“Yeah.” She chucks Cami’s cheek. “You’re a little mystery, huh? You’ve got everyone confused.”
Cami gabbles back up at her, wriggling sleepily in her clean nappy. Beth tickles her feet, then checks her phone. “I’ve got a call in a couple of minutes. Will you guys be fine taking over?”
I nod. “Think we’ve got it. Thank you so much.”
She smiles at me, her brown eyes shining. “It’s my pleasure. I haven’t played with a baby in ages.” She crosses to the door, grabbing her keys. “If it’s okay, I’ll come back up in the morning to see how she’s doing. I can help you pick out a cot as well, if you like. Youhaveto get rid of that car seat.”
I carefully pick Cami up, joining her by the door. “Thank you, Beth. Really.” I glance over my shoulder at Cy and Seb. They’re both locked in a quiet, intense-looking argument. I don’t think they can hear me, but I lower my voice, anyway. “Look, can I ask you a question?”
She straightens from tying her shoes. “Of course!”
“Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you just turn us in?”
Beth hesitates, fiddling with her keyring. Her eyes are hazy as she stares out of the window. “If she gets put into care, it might be difficult for you to get her back,” she says eventually. “Not right away, at least. I don’t want to put her through that if we can avoid it.”
A chill wriggles down my back. I instinctively hold Cami closer. “What? Why? We’ll have the DNA results tomorrow. How can they take her away after that?”
“It’s not that simple.” She waves around the room. “You guys aren’t prepared for a baby. You don’t have anything she needs. Like, at all. If she were taken into care, you would probably have to prove that you’re capable of looking after her; and right now, you’re not.”
I stare at her, horrified, and she gives me an encouraging smile, reaching out to touch my arm. “It’s gonna be okay, Jack. That won’t happen.” She bends to kiss Cami’s cheek. “Bye bye, jellybean. Have a good evening. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Cami reaches out and tugs at her hair. Beth’s eyes flick back up to mine, and something tightens in my stomach. “Bye,” she says shyly, then turns and disappears, slipping out of the flat in a waft of apple-scented shampoo.
The door claps shut behind her. For a moment, no one says anything. Cami gurgles sadly, shivering in my arms.
Cyrus is the first to speak, turning to me with narrowed eyes. “Did you know our neighbor was so fit?”
Five
Jack
“Is that really what you’re focussing on?” Sebastian asks, collapsing back onto the sofa. “We have ababy.” He looks at Cami’s carrier, his face inscrutable.
“Yeah,” Cy agrees. “We have a baby,andour neighbor is fit.” He jabs a finger at me. “Andhe knew,anddidn’t tell me.What the Hell, man?”
My cheeks warm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I was wondering why you always fixed your hair before you walked past her in the lobby. I never really looked at her before. It all makes sense, now.”
Cami yawns in my arms, her eyes falling half-shut. She just woke up from her nap, but she looks ready to go back to sleep already. Maybe she didn’t nap long enough? I hesitate, then cross the room and slip her back into her carrier.
It’s not like we have any toys for her to play with, anyway. She may as well sleep the rest of this crappy day away. I settle her in the car seat, and she twists, pressing her fat cheek against the padding as she snuggles down.
Sebastian rubs his temples. “I can’t believe Anisha did this,” he mutters.
Cy snorts, draping himself over the sofa cushions. “Can’t you? Why not? We barely knew the girl. And there wasn’t a whole lot of time to give her a mental health assessment between foursomes.”
“She seemed like a rational, normal person,” Seb argues. “A rational person would have contacted us when she found out that she was pregnant. She would have called us after giving birth. She would havehanded Cami over,instead of leaving her on a doorstep.”
Cyrus’s face darkens. “I guess she was really messed up,” he says slowly. “Really out of her head.”
We all go quiet, the implications of that sinking in. What has Cami already been through? Has she been looked after, these last few months? Beth said that she seemed healthy; she came in with clean clothes and hair, and judging by her pudgy limbs, she’s definitely not been going hungry. But being clean and fed is a pretty shit baseline for childcare.
I glance back at the carrier. Cami’s little feet are kicking slightly as she sleeps, her tiny fist curled up by her cheek. Suddenly, all I want to do is pick her up and hold her close.
Sebastian pulls out his phone. “We need to talk to Anisha again. I’ll ring the rehab centre. They must have some kind of accommodation for the children of addicts.”
My eyes widen. “No!” Cyrus and I say, simultaneously.