Mail Order Soulmate by Jean Oram

Author:Jean Oram [Oram, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781928198482
Publisher: Oram Productions

9

Catherine wasn’t sure what to do. Xavier wouldn’t settle and she was so tired she felt like she was quickly becoming a sleep-deprived zombie due to several nights of restlessness. Xavier’s sniffles and sneezes, which had caused the ladies to postpone Catherine’s baby-and-bridal shower, had swelled into a barking cough. It was startling, so much sound coming from such a small body, and the only thing that seemed to help was to hold him against her shoulder and pace the room.

Was he feverish? How had she not thought to pick up a baby thermometer? She’d thought to get hair dye to touch up her roots, but not a thermometer? What kind of mother was she?

The furnace kicked on and her bedroom grew stuffy and warm. Xavier’s coughing seemed to grow worse and she opened the door, stepping into the cool, dark hallway. She continued to pace with him, knowing he was too small for cough medicine, but unsure what she could do to make him comfortable.

Maybe she could use the accounting laptop downstairs and do a quick online search to see if there was reason to worry, or if there was something she could do to help him.

No, she’d just freak herself out, like she had when she’d researched oddities in her pregnancy. Things that had been normal, but that quick searches had made sound fatal.

This was just a cough. A really nasty cough.

He felt so frail, so small and helpless. So vulnerable. How much could a small boy handle?

None of her friends back home were mothers, and she tried to think if she’d overheard women talking about what to do to calm a baby’s cough.

She decided it was worth the risk of freaking herself out with an online search, on the off chance she could find something helpful.

Catherine tiptoed past Zach’s bedroom, the door of which was closed even though it was only eleven. He’d been out late with Logan a lot lately, the two of them keeping odd hours, often working evenings or even in the middle of the night if someone’s security system went off.

Catherine yawned. She’d been in a deep sleep before Xavier’s cough had woken her, and now felt dazed and groggy, at the edge of reason, where a sense of sanity and emotional stability were hard to come by.

After heading to the basement, she fired up the laptop, continuing to bounce Xavier on her shoulder.

She sat in her chair, trying to type with one hand while keeping him comforted. He arched his back, nearly tumbling out of her hold. She curved him into the cradle of her left arm and began typing again, but he struggled and squirmed.

She stood, righting him once more. “What’s wrong, little buddy? What can your mum do for you?”

Xavier began crying, his cough worsening again. She paced, concerned with how the more he cried, the worse his coughing got.

A light flicked on at the basement stairs and feet padded down the steps.

“I’m sorry if we woke you,” Catherine said, when Zach appeared, wearing nothing more than a pair of plaid boxer shorts.

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