Charlotte sat in the cushioned wooden rocker and eased back and forth while Lily finished her bottle. Sweet little lips pulled at the last drop of formula, then her mouth lost suction as she drifted off to sleep. Charlotte smiled, pulled the empty bottle away and eased the baby up onto her shoulder.
Keeping with the rocking motion, Charlotte closed her eyes and relished the peaceful bliss of holding a sleeping, innocent baby. No matter what happened with the marriage or the baby she carried, Charlotte knew she had a responsibility to Lily. Even though they weren’t blood-related, that didn’t matter. Charlotte would love and care for Lily as if she were her own.
Rachel had been an amazing woman. Charlotte hadn’t been super-close with her sister-in-law because of the miles between them, but they had communicated a great deal over the phone.
Rachel had been so excited when she’d become pregnant. Charlotte had been both thrilled and a little jealous, and once she’d seen how happy the news made Anthony, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d changed his mind about having kids of his own.
But when she’d brought it up, he’d blown her off again, claiming it wasn’t good timing. Good timing or not, he soon would have to get used to the idea of baby number two.
Giving in to the inevitable and relinquishing the peacefulness of rocking Lily, Charlotte came to her feet, laid Lily in her sleigh crib and went down the hall to her old master bedroom.
She prayed for the strength and courage to have a calm, adult conversation with Anthony. Prayed they wouldn’t start yelling and hurling accusations.
She was getting stronger in standing up for herself and he needed to understand that unless and until he made a drastic change in his work ethic, she couldn’t consider them a family.
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