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Alice gave out a small squeak, and when he looked back over his shoulder he saw her lips were pressed together tightly as if she were trying not to laugh.
‘Here, take Jamie.’ She held the baby out to him. ‘Let me have a go.’
‘This is trickier than nappies, trust me,’ Liam said, but he took Jamie all the same. Let her try. She was always so convinced that she could do everything herself, and better than anyone else—let her have a go.
Alice pulled a piece of paper from the bag the travel cot had been packed in, scanned it quickly, then did something he couldn’t quite follow with one of the sides of the cot. Then she reached inside, pressed something, and stood back.
‘All done. Where’s the mattress?’
Liam nodded towards the pile of stuff Heather and Helene had left for them, amazed. Alice retrieved the mattress, settled it in place, then stretched a sheet across it.
‘He’ll probably refuse to sleep in it anyway. Don’t you have a bassinet or something around here?’ It wasn’t that he was feeling emasculated or anything. Just annoyed that he couldn’t work the bloody thing.
And even more annoyed that she could.
‘This is the best we have for now.’ Alice went back to rifling through the bags and pulled out a book from one of the bags the doctor had left. ‘I’ll try and get hold of a pram tomorrow. And, actually—’ she reached deeper and pulled out a large swathe of swirly purple and blue material ‘—Helene left us a sling. So at least we can try carrying him in that until then.’
‘Are there instructions?’ Liam squinted at the sling. ‘Because that looks more confusing than the travel cot.’
Alice smiled across the room at him, then covered her mouth as her smile turned into a yawn. ‘We’ll figure it out tomorrow. It’s late, and it’s already been a long day.’
Liam suspected that the night would be even longer, but it didn’t seem worth reminding Alice of that right now. Jamie had been as good as gold so far, only squawking when he needed food or changing, but Liam had spent enough nights trying to sleep through babies crying to know that the chances were good it wouldn’t last past their heads hitting the pillow.
Although maybe that was just the babies his various foster parents had taken in. The ones who had already been abandoned, left with adults who were only looking after them for the cash.
Liam knew there were good foster parents out there—wonderful people who took children in to give them a better life, a better start. He’d met plenty of them since he’d grown up, mostly through his charitable work with foster carers in the past decade. Once he’d found his feet, and his success, he’d wanted to give back—not to the system that had failed him, exactly, but to the other kids who ended up in his position. He wanted to make their chances a little better, their futures a little brighter.
So yeah, he knew there were great foster parents out there. He just hadn’t had the good fortune to be fostered by any of them.
And now Jamie... He’d been abandoned too, left behind too. And all he had was Liam and Alice.
He hoped they could do a better job than the people who’d pretended to look after him over the years of his childhood.
‘Are you okay with him for a few moments? Just while I go and get my overnight stuff?’ Alice bit her lip as she waited for his answer, and she looked so uncertain, so concerned for Jamie, that for a moment Liam forgot to feel offended by her lack of confidence in him and just enjoyed knowing that this abandoned child, at least, would be loved.
He didn’t know what Alice’s issues were, what secrets she was hiding. But he knew that she loved Jamie already. He was barely half a day old, had no blood connection to Alice, and they didn’t even know who his parents were, let alone care. But Alice loved that baby.
And that made her a good person. He could compromise for a good person. He could help her out.
Liam smiled and held Jamie a little closer. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Okay, then.’ Alice’s blonde head disappeared through the door, and Liam let out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t used to sharing space, yet here he was inviting a woman he barely knew and a baby he’d just met into his bedroom.
Well. He’d known that coming home to Thornwood would change his life.
Jamie wriggled in his arms and let out a small mewling cry.
‘Shh... Shh...’ Liam murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of the baby’s head. ‘It’s all fine. Everything is fine. I’m here.’
Apparently Jamie didn’t find that very reassuring, as his cries grew louder. Liam paced the room, jostling Jamie gently as he walked. Time to bring out the big guns.
Taking a deep breath, Liam began to hum, gratified as the music started to calm the baby. Growing in confidence, he opened his mouth and started to sing—snatches of lullabies and nursery rhymes he half remembered, interspersed with other songs from his childhood.
