“That’s purple,” he was telling her patiently.

  “I like red,” Ariel said, sitting across from him. “Red is my favorite color.”

  “My favorite color is black,” Titus replied.

  “My favorite is pink,” Flora added, looking up from her spot next to Titus. “Like peonies.”

  “Peonies, huh?” Titus replied. “Like the flower.”

  “The ones by the porch,” Flora confirmed.

  “There’s red flowers, too,” Ariel said quickly. “Like, um—”

  “Zinnias,” Flora said, her eyes on her paper.

  “Yeah, zinnas.” Ariel nodded.

  “Zin-ee-uhs,” Flora corrected.

  Ariel ignored her.

  “I don’t know anythin’ about flowers,” Titus said, readjusting Diana on his lap. “You guys are smart.”

  He looked over her shoulder and drew a heart on her paper with a green crayon.

  “Flora knows lots,” Ariel told him, looking proudly at her cousin.

  “I like flowers,” Flora said nonchalantly.

  “Well, that’s good,” Titus teased, elbowing his niece. “Since your name is Flora.”

  “Mama likes them, too,” she replied, grinning.

  “That makes sense,” he said seriously.

  “Help me,” Diana ordered, moving Titus’s hand still holding the crayon. “Color.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” he replied, drawing another heart.

  “Anyone hungry?” I asked, my throat tight with emotion.

  “I had yogurt,” Ariel replied, not looking up from her page.

  “I am!” Flora scrambled up from her spot.

  “Me,” Diana said, climbing off Titus. She must have kneed him or something because his breath left him in a whoosh.

  “Uncle Titus are you hungry?” Flora asked as she hurried around the coffee table.

  “I’m alright, Flower,” he replied. “Thanks though.”

  I picked up Diana as she reached me and watched Ariel for a moment. “You sure you don’t want something else to eat?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Okay.” I turned to leave the room just as Titus murmured to Ariel.

  “You have really good manners.”

  “Does that mean I’m kind?” Ariel asked. “Because I am. Mostly. My mom is always kind. Even when Diana is screaming her head off.”

  “Manners are when you say please and thank you,” Titus replied, his voice laced amusement. “I guess it’s kinda like being kind.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Ariel said nonchalantly. “My mom says you always gotta say please and thank you.”

  It was strange having Titus in the house as we went about our day. He played in the living room with the girls for most of the morning. By the time I corralled Diana for her afternoon nap, the older girls had somehow convinced him to take them outside during their quiet time. Esther met my eyes, making sure I was fine with it, before agreeing that they could go outside with Uncle Titus instead of playing quietly in Flora’s room while Diana napped. The only condition was that they had to get the eggs out of the elaborate chicken coop in Otto and Esther’s back yard.

  “I hate chickens,” Titus griped quietly to Esther as he followed the girls outside.

  “Suck it up,” she whispered back with a quiet laugh.

  “You owe me.”

  “Have fun,” she sang.

  “I could’ve gotten the eggs,” I said as Esther followed me and Diana up the stairs.

  “The girls will do most of the work anyway,” she said with a snicker. “He’ll send them inside and stand safely out of range.”

  It only took a little while to get Diana to sleep, even though we could hear the girls playing in the back yard. Walking to the window, I pulled back the curtain and looked out.

  Titus was standing next to the chicken coop with his fingers laced through the fence, and Esther had been right, he’d sent the little girls inside to get the fresh eggs. He was watching them closely and giving them directions while Flora laughed at him. She held a chicken out in front of her and acted like she was going to carry it toward his spot at the fence. I was pretty sure I heard his yelp as he dropped his hands and quickly backed up.

  Meanwhile, Ariel was ignoring them as she checked the nesting boxes, a dirty egg in her hand already. I grimaced as she pulled out her shirt and made a little pocket for the eggs, dropping one in before reaching for another. I needed to remember to change it when she came inside to clean her hands.

  Titus was saying something to Ariel and pointing to a corner of the coop.

