52
"Oh, hi!"
Izzy stands on the doorstep with Jimmy beside her.
"I thought I'd call and see how Rosalie is," she says, her expression almost apologetic.
"Sure, come on in." I stand back and let them by, ruffling Jimmy's hair as he passes. "Hey, dude, how are you?"
"I'm good," he says, raising a smile from me. "I've never been to your house before."
"Well you're welcome anytime," I tell him.
Izzy smiles at me.
"Sorry, my dad's working."
"No, it's fine," I reassure her.
Rosalie sits up on the couch as we enter the living room, a blanket swimming about her legs and covering her to the waist.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Izzy asks her as she takes a seat in an armchair.
"Achy, tired and fragile," she says. "I didn't sleep too well."
She'd woken trembling and anxious just about every hour through the night. We were both exhausted.
Jimmy stands beside Bella and interrupts her at least three times in a row as she tries to speak with Rose.
"Jimmy, why don't we go and see if we can find some cookies in the kitchen?" I say, standing. Izzy looks at me gratefully.
"Yay! Cookies!" Jimmy cheers as he does an excited dance.
"Hey!" Izzy places her hand on his arm. "Calm down, or you won't be having any cookies," she tells him seriously.
"Okay," he sighs and walks calmly behind me, running past as soon as we're out of her sight.
We've placed some cookies on a plate and Jimmy already has one halfway to his mouth, when the doorbell rings.
"Hi!" Kate greets me warmly as she steps across the threshold carrying Sasha.
"Hey!" I scoop Sasha up into my arms as she leans dangerously out for me as Kate passes. "This is a nice surprise, what brings you here?" I'm looking at Sasha, so it takes me a moment to register that Kate is silent. I switch my gaze to hers and find her looking at me, unimpressed.
"Ah, shit! You asked me to watch her this afternoon, didn't you?"
"Will you please watch your language," Kate scolds. "And you did say it was okay."
"Edward? Could I…"
Kate's eyes fix on the owner of the voice behind me.
"Huh. Well, I guess that explains why you were distracted enough to forget you were supposed to be looking after your daughter today."
"Hi, Kate." Izzy greets her, despite having to have heard the snarky comment she just made.
"Hi," Kate says, her voice clipped.
"It has nothing to do with Izzy," I say to Kate, my voice low. I turn to look at Izzy again, but she's already made herself scarce. With the look on Kate's face, I can't say I blame her.
~S~