Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I ask and move her to the other side. She doesn’t attempt to latch this time and cries even louder. Suddenly, I can’t remember what I’m supposed to do. I know her diaper is clean since I just changed it. The temperature is comfortable in the room. If she was hungry, she’d nurse, right?
I didn’t read all the baby books like Lucas did.
There are a million reasons why our daughter is crying right now, and I can’t think of a single way to make her happy.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as a big tear rolls down my face and splashes onto Juliet’s cheek. It startles her and she keeps crying. Binx patiently sits by my feet, trying to calm me since he’s able to sense my pulse quickly rising. “Maybe you are hungry?” Leaning over, I try to position her against me. Nothing works so I get up and try walking her around, which does nothing as well.
I’m on my seventh lap of the room when she turns her head in, rooting against me like she wants to nurse. Finally. We go back to the chair, and she latches immediately.
“Good, sweet baby,” I tell her, smiling as I look down at her. A minute later, she pops off, gurgling and coughing. Panicked, I stand up and hold her against me, patting her back. The longest twenty seconds of my life pass by as she coughs and gasps for air before finally growing silent. I pull her back, needing to look at her face to make sure she’s breathing, and she spits up down the front of my shirt.
Then she starts crying again. And this time, I do too.
“Callie?” Eliza stops in the doorway. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” I admit, bottom lip quivering.
Eliza speeds over, stopping just a foot in front of me. I’m holding Juliet away from me, not wanting to cradle her against my spit up-covered chest and get it on her, though I doubt she’d care or even notice.
“I got her,” Eliza says over her loud cries. Sniffling, I hand her my baby and go into the bathroom, stopping in front of the mirror. I’ve been covered in blood and guts before and have thrown away more clothes than I want to think about because of it. I peel this shirt off me just like I would one that’s covered in body parts but toss it in my laundry basket instead. I don’t have that many tops that are easy to nurse in.
I rinse off the remaining spit up in the sink and go to my closet. Lucas and I each have our own closets, and his is neat and tidy, with everything in its place. Mine is semi-organized, with three piles on the floor for dirty clothes, clean clothes, and then some that fall somewhere in the middle. I pick up a shirt that’s halfway between the dirty and sorta-dirty clothes, taking my chances with either.
Juliet is still crying despite Eliza’s best efforts, and it takes a good ten minutes to get her calmed down enough to be able to nurse.
“Are you okay?” Eliza asks, perching on the side of the bed.
“I don’t want to do this alone,” I say, voice breaking.
Eliza puts her hand over mine. “You’re not alone, Callie.” She blinks back her own tears. “You know at first, I didn’t understand why so many people were willing to run headfirst into danger in order to help you. I didn’t think any human was worth it if it meant risking my nails.” She stops, taking in a breath she doesn’t need but instead is trying to keep her composure. “For the rest of my existence, you’re worth ruining a fresh manicure for. Fuck, I’d even ruin a new pair of shoes.”
“Coming from you, that means a lot.”
Blinking back her emotions, Eliza gives me her trademark grin. “Now, give me my sister once she’s asleep and go shower. Then we can get back to your annoying heroic and borderline neurotic planning.”
“Deal.” I bend down and kiss Juliet’s head. I’m getting a cramp in between my shoulder blades from holding her like this so much. How the hell do full humans do this? A few minutes later, I’m able to slowly pull her away, but right before Eliza takes her, she tips her head, listening to something I can’t hear.
Scarlet barks the exact second Eliza gets to her feet, and then the doorbell rings.
Chapter
Six
Eliza’s eyes meet mine. “Stay here,” she says and then zooms out of the room. Who the hell is ringing my doorbell at this hour? It’s not that late, but the only people with a reason to come to my house know I have a baby and wouldn’t ring the damn bell.
“Freya,” I call, summoning my familiar. “Stay with Juliet.” Pandora is downstairs with Scarlet, guarding the door. She lets me know there’s a vampire on the porch—one she’s sensed before. Moving as fast as I can, I get Juliet in her swing, turn it on, and take a lingering look at my daughter before rushing out of the room. Freya shadows into her true form, hovering next to the swing. Binx follows me out of the room, and we race down the back staircase and hurry to the front door. Damn this house for being so big. It feels like it takes forever to get to the foyer.