The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

“Hey,” I said in a near whisper. “Is she okay?”

“I think so,” Hannah said. “I was just dropping some stuff off to make her feel better. I remembered when we were little, she liked those cheap popsicles and dumb magazines when she was sick, so I brought some over. Popsicles are in the freezer, by the way.”

“Thanks, Hannah. I appreciate you coming to see her.”

“Of course,” Hannah said. “She can be a little bratty when she’s not feeling well. Don’t take it personally.”

She grinned, and I forced out a laugh.

“Okay, thanks.”

“Good night,” Hannah said, then turned to the couch. “Good night, Chloe.”

The hand returned for one final wave over the back of the couch, and Hannah ducked out carrying the car seat and fussy baby at her side.

I closed the door and headed into the bathroom. I remembered she loved the lavender oils, so I used some in building her a bath and made sure to sit a couple of towels and a fresh change of comfortable pajamas out and went to get her.

“Come on, you. Let’s get you in the tub.”

“Okay,” she said reluctantly and held out her hands. I pulled her to her feet, and she shuffled toward the bathroom. When we got there, she turned and put her hands weakly on my chest, stopping me from following her in. “No. I’m not sexy. This bath is solo.”

“Okay. I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

“Good.” She nodded and shut the door between us. She looked so sad to have to shut me out, but I had a feeling a tub would perk her up a little and hopefully relax her so she could sleep.

When I finally heard the drain going as she got out of the tub a little later, I went into the linen closet and pulled out new sheets and changed the bed I’d made her on the couch. Switching out the old pillow for a new one and filling a new glass of ginger ale, I went into the kitchen to make some tea. Having the ability to bounce between the tea and the ginger ale would give her options and hopefully help her stomach calm down.

I laughed when I watched her shuffling out of the bathroom to the living room again, giant fuzzy slippers on her feet. She had gone from one Muppet to another, apparently, though I didn’t think Chloe was actually in the mood for any cookies. I followed her in and set her tea down on the coffee table before holding the sheets out for her to curl up.

We sat and watched television for some time, her sipping her tea and shifting around uncomfortably on the couch. I offered for her to take the recliner, but she declined, and I watched, growing more worried about how she seemed to not be able to settle down.

Finally, the clock had wound late enough that there was no point in staying up anymore. She hadn’t thrown up in a while, and she clearly couldn’t get comfortable on the couch. I stood up and offered my hand, and she took it.

“Let’s get you to bed,” I said, and she nodded pitifully. I walked her upstairs into the bedroom, tucked her in, and curled up beside her. I didn’t want to squeeze her, but I wanted her to know I was there, and soon we drifted off to sleep.

32

Chloe

No matter what I did, I couldn’t make myself fall asleep for more than a few minutes at a time. Before bed, I took a long bath with my favorite lavender-scented shower gel and drank a cup of hot tea. Usually that was good for knocking me right out. Even at the end of a stressful day, that combination had always relaxed me so much it lulled me right into a deep sleep.

But not that night. I lay curled up on the couch for a long while, trying to get myself comfortable enough to rest, but felt antsy and out of sorts. Eventually, Matt took my hands and pulled me to bed, gently tucking me in and curling up behind me.

I wanted to stay there with him. He was comforting and warm, at least making me feel less anxious. But the longer the bouts of sleeping for a few minutes and then waking up with my stomach uneasy or heartburn making my throat sting went on, the guiltier I felt. He needed to get some sleep, too. He had a business to run. I couldn’t expect him to be my own personal teddy bear, even if I was feeling sick.

Eventually, I slipped out of bed. I was trying to be as careful as I could not to disturb him, but he immediately rolled over and looked at me.

“What’s wrong? Where are you going?” he asked.

“I don’t want to keep you up,” I said. “I’m having trouble settling down, so I’m just going to go into the spare room and maybe read for a while.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

I knew he was having the same uncomfortable flashbacks to when I retreated to the spare room before we finally acted like adults and talked things through. That was not a good time for either of us, and I didn’t want to bring back the memories. But at the same time, I was miserable. There was no need to make him miserable along with me.

“At least one of us should get a good night’s sleep tonight. You go on and rest. Hopefully I’ll feel better in the morning. I’ve got to shake this thing eventually,” I said.

“You still think it was the Chinese food?” he asked. “I mean, I thought it tasted a little funny, but I didn’t think it was going to mess you up like this.”

“I don’t know. Maybe one of the customers at the bar had a little bug or something and I caught it. I’ve never had the best immune