Lost in You: Petal, Georgia, Book 2 by Lauren Dane

followed.
    “I’m going to leave you to it. Mind your aunt, girls.”
    By the time she’d finished, Beth had to change her shirt because she’d gotten soaked from two giggling girls. But there was something so sweet about freshly bathed babies in princess nightgowns she didn’t mind one bit.
    Moments like this one, days like that day were Beth’s life now. So wonderful. Filled with so many people she loved.
    They’d never had that growing up. Never had adults fighting over who got to take them for an overnight or who brought them bubbles to blow just because. Certainly never had pretty pink princess nightgowns.
    That generation of Murphy kids had a damned good life. William’s kids, Tim’s kids, Tate’s kids—all loved, all being raised with a firm, guiding hand. They didn’t have to be what they came from. Just thinking about it that way loosened the knot of anxiety that lived in her belly that she had the seeds to be her mother inside her. Or worse, their father.
    Her siblings had divested her of that fear on a rational level. She could see them as husbands and wives, as parents, and know they were so much more than those hellish years in that trailer could have made them.
    “You all right?” Tate asked as Beth settled in with a big slice of pizza. The girls were at the table eating pizza and laughing like crazy with their dad and Uncle Nathan.
    “This gonna bug you?” Beth indicated the pizza. It smelled heavenly to her, but she wasn’t pregnant.
    “Nah, I’m all right. Matt went and got me some of that ginger-brew stuff. The real goods. I had one and I feel much better. Though I’m going to start burping like a sailor because of the carbonation. Thanks for getting the girls cleaned up.”
    “No problem. You know I love to help, and they’re so freaking adorable it’s not a chore at all.”
    “I’m biased, but honestly, two more adorable baby girls I have yet to see. Now, you’re going to tell me why you had that look on your face.”
    “Nothing bad. I was just thinking about how these kids teach me that we’re more than what we came from. You’re an amazing mother. I mean, I know that because you’re basically my mother. But when Matt approaches, they don’t run away. They don’t flinch. They turn to him, little faces turned up to him expectantly. They run to him when he comes in from work. They make noise and caper around, and they aren’t afraid. They have things simply because those things make them happy. Not in an overabundance, you and Matt are smart about not spoiling them too much. You, William and Tim have created a new generation of Murphys who seem to have escaped any marks from what we were. It’s a good thing.”
    Tate sat there, tears running down her face. “Everyone’s gonna ignore me because of course I cry at cotton commercials now. But what you just said? It’s the nicest, most wonderful thing. Thank you. I love you so much, Beth. I’m so glad you’re in my life. So glad you’re in my daughters’ lives too. How are things with Joe?”
    Beth shrugged. “Good. I don’t see him a lot. Like once a week or so. Maybe twice. We text and email. He’s got something going on at home. I wager it’s about his father. I’ve heard stuff around town. But he hasn’t shared much.”
    Beth got it. More than she wanted to really. She understood being closed up about stuff that happened at home. Understood shame. “I get it. I do. He’s not ready to share.”
    “But you want him to. William told me there was trouble at home too, but he wasn’t saying much. I don’t think Joe has told him anything either.”
    “It’s not like boys really do that sort of sharing anyway. I do hope, for his sake, that he’s got someone to talk to though. It’s hard to manage stuff alone.”
    “There’s gossip. About Carl I mean. He’s been starting fights. Unusual.”
    “I heard. I’m wary about bringing it up so I haven’t.”
    “I think you’re probably right. Let me ask you this