Chapter 175: Natale, Part 13

James

Cara...

I'm still not over the novelty of having a baby daughter again; my lovely dark-eyed, bouncy, bubbly, smiling daughter.

I should be working, but Cara's face, with her gummy, gurgling smile, blowing bubbles, floats in front of me.

I can spare a few minutes...

I'll just look in on her...

Dropping the lid of my laptop, I head up to the nursery.

The handle turns with an almost inaudible click, and I hover. Sometimes, Charlotte falls asleep while she is feeding Cara. If that's the case, I don't want to wake her.

Instead, I find Mitch. Her back turned to me as she rocks Cara's cradle. Not that it's unusual, but normally I'd expect to hear her humming or singing.

This time, she's silent...

There's a sense of wrongness...

Is she trembling?

"Mitch?"

She jolts and semi-turns, but without properly looking back at me. "James... I didn't know you were there." Still, she doesn't look at me.