"You're welcome," he said. "Those were things I didn't want you to have to do, so I was glad to do it. Jessie isn't able, and the boys are too young. It wasn't their place. Taking care of it is the least I could do. I don't mind--really. I did sleep for a bit when we got him, so I'm better than I was."
When Ruby started to talk to Abbey about going home, Angus could see Abbey start to get sad immediately, and he wasn't sure what that was all about for her. Abbey listened, but she was staring down at the carpet.
"Abs," Angus called quietly. "Abbey, look at me." She didn't move. "Abs," Angus called. Whatever it was, they were going to get into it now. This was more than pancakes. Something was bothering her. "Abs, come here." He reached down to her, and the instant he touched her, she reached for him and he picked her up and put her on his lap. "What makes you so sad?"
"Mama no love me," she said very softly.
"What? Abbey, that's not true. She loves you more than anybody else in the world..." Angus said, and Abbey shook her head no. "Why do you think she doesn't love you."
"She and Daddy. They say they want another little girl. More. Lots more. They no love me, Aggie..." She started to cry.
"Aw, Abs, that's not true," he consoled her. "They are always, always going to love you. Nobody is ever going to take your place." Angus looked up at Kate. This was the first Kate had heard of Abbey feeling that Khaat didn't love her. Angus had felt this might be coming just because Khaat worked so many hours. More children were frequently discussed but Khaat and Brian hadn't seriously decided yet to do it. Angus felt this was Abbey's need for some attention from Khaat and Brian. Out of the corner of his eye, Angus saw Marcus open the front door, and a minute or two later, Robert came in. He saw Abbey crying on Angus's lap.
"Abbey," Robert called. She looked up at him, and Robert reached down and brushed away her tears. ""What's the matter, Poppet?"
"Mama no love me no more," she told him.
"Ah," Robert said, seeming to understand, "Come with me. I think I can fix this. Come on." He picked her up from Angus and gave them a smile, as if he felt this was easily resolvable. Then he carried her out.
"I had hoped she would have gotten past this by now," Kate told them. "I honestly think Abbey had a dream about being in the kitchen with Khaat making pancakes, and then she woke in the middle of the night and went into Khaat's room and woke her up, wanting pancakes. As I understand it, Khaat was pretty sleep deprived and got short with Abbey, and now Abbey thinks Khaat doesn't love her anymore. I think Robert is going to try to mediate a bit of a discussion between Abbey and her mom to try to smooth things over. And, yes, I think Abbey is pretty sleep deprived herself and could use a little nap. She'll be fine."
"Kate, I don't want to speak out of turn, but Abbey needs some time with her mother. She would really benefit from Khaat taking a little time off to be with her."
"Well, you're absolutely right," Kate said. "And I told her that myself this morning. If I know Robert, he'll be telling her the same thing. I'll let you know. But for now, you have a nursery to see."
"You guys really got it ready in that short of time?" he asked.
"Well it helped that you bought enough to furnish about twelve nurseries," Kate laughed