Jamie blinked up at him, silent again, and Liam couldn’t help but smile down at his innocent face.
‘It’s all going to be fine, Jamie,’ he whispered. ‘I promise you. I’ll make sure that everything is okay for you. I don’t know how, but I will. You’re never going to have to worry about being abandoned again.’ He shouldn’t promise anything, he knew. He wasn’t staying at Thornwood. He had no power over Jamie’s future. But, although the little boy didn’t understand him, Liam couldn’t bear the thought of Jamie feeling unwanted or lost for even a moment. ‘You’ll have a home. And a family. Somehow. I’ll make it happen.’
Jamie would never grow up the way he had. He wouldn’t allow it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALICE PAUSED IN the doorway, watching Liam pacing up and down the lounge area of the suite, Jamie nestled in his arms. He was talking to the baby, she realised, and strained closer to hear the words without being spotted.
‘You’ll have a home. And a family. Somehow. I’ll make it happen.’
Her chest tightened at Liam’s words. What had happened to make him so attached to a tiny baby on just a couple of hours’ acquaintance? She knew it had to be connected with the baby being abandoned—his reaction to that had made his feelings very clear.
What she didn’t know was what demons in Liam’s past made him feel it so deeply. And what she didn’t understand was why she cared.
Liam Jenkins had arrived at Thornwood ready to toss her out on her ear, along with all the other women she helped there. But instead he’d listened—maybe not immediately, but soon enough—and he’d changed his mind. He’d engaged with the work. He’d recognised its importance.
He might still be kicking her out, but at least he was making sure she had somewhere to go first. And now it looked as if he was doing the same for Jamie.
Liam looked up and caught sight of her in the doorway. Holding up her overnight bag, Alice tried to make it look like she’d just arrived.
‘How’s he doing?’ she asked.
‘Just dozed off again. Might be a good time to try and put him down.’
Alice dumped her bag by the sofa and tried to remember what Helene’s book had said. ‘Don’t we need to feed and change him first?’
Liam shrugged. ‘He’ll wake up when he’s hungry or wet.’
‘But won’t he sleep longer if we do it now?’ From the little she’d read and heard, maximising sleep was an important part of looking after babies. ‘Plus, shouldn’t we be trying to get him into a routine?’
She should be telling, not asking, she realised. She’d wanted to take control of this situation, but here she was, in his room, asking his advice.
On the other hand, he was the only one of them that had any idea about looking after babies. So maybe she was just being prudent.
‘Stop overthinking it,’ Liam advised. ‘Chances are we’ll find the mother tomorrow, get him home where he belongs—or find him a better pl
ace to be. But he won’t—’
‘He won’t be here. Right.’ Because he wasn’t her son, this wasn’t her life. Jamie would go to a new home, new parents, and they’d take care of getting him into a routine, and making sure he was taking the right amount of formula every few hours.
Someone else would be holding him, and putting him down to sleep. Which was just as it should be.
She really had to remember that.
‘Put a blanket in the cot?’ Liam asked. Alice blinked and jumped to do it, smoothing out the waffle blanket over the sheet.
Liam laid Jamie on top of the blanket, his head sticking out the top, then wrapped the blanket securely around his body.
‘Swaddling?’ Alice asked, surprised.
‘Hardly,’ Liam scoffed. ‘Just keeping him warmly wrapped. My memory of childcare isn’t good enough to remember the official way to do it.’
‘He looks happy enough.’
Alice stood beside Liam and they gazed down at the sleeping baby.
It shouldn’t feel so right, Alice knew. She shouldn’t let herself feel so attached.
And yet she couldn’t help it.
‘You should take the bed,’ Liam murmured. ‘I’ll be fine on the daybed.’
‘A gentlemanly gesture?’ Alice asked, surprised. ‘Not likely. I want to be in here with Jamie.’
Liam sighed. ‘Fine. It won’t matter anyway. It’s not like either of us are going to be getting much sleep.’
