I looked at my watch. “If I’m going to be staying here, I need to run home and get some things. Can you guys watch him until I get back?”
Jordan took Baby Anthony from me and cradled him against his chest. The sight of the tiny baby cuddled up against the big, burly fireman was so cute that I think I felt one of my ovaries twitch.
“We survived this long,” he said. “We can last a little longer.”
*
I was in a daze as I drove home. It felt like the encounter at the firehouse had been a dream—a silly, implausible one at that.
Had I really done that? Offered to watch the baby for them?
As the gravity of the situation sank in, I began feeling overwhelmed. I didn’t know what I was doing. I couldn’t do this. This felt like I had lied on my résumé and had just accepted a job that I was totally unqualified for. Except the stakes were much higher, because ahuman beingwas the one hanging in the balance.
I also felt vaguely disappointed that Jordan invited me over to the firehouse to ask for help with the baby, and not because he was excited to see me. But he needed me, and this was a great excuse to see a whole lot more of him.
Then there was the baby’s name.Anthony.
I had been waiting for a sign, something to point me in the right direction in life. Was this it, or was it just a massive coincidence?
Regardless, the three firemen needed me. Baby Anthony needed me. I had agreed to help them, and I had to see it through to the end.
“Home so soon?” Mom asked when I walked through the door. “Oh no. He broke up with you, didn’t he?”
“We’re not eventogether, Mom. We went on one date. But no, it’s not that.”
I explained the situation to her. She reacted not with shock or surprise, but with excitement.
“A baby!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “I want to see him. Bring him to me!”
“Maybe next weekend,” I said. “Once we get into a groove. But Mom… I need to take some time off. I won’t be able to help around the restaurant for a while.MaybeI can help on the weekends, if the other guys can watch the baby when they’re not working, but…”
The little Italian-American woman pulled my head down so she could kiss me on the forehead. “Take all the time you need!”
“Really? But the restaurant…”
She waved a hand. “Angelina will help me. She owes me a favor after I catered her son’s graduation party.”
“This might be for a while, though…”
“She is a stay-at-home mom with no children to watch. What else is she going to do? Sit around the house all night? Pfft.”
I hugged her. “Thank you, Mom. I have one more favor to ask.”
She smiled at me with all the love of a mother to her daughter. “Anything.”
“I need to know the basics of taking care of a baby.”
8
Derek
I didn’t like this one fucking bit.
“I said invite her over so she could show us the basics,” I growled at Jordan. “I didn’t mean bring her over to be the fucking nanny.”
“Come on, Chief!” Taylor said. “This is great. We need the help—badly, if you couldn’t tell—and she’s qualified. She handled the baby like a natural.”
“Still, though…”