  Nodding, she walked over to where he’d pointed and excitedly picked up another egg. She turned to look at him, her face pinched in a confused scowl. Whatever he said to her had her expression smoothing as she nodded again.

  I watched them for a long time. Flora focused on petting the chickens, cuddling them against her chest and kissing the tops of their heads, while Ariel explored the coop on an egg treasure hunt. Titus called out encouragement, staying a foot away from the fencing at all times. When they finally moved like they were going to come inside, I hurried away from the window. After grabbing Ariel a new shirt and checking to make sure Diana was still sleeping soundly, I headed back downstairs.

  For my entire life, I’d been able to put the people in my life into neat little imaginary boxes. My parents had a box. Siblings had a box. Husband had a box. In-laws had a box. Friends from Bible study had a box. The women and men from church each had a separate box. Even Otto had his own box as Esther’s husband. The only people I’d ever met that didn’t have their own little filing place in my brain were my girls. They would’ve overflowed any box I’d tried to put them in. They were everything, uncontainable.

  And now, I didn’t know what to do with Titus. He didn’t fit into a box either. He was too big for the box of old friends from high school and couldn’t be contained into Otto’s family’s box either. I wasn’t sure how to categorize him.

  He was just…Titus. The more I watched him and talked with him, the more I saw the boy who’d sat with me in the library, talking about everything and nothing, patiently dealing with the fact that the girl he was spending his time with couldn’t even acknowledge him in public.

  “Otto’s on his way here to pick me up,” Esther told me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Do you need anything from the store?” she asked as she stuffed her feet into short rain boots. “We can stop on our way home.”

  “I can’t think of anything.” I watched her closely for a moment. Something didn’t seem right. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “My back hurts and I’m tired and grouchy. So, you know, basically I’m just pregnant.”

  I laughed and helped her pull on her coat. “Not too much longer to wait!”

  “And then I’ll have a newborn,” she replied with sarcasm laced cheerfulness. “Ugh. Ignore me. I’m just having a moment.”

  “Have all the moments you want,” I assured her as I walked her to the door. “I’ll make dinner so you can just relax after you get home.”

  “You’re the best,” she said, hugging me tightly just as Otto opened up the front door behind her.

  “You’re late,” she said in exasperation, pulling away.

  “Got here as soon as I could, Sugar,” Otto said, ignoring her tone completely. “You ready to go?”

  “Of course.” Otto’s eyes met mine, grinning, as she strode past him onto the porch.

  “You remember how to set the alarm?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “If you forget, Titus knows,” he reminded me before shutting the door between us.

  I quickly went to the keypad to make sure that the alarm wasn’t about to start blaring. It hadn’t been set.

  “I’ll set it again,” Titus said, coming out of the kitchen. “I turned it off while me and the girls were outside.”

  “Okay, thanks,” I murmured, backing away.

  “Uh,” he glanced at me and grimaced. “Ariel’s kind of a mess. She’s got mud and chicken shit all—” he gestured in a wide circle over his torso. “Sorry.”

  “That’s why I brought an extra,” I said, lifting up the shirt in my hand.

  “Super mom,” he said softly, smiling before turning back to the keypad.

  Ariel thankfully wasn’t as messy as I’d been envisioning and it only took a few minutes before she and Flora were cleaned up and playing Legos in the living room—a rare treat that they were only allowed while Diana was sleeping. My youngest hadn’t quite stopped putting things in her mouth yet.

  Looking at the clock, I decided it was as good a time as any to put some dinner in the slow cooker. I was busy pulling ingredients for pork chops and gravy when Titus wandered into the kitchen.

  “Did Esther say how long her appointment was?” he asked casually, leaning against the counter beside me.

  “About an hour, I think,” I replied, wondering why in the world he was standing so close. Should I scoot over and work further down the counter?

