around his mom when they got to the Jeep. Niara looked inquisitively at Anna, but Anna shook her head and climbed into the driver’s seat. Seeing Jack with Pippa in his lap, his arm wrapped securely around her, was surreal. The three of them. Together. Anna started the ignition. This wasn’t a family outing. At least not the way she’d once imagined it.
She drove about a quarter of a mile to a grove of trees. Thankfully, Pippa monopolized the conversation the entire way there. She listed all the local animals she could think of for Jack, even the most dangerous ones sounding adorable with the way her r ’s came out as w ’s. Even Anna couldn’t stop from smiling when Jack mimicked Pippa and said, “Zeebwas, huh? I wanna see one of those!” Jack being silly? She knew his sister had a kid, but she’d never pictured him as the shed-the-lab-coat-and-play kind of guy. Anna turned off the ignition.
“Come here, sweetie,” she said, pulling Pippa into her lap and hugging her tightly. She looked at Jack before continuing. He stared back at her expectantly.
This was it.
The moment she’d both longed for and dreaded. Longed for during moments of insane exhaustion, when sleepless nights with an infant made her wonder if there was something to marrying for the sake of practicality. For having someone to lean on, even if it wasn’t for love. But that’s all it was. Insanity. Because she’d come this far without relying on him. And she knew he didn’t love her. Not beyond friendship, and probably not even that anymore, after what she’d done.
Anna kissed the top of Pippa’s head now, breathing in that indefinable child scent, and steeled herself for what was to come. “Pippa, you know how I told you Dr. Harper is a friend?”
“Uh-huh.”
Anna turned Pippa to face her and gently fiddled with a springy curl at her temple.
“He’s more than that to you. He’s your baba, sweetie, although he’ll probably want you calling him Daddy,” Anna said, realizing Jack wouldn’t be accustomed to the local term.
He reached over and tugged on one of Pippa’s bouncy curls. “You can call me whatever you like, Pippa. I’m just really happy to be here with you.”
Pippa stared at him and sank back into Anna’s arms. Her thumb slipped between her teeth. It had taken forever to get her to break that habit. If she regressed...
“My baba ...like Kahni?” she said, then slipped her thumb back in her mouth.
“Who’s Kahni?” Jack asked.
“One of the elephant bulls we observe,” Anna said, closing her eyes apologetically. She turned to Pippa. “Like Kahni, only Jack’s your baba. And he walks on two feet,” Anna said. As expected, Pippa giggled and relaxed.
“I know an animal with twenty feet,” Pippa said. “No, it has twenty hundwed million feet and thwee eyes. It’s like a monster.”
“Wow. And I’d love to hear about all the things you like to do, your favorite games and books and whatever you want to talk about,” Jack said, propping his forearms on his knees so they were face-to-face.
“Are you gonna live with us?” Pippa asked, her curls barely masking the wrinkling of her forehead. She looked so much like Jack it hurt.
“Um. No, but we’ll figure all that out later,” Jack said, glancing at Anna.
“Are you gonna mawee my mama?”
Anna froze. If he so much as implied that it was an option, it would be final proof that he was just like her dad. It’d prove that the last proposal had truly been for all the wrong reasons and that Jack was after only one thing now—and it wasn’t her. But if he didn’t want marriage... Anna’s chest twinged. If he didn’t want marriage, it would prove that any inkling of hope she’d ever had about being wrong, about happy-ever-afters really existing, about ever having Jack’s forgiveness and friendship again, would be gone for good. And she wasn’t sure which response would make her feel worse.
Jack straightened back in his seat and looked at
She drove about a quarter of a mile to a grove of trees. Thankfully, Pippa monopolized the conversation the entire way there. She listed all the local animals she could think of for Jack, even the most dangerous ones sounding adorable with the way her r ’s came out as w ’s. Even Anna couldn’t stop from smiling when Jack mimicked Pippa and said, “Zeebwas, huh? I wanna see one of those!” Jack being silly? She knew his sister had a kid, but she’d never pictured him as the shed-the-lab-coat-and-play kind of guy. Anna turned off the ignition.
“Come here, sweetie,” she said, pulling Pippa into her lap and hugging her tightly. She looked at Jack before continuing. He stared back at her expectantly.
This was it.
The moment she’d both longed for and dreaded. Longed for during moments of insane exhaustion, when sleepless nights with an infant made her wonder if there was something to marrying for the sake of practicality. For having someone to lean on, even if it wasn’t for love. But that’s all it was. Insanity. Because she’d come this far without relying on him. And she knew he didn’t love her. Not beyond friendship, and probably not even that anymore, after what she’d done.
Anna kissed the top of Pippa’s head now, breathing in that indefinable child scent, and steeled herself for what was to come. “Pippa, you know how I told you Dr. Harper is a friend?”
“Uh-huh.”
Anna turned Pippa to face her and gently fiddled with a springy curl at her temple.
“He’s more than that to you. He’s your baba, sweetie, although he’ll probably want you calling him Daddy,” Anna said, realizing Jack wouldn’t be accustomed to the local term.
He reached over and tugged on one of Pippa’s bouncy curls. “You can call me whatever you like, Pippa. I’m just really happy to be here with you.”
Pippa stared at him and sank back into Anna’s arms. Her thumb slipped between her teeth. It had taken forever to get her to break that habit. If she regressed...
“My baba ...like Kahni?” she said, then slipped her thumb back in her mouth.
“Who’s Kahni?” Jack asked.
“One of the elephant bulls we observe,” Anna said, closing her eyes apologetically. She turned to Pippa. “Like Kahni, only Jack’s your baba. And he walks on two feet,” Anna said. As expected, Pippa giggled and relaxed.
“I know an animal with twenty feet,” Pippa said. “No, it has twenty hundwed million feet and thwee eyes. It’s like a monster.”
“Wow. And I’d love to hear about all the things you like to do, your favorite games and books and whatever you want to talk about,” Jack said, propping his forearms on his knees so they were face-to-face.
“Are you gonna live with us?” Pippa asked, her curls barely masking the wrinkling of her forehead. She looked so much like Jack it hurt.
“Um. No, but we’ll figure all that out later,” Jack said, glancing at Anna.
“Are you gonna mawee my mama?”
Anna froze. If he so much as implied that it was an option, it would be final proof that he was just like her dad. It’d prove that the last proposal had truly been for all the wrong reasons and that Jack was after only one thing now—and it wasn’t her. But if he didn’t want marriage... Anna’s chest twinged. If he didn’t want marriage, it would prove that any inkling of hope she’d ever had about being wrong, about happy-ever-afters really existing, about ever having Jack’s forgiveness and friendship again, would be gone for good. And she wasn’t sure which response would make her feel worse.
Jack straightened back in his seat and looked at
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