I sat stunned, not triumphant. Gerald looked at me as if I should rescue him. I didn’t.
Robert picked up Maisie. “Jennie, go lie down. You’re off duty.”
My body moved toward Maisie before my mind could catch it.
“No,” Robert said gently. “Let him start.”
Gerald took the baby with all the confidence of a man who had mostly participated in theory. Maisie began fussing immediately.
“You wanted control,” Robert said. “Start there.”
I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands in my lap, listening to Maisie cry, Gerald murmur at her, and a bottle warming too long somewhere in the kitchen.
Gerald looked at me as if I should rescue him.
An hour later, Robert knocked softly and handed me a mug of tea.
“How is he doing?” I asked.
He looked almost amused. “Poorly.”
I let out a sound that was half laugh, half cry.
