turns massaging him at Shanice’s request, “to promote digestion.” Celene and Elise squabbled over what counted as “too hot” milk after figuring out the bottle warming contraption and managed to spill the rest of the breastmilk packet onto their laps.

All three of them screamed about that one.

Celene and Elise also changed diapers. Both encounters had been messy; they’d never seen urine fly so far.

By 9:38 p.m., a whopping two-and-a-half hours after his supposed bedtime, Elise passed Theo off to Celene with a whine. “Your turn.”

The color-changing nightlight and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ playing from the mobile were designed to induce sleepytime. Celene even yawned. Then, she held Theo in her outstretched arms, and his alert eyes stared back at her. “Please sleep.”

He babbled defiantly. To the effect of ‘hell no, ancient sister.’

Celene heaved him into a not-quite-right patting position as she drifted from one end of the dim nursery to the other, humming. Theo wobbled and fussed more.

Elise groaned from the glider, swaying herself. “Ugh, he hates you.”

“Shut up.” Celene tried a new angle for Theo; she swore she’d find a decent rocking technique. “He smiles at me.”

“Because you smell like Shanice’s boob milk.”

Celene pursed away a smile. Kind of funny. “Is Shanice still texting you?”