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When Maddy brought Ceecee honosed with postpartu with Ceecee and would someti of her diaper

Moave Maddy an ulti or Mom would call child services on her Yep, Mouns

Months passed and Maddy was getting better She washer and putting her to bed at night Mom was over the moon

Ceecee was fourteen months old when the accident happened

Moh to leave Maddy with Ceecee so she left therocery store for an hour What Moe us forever

Ceecee was crying so hard on the kitchen floor she was blue in the face Maddy was cowering in a corner with her hands pulling at her hair Mom called an ambulance and was told by the phone operator not to touch Ceecee Mo when she went to take a closer look at Ceecee There was no blood but her little body isted at an aard angle

It turns out Maddy was getting lunch ready for Ceecee and put her up on the kitchen counter Maddy turned to the refrigerator for just a second

Ceecee fell back off the counter and severed her spine when she hit a stool on the way down

Can you iirl was in?

We don’t talk about Maddy Ceecee has asked about her a lot She knows her Mom’s name and that her Dad doesn’t like to talk about her That’s it

Max refuses to talk about her but about a year ago he caator He wanted to find out where Maddy was

We found out that Maddy had turned herself in to the police before being placed in a rehabilitation facility She was never charged with neglect and child endangerment because the courts found she was mentally ill Maddy lives in Arizona with a husband and their two children, both boys When Max heard this last bit of infor time after Maddy left

I never held Maddy responsible for what happened to Ceecee As far as we all knew, it really was a horrible accident And one she will be living with for the rest of her life I’uilt

What kind of person wouldn’t have guilt? After all, she alhter

I love Ceecee like she wasto keep s atup at me with an uneasy face She’s so close to me we’re toe to toe and her face is at

What the heck?

I start, "Ahh…"

She smiles a sad s they usually need a hug"

She places one arm around my waist, rests her head onthe hair there

We stand like that for almost a minute and I feel my body relax She squeezes my waist, lifts her head and asks, "Better?"

My brow furrows and I look past her shoulder, thinking I aive her a so of me and walks back to Max

Probably the best forty second hug I’ve ever had

Chapter Six

The White Rabbit

"So what’s going on with you two?"

Turning to look at Nat I answer, "We’re just friends" She looks sceptical

She slyly shoots, "Sure didn’t look like that hug you gave him this afternoon was between friends"

I scoff, "Oh, c’!"

SheNik all day long Unlike soe the subject "Pass the blankie, hon" She takes the blankie off her feet and pulls it over both of ours

We’re oncontest on TV

After I gave Nik the hug he so terribly needed I started to feel aard This was because every eye in the roo us like the Hawks they are Max, Trick, Mimi and Cecilia couldn’t conceal their happiness Lola, Nat and the sisters faces all held a bit of shock And Ghost was openly scowling at irls and we left in a hurry

Work for the rest of the afternoon went quickly and on the way hoet Chinese food for dinner She was down for that

Now, here we are, onChinese food out of the cartons

Ahh, this is the life

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a weeknight I’ she’s close by

Nat utters, "All I’ like that was The Moron" Of course, she’s referring to Jace

Bear decides it’s time to find the most uncomfortable place to sleep and jumps on the sofa to lie down on my feet I pat his furry little head and he purrs loudly

I say, "I don’t knohat to tell you, babe I’ve only ever had a few guy friends and I only knew theuess I’m a little inexperienced in what is and isn’t appropriate with a guy friend I’ hi

Picking at her food with her chopsticks, she casts etting hurt" She pats my covered foot "You’re a sensitive soul,out for you"

Under the blankie, I nudge her foot with ht at her, "There’s just so about him, isn’t there?"

She rolls her eyes and exclainetism and he has it in bucket loads He’s also sexy and that neck tattoo…hawt! I’in’ the eyebrow scar…and the brother"

Laughter bursts out ofat Ghost this afternoon and now you’re into Max?"

Making a thoughtful face, she replies, "I don’t know about the Casper guy He freaksfor so with"

I raise an eyebrow at her and cry, "Max burst in on our one year reunion with a gun! If that’s not intense, I don’t knohat is"

Her body shakes with silent laughter She chuckles, "That was so freakin’ aweso

Yeah, it was pretty awesome

Nat and I arrive in to ith a fewher over to Winnie’s to introduce herself to whoever is working thatfuel

It’s Saturday so it’ll be a busy one for us