  “Alright.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine if you need to leave early,” I said, glancing at him. Was he ready to leave? Once Otto was home, he wouldn’t need to stay any longer. I was sure that we could manage by ourselves for an hour. We had the security system and the shotgun that Esther had stashed on top of the kitchen cupboards. It wasn’t as if we were in any danger.

  “I don’t have anythin’ goin’ on,” he replied, watching me. “Just curious how long those things take.”

  “Well, it depends,” I murmured, dropping the pork chops into the slow cooker. Was he staying for dinner? How much should I be making? I was too nervous to ask, so I added a couple extra just in case. “Sometimes the appointments are running behind so it takes longer to even see anyone. I think it’s a pretty fast appointment this time, but I think Esther had some questions so it might take a little longer.”

  “So, what you’re sayin’ is you have no idea how long they’ll be gone,” he teased.

  “Basically,” I said, a huff of laughter escaping me. “I’ve found that there’s never any set timeframe with pregnancy or midwife appointments.”

  “Are you bummed that you can’t see the same doctor this time around?” he asked curiously.

  “No.” The answer was easy. “I didn’t have any emotional attachment to my midwife.”

  Titus watched me carefully but I didn’t say anything more.

  I would’ve been happy if I’d never seen my old midwife’s face for the rest of my life. My births had been relatively easy, from what I’d heard from other women, but I’d never forget the look on her face as I’d cried. That memory was the only thing I allowed myself to remember.

  “That looks good,” Titus said, changing the subject. “How long does it take?”

  “About four hours on high,” I replied, grateful for the subject change. “It’s kind of a lazy meal since you just dump everything in.”

  “That’s the best kind,” he said with a grin.

  A few minutes later as I was washing my hands Diana called down from behind our bedroom door.

  “Princess is awake,” Titus announced.

  “I hear her.”

  “Mama! Diana’s awake!” Ariel yelled from the living room.

  “Thank you,” I called back, rolling my eyes.

  Titus laughed.

  “Get those Legos cleaned up,” I ordered as I headed upstairs.

  Diana was her usual grouchy self as I sat the girls down for a snack and with Titus at the table, teasing them and making them laugh, I didn’t even realize how much time was passing. It wasn’t until Flora climbed onto the couch and cuddled into my side that I thought to look at the clock.

  We hadn’t seen Esther and Otto in almost four hours.

  Titus must’ve seen the look on my face as I rubbed Flora’s back, because he quickly got to his feet and pulled out his phone, striding toward the kitchen.

  “I’m hungry,” Flora said with a dramatic sigh.

  “It’s almost dinnertime. Mom and Dad should be back any minute,” I told her, kissing her head. “You want to help me pick up the toys so it’s all nice and clean when she gets here?”

  “Yeah!” She hopped off the couch and skirted around Diana and Ariel.

  Glancing toward the kitchen, I wondered if Titus was talking to Otto. Maybe they’d stopped for lunch or something. There was no reason to be concerned that Esther was taking longer than she’d thought it would take. She was with her husband for pete’s sake.

  I was just about to go tell Titus not to call and bother them—they deserved a little time to themselves—when he walked back into the room, his expression carefully neutral.

  My stomach sank.

  Chapter 8

  Titus

  “Hey,” Otto answered distractedly. “Sorry I didn’t call sooner. Shit’s been kind of crazy.”

  “Everything alright?” I murmured, walking to the furthest edge of the kitchen. “We were gettin’ a little worried.”

  “It’s good. Fine.” There was rustling while he covered up the phone for a moment. “Esther’s in labor.”

  “Say what?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I fuckin’ said.” He huffed out a laugh. “I thought we had a couple more weeks, but we got here and they checked her out and told her it’s happening now.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “I was gonna head back in a few minutes because we didn’t even bring her fuckin’ hospital bag. They said it would be better if she stayed at the birth center since shit has already progressed so far.”

  “Uh,” I glanced toward the living room. “Congratulations. It’s not too early, right?”

  “Nah, it’s all good. He might be a little on the small side, but he’s pretty well cooked.” The excitement in my older brother’s voice was palpable, even through the phone.

