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“You think I’m beautiful?” Brianna asked, but the tone i it more for for other woht me more about the different ways there were to be fe a woman ever had

“You know you are beautiful, beautiful bait,” Olaf said, and the voice was al hirowl—it was testosterone or an act I’d ask later, maybe

“Bait,” she whispered, and leaned her upper body toward hiravity and he was a heavenly body pulling her inward

I looked at Nicky for a clue The last thing I’d expected was for Olaf to flirt with this wolasses, which was a version of a shrug for him

One of the babies started to cry, and just like that the spell, or whatever, was broken Brianna got up and went to check on her baby She picked up the crying infant, the one dressed in yellow, but then the one in lavender started to cry for attention Brianna tried to just pick up the second baby, but the child had gotten her leg hooked on so and was stuck

Brianna turned to

me “Can you hold her for just a second? I need two hands” She didn’t wait for me to answer, but just shoved the baby atthrown at you You just auto a baby while Brianna knelt and tried to free the other one’s leg

I grasped the baby aardly, like I was afraid she’d break That seemed silly, so I tried to hold her closer, a little less like I thought she’d explode and more like she was a s her wasn’t about to drop her The baby still had tears drying on her face, but she stopped crying and stared at me ide dark eyes like she kneasn’t her mom I stared back I wasn’t sure when I’d held a baby this young Maybe when er brother was a baby, which had been when I was a child myself

The baby was round and strong and very firely delicate I couldn’t explain it even to myself, but I could feel the potential of all she would ever be infor tiile and in need of protection so that she could grow into all that proht now, studyingme Would this adult take care of her? Would she drop her? Would she feed her? Would she leave her for the wild animals on some hillside, or would she love and protect her? And just like that I kneould protect her, because she was small and couldn’t protect herself and that hat you’re supposed to do with babies It was like soot turned on, and I suddenly wondered if I felt this about a stranger’s baby, ould it be like to hold ht didn’t scarethatyour own baby seem like a better idea? Fuckers, and yet I held the soleht soical clock

I tried to be angry about it, but I couldn’t, not while I was holding her I heard , “What’s her name?”

“Heidi,” Brianna said

The baby didn’t look like a Heidi to uess newborns didn’t look like any name; they were all so unfinished and tiny whenever I visited friends and their newborns By the tih personality to earn a name, it was too late, and they were Heidi, or Frankie, or Anita Weird to think that the naht of as mine had probably not matched me once either

“She likes you,” Brianna said, standing beside me with the other twin

“She seehts,” I said

Brianna frowned and then said, “Thank you for saying that I told my mother-in-law that, and she told e, but Heidi is alatching, studying the world like she’sfirst, and Heidi hangs back and waits to see how it goes My , and she’s right, but it’s more like Heidi is cautious like Daryl, and Clara is likeonce”