"Go back to sleep, Elia," he murmurs.
Encapsulated in his heat, I fall back asleep.
Chapter 14
Chicken BLT
Elia
When I wake up again, he's gone and the bed is empty. There's a Post-It on the bedside table saying "Noon." I think my phone is downstairs. I hunt for my pajamas, which are on the nightstand, folded neatly. I pull them on before I go to Danny's room. He's still asleep, but I take him out anyway. I put the crib attachment on the top of the Pack n Play and settle him there. He's sleeping more deeply than he ever has before. I realize that last night was the first time I didn't have to do a midnight feeding, although maybe Jeff did.
I go to my phone and text Jeff.
Where should I meet you and did you feed Danny last night?
His reply is pretty swift.
Office and yes
He woke me up last night for sex but not to do my job? That was...I don't know, sweet, I guess. I shake my head. I warm up a bottle so that Danny will have something to eat when he wakes up. Then I drift into my bedroom to get dressed. I remember now that my toothbrush is upstairs. I have a spare manual toothbrush in my bag, which I use rather than run up and down the stairs. I'm tying a scarf over my hair when I hear Danny's breathy little cries.
I go straight out to the living room, where Danny is fussing just a little bit.
"Hey there," I say. I put him in the high chair and give him the warm bottle that I prepared.
He seems a lot happier than he was before. It looks like I'll be giving him the midwife's magical potion every day. I kiss his little head as he eats his breakfast a little more slowly than he did yesterday. When he's full, he sets down the bottle and grins at me. After grabbing a burping cloth, I pick him up to burp him and he nestles into my shoulder.
When I think that he's been burped enough, the two of us get onto the blanket in the living room that has become our play place. I dump a big basket of toys onto it and he spends the rest of the morning crawling around, stacking things on top of each other, and either watching them fall down or knocking them over himself.
When I see that it's about 11, I go, change him, and make sure that I'm ready for lunch. I put on two layers of lipstick, ombré style. I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard, but I also want to look like I made an effort.
I'm driving my dad's car to the office. It has a parking permit, so I won't have any trouble. I put a spare car seat into Dad's back seat, buckle Danny in, and drive us towards the office. It's not far, but it feels weird driving a baby around, like there's a lot more weight even though he's not that heavy. I have to be careful.
I get there with about 5 minutes to spare. I pull Danny out of the car in a carrier and get into the elevator.
"Hello, Marjorie," I say when I recognize the lady next to me.
"Elia!" Marjorie pats my arm. "What a lovely surprise."
My eyebrows furrow just a little bit. "Didn't you know that I was coming?"
"No," she says. "Why on earth are you here? Did your father ask you to pick something up? We could have it couriered over, you know."
"I'm here for lunch," I say, gesturing to Danny. She looks at the baby. "Danny's used to being around his dad a lot more often than he has been for the last few days, so we thought it would be a good idea for Danny to visit his father at work for a little while. Danny doesn't cry as much when he's around his dad."
"I see," Marjorie said, sounding skeptical. The elevator chimes as we got to their floor.
"Your lunch appointment is here," Marjorie calls. "And I'm going to take my break." She flips a switch on the phone to forward all the calls downstairs, where there is a freelance pool of temps. They can take messages and all the calls are recorded.
"Elia!" Jeff says, leaving his office. I notice that his suit jacket is on the back of his chair. "Danny!"
Danny stretches out his arms. I set him on the ground so that Jeff can hold him. The instant that I unbuckle him, Danny is kicking his legs to try to wiggle out of the chair. Jeff scoops him up and holds him tightly.
"I missed you," he says, kissing Danny's temple.
"You saw him a few hours ago," I say.
"Still missed him," he says, grinning at me. Marjorie is watching all of this with the focus of a referee at a tennis match. She seems unhappy, the corners of her mouth pointing down. With a sniff, she picks up her purse and walks out the door.