Mistaken Consequences

Chapter 38: August: Part II

She'd barely put the car into park before Vera was throwing open her door and rushing up the steps. She didn't even care if she got laughed at; she wanted to see her baby.

She did manage to slow her stride to just a fast walk as she crossed the Den's threshold, dropping her purse onto the first flat surface she passed. She could hear them gathered in the living room, quietly arguing amongst themselves.

"You could let somebody else hold her," Randall complained as she came around the corner.

Lilith was reclining back against the oversized beanbag chair with Lily in her arms, seemingly asleep.

"Nope." Lilith didn't even look up at Randall as he stood over her, somehow reminding Vera of a toddler pouting over a toy. "I'm her favorite."

"She's not even awake. She doesn't care who's holding her."

"Exactly. And moving her now would just wake her up, so it's better to let her stay where she's comfortable."

Vera resisted the urge to end the argument by stepping forward to take Lily herself and paused to look around until she found Hamish leaning against the back of the couch, a smirk on his lips as he watched his friends bickering over their daughter. When he noticed her, his smirk turned into a full smile and he turned to make his way over to her.

"That didn't take long," he commented.

Vera rolled her eyes. "It...didn't go as planned. We'll talk about it later." She bit her lip, turning to look back at Lily.

"Go get her," Hamish told her softly. "They've been holding her long enough. I haven't even held her since we got here." He waited until she took a step forward, then called, "Hey guys," and nodded towards her.

Lilith put on an exaggerated pout as she looked down at Lily one last time, before passing her up to Vera. "Here's Mommy. You're not leaving right away, are you?"

Vera hesitated, but then shook her head. They'd been here a couple times since Lily's birth, when Hamish had needed to stop for more clothes and they'd been out for groceries or doctors' or something anyways. But they'd never stayed. Hamish had always found some excuse for them to leave and she had always eagerly accepted the escape route he was offering.

But this was his home and he'd already given up so much by agreeing to stay in hers. These were his friends, more family than anything, and other than a handful of awkward visits to her house, he hadn't been able to spend much time with them. She, or rather Philip, had cut short what they'd expected to be a full afternoon together. She knew Hamish was never going to ask anything of her if he thought it would make her uncomfortable, and that meant she was going to need to be the one to step up and accept the invitations when they came. She could spend a few hours letting them catch up and fawn over Lily. For Hamish.

"Why didn't you ever cook for us like this?" Randall asked, shoving another heaping forkful into his mouth.

"If I thought you'd appreciate it, I might have," Hamish responded.

"I appreciate food!"

"Can you even taste it when you don't even chew?" Gabrielle muttered, looking rather disgusted by her boyfriend's eating habits.

Randall frowned at her with a look of hurt but, thankfully, swallowed before answering. "What are you talking about? I chew my food."

"Okay!" Lilith interrupted. "Who wants ice cream? I think we still have ice cream. Vera?"

Lilith turned to look at her expectantly and Vera had to force herself not to wince at the familiarity. This had nothing to do with the Order, or Belgrave. She wasn't a Magus or a Chancellor. Here, she was just Lily's mom.