Winds of Heaven by Kate Sweeney Read Free Book Online Page B

started and stopped as the belch came.
    Liz winced and took Skye as Casey angrily headed toward the bedroom. “I’ll run out of T-shirts at this rate.”

    Dinner was an adventure. After making the statement, “How hard can it be?” Casey tried her hand at helping the little humanoid, and the spaghetti wound up on the floor, in her water glass, and all over Casey’s wristwatch. In the meantime, her dinner was untouched; so much for her ego.
    “Please, I can’t watch anymore.” Liz took the spoon from Casey, who sat back and watched this pregnant woman not only feed her daughter, but manage to eat her own meal and keep the table and the surrounding area spaghetti-free.
    Casey was grudgingly impressed. She watched Liz while she laughed and fed her daughter. “How old are you if you don’t mind?” She sipped her wine.
    “Twenty-nine. How old are you?”
    “Forty. Did you work in New Mexico?” She continued eating. The pasta was delicious as was the salad and garlic bread. I guess some people do eat at home, she thought.
    “No. Well, that’s not exactly true. I worked part time. It paid well enough for me to contribute. A neighbor watched Skye in the afternoon…” Liz’s voice trailed off. All at once, she looked exhausted. Then she jumped and held her stomach.
    Casey bolted up and in one stride was next to her. “This can’t be it. You’re not due till December,” she said in a panic.
    Liz grimaced and waited for the pang to subside. “She’s just a little active, that’s all. Casey, please relax. We’ve got another four months.”
    Casey’s heart was somewhere on the floor. She would never last four months.

    After dinner, Casey watched Liz as she cleared the table. “Let me do that,” she said, taking the dish out of Liz’s hand. “Why, um, why don’t you go sit down?”
    “If you’re sure,” Liz said, relinquishing the fork and knife.
    “I can wash a dish, for chrissakes ,” Casey said and walked to the sink.
    “I didn’t mean…”
    Casey heard her sigh heavily as she left the kitchen. Damn it, she thought. This is not going to work. She looked around for the dish soap, which was nowhere to be found. She then opened the cabinet and there it was. Casey grimaced when she realized it hadn’t been used yet. All at once, she felt inadequate in her own home. “This will not work,” she whispered.
    When she finished, she put the coffee on, grateful Liz put it on the list; she put the last of the pots and pans away. She felt a tug on her shorts and looked down to see Skye standing there. “ Uppie ...” she said and reached way up.
    “Look, Shortround , I can’t be picking you up all the time,” she said in a gruff voice.
    “ Uppie …peas!” Skye begged.
    “Will you scram?” she asked. “Hey, you’re a pest.” She then dropped the pot on the floor. “Damn it.”
    “Casey!” Liz’s voice called out.
    Casey winced and looked down while Skye giggled. “See what ya did? Now bugger off.”
    Liz looked up when Casey walked into the living room. “Don’t you have any control over this dwarf?”
    Attached to her leg was Skye, her arms and legs wrapped around tightly as she giggled and held on for dear life. Casey dragged her burden into the living room.
    “She is not a dwarf, and if you had any sensitivity, you would understand that perhaps she misses Julie. Or maybe, and for the life of me I do not know why, she likes you.” Liz winced again.
    Casey got nervous and started to walk over, then picked up Skye like a sack of potatoes and held her around the waist, tucked under her arm. Skye laughed as her arms and legs flopped about as Casey quickly went to Liz.
    “Okay, that’s two. Is that normal?” She knelt down, depositing Skye on the floor.
    Liz nodded emphatically. “Yes, really. She’s just active, probably all the yelling.”
    “I-I wasn’t yelling,” Casey countered with a frown.
    “No. I was. I’m sorry. I’m just irritable,” she said through clenched