I teased Jamison about wanting a quickie, but now I’m the one feeling itchy and unsettled, and wishing I’d worked harder to convince him that showing up ten minutes late to my parents’ house is no big deal.
“Probably becoming a sex addict,” I mumble as I fetch a light beer from the fridge.
“Talking to yourself?” Naomi’s voice comes from behind me, making me jump and my breath rush out.
“Geez.” I shut the door with a laugh and turn to see her refilling her lemonade glass from the dispenser on the island. “You scared me.”
“I’m getting good at sneaking around.” She grins. “When Noelle is napping, I can walk by her room and down the hall without a single floorboard squeaking.”
“Motherhood is turning you into a ninja.”
“It is,” she agrees, glancing down at her lemonade glass before pinning me with a more serious look. “And my ninja instincts are telling me something is wrong.”
I frown. “Other than the fact that Mom has no sense of timing when it comes to cooking meat and everyone is going to be wasted by the time dinner is served?”
“Yeah, something more than that. Something more…Maddie flavored,” she says, making my heart lurch.
I should have known I wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from Naomi for long. She’s like a bird of prey, sharp and focused and not the type to let the slightest sign of activity in her surroundings go uninvestigated, not even when she’s sleep deprived and in the midst of organizing half a dozen major life events.
I’m about to spill my guts, and apologize for withholding information in the first place, when she speaks again. “Are you mad at me?”
I blink, surprised by the question. “No, of course not. Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because I’ve been a crappy sister lately.” She sets her drink on the island with a sigh. “I’ve been so wrapped up in Jake and the baby that I’m losing touch with other people. I realized on the way here that you and I haven’t had a serious debriefing in weeks. I didn’t even know that your friend Dawn was moving to Atlanta until Lucy mentioned something about it yesterday, and I can’t remember the last time you bought a dress without at least texting me a picture first. I mean, I love it,” she hurries to add. “It’s perfect and you look beautiful, I just…feel like maybe I’ve been sending out signals that I’m not available to you and I feel rotten about it.”
“Don’t feel rotten,” I say, feeling guilty that she feels guilty.
Our lack of debriefings is as much my fault as hers. I’ve been so consumed by my new relationship that I’ve been letting the rest of the world slip away.
“I know you’re busy, and I’m not mad at all,” I continue. “I may not be a mom, but I know having a newborn is a full-time job all on its own, without everything else you have on your plate. There will be plenty of time for us to catch up once Noelle is sleeping through the night and you’ve recovered from all the christening planning and wedding planning and honeymoon planning and all the other planning.”
She nods, but her forehead is still furrowed. “I know, but I don’t like feeling like there’s distance between us.”
I cross the room, setting my beer down to pull her into my arms for a hug. “There, now there’s no distance.”
Naomi hugs me back, her laughter stirring my hair. “I love you, Mad.”
“I love you, too,” I say, a wave of emotion making my heart flip as I give her a last hard squeeze.
“I’m so glad you’re my baby’s godmother.” She sniffs as we pull away. “You looked so perfect holding her today. I kept thinking about when we were little and went to Mick’s christening and promised we’d be godmothers for each other’s babies when we grew up. Remember that?”
I nod, my eyes beginning to sting. “I do.”
She sniffs again. “I almost cried three times during the ceremony and twice on the way home.”
“Me too. And if you don’t stop with the sweet memories I’m definitely going to start crying now.”
Naomi laughs, blinking as she squeezes my hand. “Okay, I’ll stop being sappy. I just… I appreciate you. I feel blessed to have you as my sister. I feel so good knowing Noelle will have an amazing person like you in her life.”
“Crap, that did it,” I say as tears spill down my cheeks even as Naomi and I both start to laugh.
“I’m sorry,” she says, giggling and sniffing as she draws me in for another hug. “I can’t help it. I’m so emotional lately.”
I pull in a shaky breath, trying to stop the tears before my nose turns red. “It’s okay, but I have to pull myself together. I’m all out of waterproof mascara; I’m wearing the cheap stuff that stings my eyes if it runs.”