Looking at the other girl being held and fed by Brooke, slowly falling asleep in her mommy's armsm, Zossie felt a pang of jealousy. Her own mommy had weaned her so long ago she could barely remember what her milk tasted like, and whenever she tried to drink from Brooke she'd stop her, even when she was feeding Sophie anyways and could have just lifted her shirt on the other side as well for Zossie. Life wasn't fair, and as Sophie had been so much closer to Brooke than herself she wanted to be closer to the cozy, loving mommy for a change. She remembered the dream she'd just woken up from. In it, she'd been in a dark place, but not scary dark like her room at night - it had been a cozy darkness, warm and protected. And as she thought about it, the darkness turned from a memory of a dream into reality - she was in a dark, warm place. She saw or heard absolutely nothing, resting and growing in the warmth of a womb.
Brooke almost winced in pain as Sophie suckled on her nipple. Breastfeeding had never hurt before, but suddenly it did - and that had nothing to do with her little girl's new tooth or the other cute little milk teeth she'd had for a while. Brooke knew the real reason more and more clearly, but had tried to ignore the uncomfortable truth and explained the signs away. Her period hadn't returned yet after Sophie's birth, surely thanks to the breastfeeding. The vague, uncomfortable feeling in her abdomen - probably a sign her ovaries were preparing to return to regular activity. She felt really tired despite Sophie sleeping through most nights without any problem by now - clearly all the stress of running the daycare. But her sore and sensitive breasts left her out of excuses. Her body was giving her the exact same signals as almost two years ago - she was pregnant again. Nine weeks pregnant to be exact, as it had been seven weeks since that evening.
Maurice, Luke's dad had come to pick up his son, but Luke had been asleep and Maurice hadn't wanted to wake him up, so they had a couple minutes to talk. Maurice had told her how much his wife was living in a "bubble" with Luke since her pregnancy, trying hard to be the perfect parent, putting herself under a lot of pressure and leaving Maurice feel kind of left out. Also her sex drive had all but disappeared when she was pregnant and didn't seem to be returning anytime soon. Without thinking, Brooke had blurted out how hers had gone through the roof during the second trimester, how much she'd been craving sex but had been too insecure and busy to try dating as a pregnant teen or later as a new mum. He'd said something about how her body was no reason for any insecurity and a minute later she'd been on top of him on the very sofa she was sitting on right now. They'd been very careful to avoid waking up their kids, but not so much about not making another - Brooke hadn't really thought about it at the moment and considered herself safe afterwards because of the absent period. Instead, she'd ended up conceiving from the first ovum her body produced after Sophie, like some ancient fertility goddess.
Sophie had finally fallen asleep. Brooke returned her to her crib and stood for a moment in front of the other, empty one. Luke's parents were spending their first family holiday at the beach with him, probably also attempting to repair their marriage. His mother Sarah had been dropping him off and picking him up during the past weeks, so Brooke hadn't seen Maurice in a while. He also hadn't texted her, and when Brooke had finally worked up the courage to send him a casual text she'd discovered she didn't even have his number. Brooke sighed, wondering what to do.