"Yay!" She clapped as she followed him towards the stairs, relieved that he hadn't called her on her lies. She just didn't know how to explain the mash-up of feelings she had. She didn't have the words for half of the emotions she felt and she couldn't fully explain it herself, let alone to anyone else.

Especially the part that missed it. The part that dreamed of arms around her as she slept, and a soft voice singing to her from under a window. The part that kept stopping and listening for the sounds of a little boy playing with a dog and feeling crushed when it wasn't there. That was the part that she couldn't understand. She'd never wanted any of that. So far as she was concernned, her part of the Wakewood line could end with her and she would lose no sleep over it.

"I just got you guys some onsies and some baby books, but if there's anything you need that you don't get out of this, let me know. You can also come by my shop, it's down the street from the bookstore. I'm not open yet, but I can set anything you like aside. Antiques and the like."