  “That’s good news.”

  “You cool with hangin’ at the house?” he asked. “Sorry, I know you’ve probably got shit goin’ on, but with Esther’s brother hangin’ around I’d feel better if—”

  “No worries,” I replied, cutting him off. “You just take care of stuff there. I got it handled here.”

  “You sure? I could probably get Dad or Mick to come over.”

  “I’m sure,” I assured him. “What do you want me to tell Noel and the kids?”

  The phone rustled as he covered the phone again. “Let Noel know, would you? She’s probably gettin’ worried. Don’t say anythin’ to the kids. Tell Flora Mom and Dad’ll be home in the mornin’. We wanna surprise her.”

  “Will do,” I replied. “Fuckin’ awesome.”

  “Agreed,” Otto said with a chuckle. “I’ll see you guys at some point later when I come to grab that bag.”

  “Ask Mom to bring it,” I argued.

  “That’s a good idea. I’m gonna call her.”

  “Give Esther my love,” I said quietly as I walked toward the living room. “And keep us updated.”

  “Will do.” He hung up without saying goodbye, and I couldn’t contain my grin.

  Esther was having the baby. I put my phone back in my pocket and shook my hands out before clearing my expression to walk back into the living room.

  My phone dinged with a text.

  Not telling my wife you love her. Fuckface.

  Noel looked up at me when I reached the living room and immediately got to her feet as our eyes met. As nonchalantly as I could, I jerked my chin toward where I’d come from.

  She followed me out of the room with some excuse to the kids, and the moment we were out of earshot, she stopped me with a hand on my arm.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously, her hands twisting together. For a split second I wondered if she knew she had a tell.

  “Nothin’ is wrong,” I replied quickly. “Esther’s havin’ the baby.”

  “What?” she whisper screamed.

  “Otto said that once they checked her they told her she needed to stay. I guess she was too far along in the—you know—process.”

  “She’s dilated that far?” Noel muttered dubiously.

  “I guess so,” I replied, like I knew what the fuck she was talking about.

  “She wasn’t even having contractions this morning.”

  “Uh, you’d know better than I do about all that.”

  “Okay,” she muttered, her eyes wide. “Okay, uh, she’ll need her overnight bag. I’ll go get it. And um, we should probably—”

  “Slow down,” I ordered softly, setting my hand on her back. “Otto said he’s gonna send my mom to get her overnight bag. That’s handled. He asked that we not tell the girls so they can surprise Flora themselves.”

  Noel’s body went completely still. I don’t think she knew that I’d noticed. She was trying hard not to react at all.

  “She wants me to stay here with the girls,” Noel said slowly, tipping her head back to look at me. The excitement had been completely wiped from her expression. “She doesn’t want me to come.”

  “Uh, yeah.” I held back a wince. Shit.

  “Otto’s staying with her?” she asked skeptically.

  “Of course.”

  Noel let out a small laugh that I couldn’t interpret. I just knew she hadn’t found anything funny.

  “Okay, well, good,” she said with a tight smile. She looked around, but I had no clue what she was looking for. I didn’t even think she knew what she was looking for. A place to escape, maybe. “Thanks for making sure everything is okay. I’m going to run upstairs and grab Esther’s bag so your mom can grab it and then I’m going to finish up on dinner. The girls are getting hungry.”

  “Alright.” I watched her carefully. God, she was trying so hard to seem unaffected, that it was torture not to touch her. “You sure you don’t want me to grab Esther’s bag?”

  “No, no, that’s okay,” she assured me as she strode toward the stairs. “Can you just keep an ear out for the girls?”

  “No problem.”

  When Noel was upstairs, I went back into the living room to find Flora bossing the other two around with mixed results. From what I could gather, she was trying to clean up the room, and Ariel was more than willing to help her, but Diana was either oblivious or knew exactly how to ignore her cousin to the best effect. Flora was fuming.