Mockingbird: a Songbird Sequel

Thirty-Three: Colt

Man, did it take some adjusting to get used to having an infant around. Well, for me anyway. Lennie was so tuned in to Cooper that if he breathed differently, she was there. That woman was made to be a mom. There was not a single doubt in my mind. Hell, she would be just fine without me. I was nothing more than an errand boy at this point. Diapers, pacifiers, burp rags, snacks for Momma. I did it all. I had the doting on Lennie part down just fine.

Beau was doing his best to take care of Maggie. He was giving her the space she needed, not pressuring her at all. It was good to see. I could tell it was hard on him, but I could also see that he knew it was necessary. After about three weeks of only seeing each other when he dropped off her schoolwork, they started hanging out again, mostly at her mother's apartment. After a month, both Maggie and Brenda joined us for Sunday dinner. Now, it had happened two Sundays in a row. It kinda seemed like it was going to become a tradition for my little patchwork family. At least I hoped it did. My heart was pretty damn full.

By mid-May, Lennie was beyond ready to give our little one an eviction notice. She was hurting, bad. She was swollen, and sore, and plain fucking exhausted, which I'm sure wasn't helped by the fact that we were already raising a newborn. If I didn't know any different from the sonograms, I would've guessed she was carrying at least two littles, but the doctors insisted there was only one baby in there. We still didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but we had names picked out for both. Lennie was definitely still hoping for a girl, and in all honesty, so was I. A little girl that looked just like her momma. That was what I wanted, but there would be no complaints if we added another boy to the bunch either.

My mom basically moved in when Lennie's due date got closer. Lennie needed as much help as possible with Cooper as she could get. Getting up and down, the feedings, the changing, it wasn't easy on her body, and I think she'd given about as much as she could. So, we called in reinforcements. Besides, I had the bar and the farm to take care of, and we decided it was best if someone else was in the house with her, just in case. We'd made one trip to the hospital already, thinking she was going into labor, but apparently the contractions she was experiencing were some sort of cruel joke. Braxton-Hicks or something, they called it. Whatever it was, it wasn't time and they basically sent us right back home.

I was doing some renovation work on the bar at the end of May. Georgia was already hot as hell, and I was doing it pretty much myself. Sometimes Beau would help out after school or on the weekends, or Travis would swing through for a bit, but I was usually on my own. Truth be told, it made me miss Carter. He was a carpenter. This shit was his livelihood, and lord knew it wasn't mine, but I wasn't ready to make that call. I was still hurt, perhaps still a bit bitter, and I definitely wasn't willing to make the first move, so I just went at it alone.

One especially hot afternoon, I was sanding the new bar top when I felt something smack into my back. I turned to find my sister in the doorway, her flip-flop laying on the ground after it had thwacked into me, the other in her hand just in case the first one didn't get my attention. I cut the power sander and pulled out my earplugs. "What?"

"Do you not know how to answer your phone?" Cora asked, hand propped on her hip.

I raised the sander in my hand. "Cuz I totally heard it, Cor."

"You didn't feel it vibrate?"

"Probably not a good idea to be in here barefoot."

"Your wife is in labor."

The sander clattered to the counter with a loud THUNK. "WHAT!? Where is she?"

"Mom's taking her to the hospital."

"Shit." I threw off my safety glasses and tried to locate my shirt somewhere in the mess I'd created. "Where's Cooper?"

"Travis has him."