Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 585

Alicia was sporting a black velvet hoodie, starkly contrasted by the white spit-up on her chest. The smell, indescribable and pungent, hit her like a freight train.

As a mom, I'm used to the potent aroma of baby spit-up. But Alicia, being single and childless, likely found it unbearable.

I didn't expect her reaction to be so extreme, though. After taking a sniff of her collar, she gagged and bolted to the bathroom to throw up.

Serena seemed fine after her little episode, except for the stains on her clothes and around her mouth. She looked at me with her big innocent eyes, seemingly puzzled by Ali's dramatic reaction.

I sighed, wiping Serena down with a tissue. "Serena, you literally made Ali sick..."

Serena just smiled at me, dimples and all, adorably munching on her fingers and playing with her feet as if nothing had happened.

Checking on Alicia in the bathroom, I heard her call out, "I'm okay. Just take care of the baby, maybe give her a bath and change her clothes."

"Sure thing," I replied, heading upstairs with Serena.

After the bath, Alicia looked like she'd seen a ghost. "You didn't puke your liver out, did you?" I asked, half-joking at her pale face.

She slumped into a chair, massaging her face. "Nah, just my stomach acting up again. The doc said stress doesn't help, and well, Serena's 'perfume' almost did me in."

Serena, now in pajamas and ready to crawl around, giggled at Alicia's comment, her baby laughter filling the room and melting Alicia's frustration away.

"Blame my weak stomach, not Serena," Alicia conceded, watching as Serena and her little playmate, Brandon, dressed in their soft, pastel pajamas, squirmed around like little caterpillars.

"You need to sort things out with Sean, and as for your blind date disaster, brace yourself for your parents' interrogation. Just weather the storm," I advised, patting both Serena and Brandon's chubby little backs with maternal affection overflowing.

Alicia had a request, "Rena, can you get me a new phone SIM? I need to ditch my old one, keep Sean from tracking me."

She was always one step behind when it came to Sean.

"How did he know you were here?" I asked.

"He found out?" Alicia's eyes widened in disbelief, anger flickering within. "Let him look. He has no right."