Another Dawn Read Online Free

of the fact he’d come in lugging baby and diaper bag, his khaki pants and blue broadcloth shirt remained as unwrinkled as ever. “I don’t blame you, kiddo. She scares me, too. I’m Uncle Rob, the normal one, and this is your cousin, Hannah Rose.”
    “Hannah Rose?” Dylan lifted his head and looked at the sweet bundle of pink in the carrier. “That’s Hannah Rose? I’ve seen lots of pictures of her.”
    “I’m sure you have.” Rob smiled and squatted before him. He reached down and unbuckled his daughter and lifted her into his arms. “Your aunt Jana’s been burning up the camera’s memory cards faster than we can download them.”
    Dylan leaned forward and smiled at her. “Hi.”
    “Brrrbrr.” She began to make a razzing noise, complete with plenty of spit.
    “She’s funny.” Dylan slid out of my lap and knelt on the floor. “Hey, Hannah Rose, hey, girl.”
    Several minutes later, Rob, Dylan, and Hannah Rose were enveloped in their own little world of funny faces, noises, and excess salivation. Jana looked at the scene. “Isn’t this exactly what I’ve spent my whole life dreaming about?” She sighed a deep, contented sigh. Only the dark circles under her eyes gave away the fact that everything wasn’t perfect. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
    “Yes, she is,” I said.
    “Just like her father,” Rob deadpanned and braved a swat from Jana.
    I was glad in that moment that I’d decided to come here. Perhaps this trip might be just what we needed to heal my little broken family. I watched Dylan beside Hannah, animated in a way I’d never seen. I hated for it to end, even when I knew it was getting late.
    “Dylan, let’s brush your teeth and get your jammies on. It’s time to start unwinding.”
    “I don’t want to.” Dylan whined all the way back to his room. “I want to play with Hannah Rose.”
    “It’s her bedtime, too, but you can come back and play with her for just a few minutes after you’re ready for bed. Now, come on, let’s get you moving.” I looked over at Jana. “Be right back.”
    I led my son through my room and into our shared bathroom. “I’ll go get your jammies and toothbrush. You go ahead and start getting undressed.” Dylan usually moved at a snail’s pace, so I knew he would likely remain fully dressed when I returned. I walked into the room and unzipped his duffel, knowing I’d put his pajamas and toiletry bag right on top for just such a moment as this.
    “Wow! Cool bedspread!”
    I turned to answer my son, but he raced past me and was soon bouncing on the bed. “Awesome. Vroom, vroom.”
    I tossed his Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas toward him. “Now put these on and get your teeth brushed. Hurry up. Hannah Rose is waiting.”
    “These are baby p.j.’s.” He grumbled as he pulled the crew neck over his head. “I want race cars, just like my bedspread.”
    “You don’t need race cars.”
    “Do too. Jason has skateboards on his.”
    And Jason was going to grow up to be a thug, just like his big brother. “You like Thomas, remember? We rented some DVDs just last week.”
    “I was littler then.” He jumped to the ground, and in truth the pajamas were a couple of inches too short for him now. “Where’s my toothbrush? I want to get back to Hannah Rose.”
    It was the fastest I’d ever seen him get ready for anything.
    After we’d finished brushing his teeth, he ran into the living room and dropped onto the floor beside Rob, right on the edge of Hannah’s blanket. “Hey there, hey there,” he spoke in high-pitched baby talk that I found to be adorable.
    “Where’s Jana and Dad?” I asked Rob.
    He nodded toward the stairs. “Jana wanted to make certain he’d followed her directions explicitly in his packing, and well, you know how she is. She’s up there making him show her that he really did it right.”
    I started up the front stairs. Memories of my childhood—sitting on these stairs, sliding down these stairs, lurking about outside my