Mel’s eventual reply was everything he could have hoped for.
“Noah Carlisle, I’m a woman of my word. If I said I was engaged to you, then for what it’s worth to that social worker, I am. I told you I believe that baby boy is yours, and I said I would do whatever I could to help you to be with him right away. So, you’re moving into my place tonight and we’ll figure out the rest of it later.” She shifted in her seat, and from the corner of his eye, Noah could see her grin. “Let’s just get one thing straight though, Daddio, you’re sharing a room with the baby and changing all the poopy diapers overnight. Not me.”
Noah barked out a laugh in relief. “Thanks, Mel, really, I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate you going along with this insanity. No poopy diapers overnight feels like the least I can do.”
“The least? Oh well, I can add more things to the list. How about dinner on my nights off, clean the bathrooms, and don’t leave any dirty laundry lying around.”
“As long as you wash the dishes after I cook and do the vacuuming. This relationship is equal opportunity on the chores, fiancée of mine,” Noah teased right back.
“Deal.”
* * *
When they pulled in to the parking lot at the hospital, Mel climbed out of the car and turned to Noah. She plastered a grin on her face, determined to help Noah stay calm.
“Alright, let’s go see a woman about a baby.”
He grinned, but it was an anxious grin. Then Noah unloaded the car seat they had purchased and walked over to where she stood waiting.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” The nerves were apparent in his voice now, and Mel ached with wanting to reassure him somehow.
“Hey, it’s going to work out. You do believe that, don’t you?” She touched his arm gently, and Noah stopped mid-stride and looked down at her. The rawness of his expression hit her in the heart, bringing a longing for something she hadn’t thought about in years.
“God, Mel, I hope you’re right. I haven’t wanted something this badly for a long time. If they don’t let you take him, or if they figure out that we’re lying…” his voice trailed off and Melanie knew he was imagining the worst. Losing his son before he ever really had him.
She tightened her grip on his arm and shook her head. “That will never happen. That baby boy is coming home with me, with us, today. You’re going to discover the joys of sleepless nights, colic, and bottle feeding, while I play the role of loving fiancée. Then, when the lab confirms what we already know, he can go home with you and we’ll make up a solid breakup story.”
The tension seeped out of Noah on his next breath. “Okay. We can do this.”
“Damn right, we can.” Without letting go of his arm, Melanie and Noah walked back into the hospital and straight up to the pediatric wing. Once there, Betty brought them back into her office and went over some more paperwork confirming Melanie’s temporary custody ofbaby boy Wintersas he was identified for the time being.
Moments that felt like an eternity later, Noah was watching and fidgeting nervously as Mel buckled the sleeping infant into the car seat. She prayed he would stay asleep for the drive home as she truly didn’t know if Noah was ready for his son to cry. Still, he’d have to get used to it soon, as the one thing Mel knew with certainty about babies was, they cried. A lot.
Mel had requested and been approved for a week of ‘parental leave’ given the extenuating circumstances, so once she had changed out of her scrubs, she was ready to go straight home with Noah and the baby. The drive back to her apartment was slow, as Noah insisted on driving well below the speed limit and continuously checked in his mirror to see how the baby and Melanie were doing in the back seat. Secretly, she found his concern and attachment endearing, and wouldn’t tease him about it, for now.
As she unlocked the door to her building, and pressed the button for the elevator, Mel wondered again if she could handle this. She had done such a good job of ignoring her attraction to Noah, putting it down to nothing more than hormones, but that was before. Now, he would be living with her, sleeping in the room next to her, showering naked in the bathroom down the hall. Would she still be able to keep her carefully constructed barriers in place with him so close by?I have to…She shook her head firmly at herself, trying to push away the ridiculous threads of attraction she felt. Mel was done with love, and that was that.
Once they reached her apartment, Mel went in first and turned on the lights. She surveyed her tidy apartment with a small amount of regret, mixed with some anticipation. It was lonely living alone; she couldn’t deny that. But Mel liked her space, she liked her clean, light grey furniture, with the throw blanket she had kept from childhood. There were photographs on the side tables of her with her family, and a soft rug on the floor to provide warmth from the wood floors. She started to look at her space from the perspective of having a baby, but caught herself. Noah and the baby wouldn’t be here long enough for her to worry about baby-proofing anything.
Noah looked around the living room as he slowly rocked from side to side with the infant in his arms.
“So, ummm, what do we do now?”
Mel barked out a laugh. “Well, I say never wake a sleeping baby. So, why don’t you lay him down on a blanket for now, and we can try to get the portable crib set up and wash some of his clothes.”
Noah looked at her, confused. “Why do we need to wash the clothes, they’re new?”
“Because his skin is so sensitive, you should always prewash baby clothes before they wear them,” Mel explained patiently. “You’ve never looked after a baby before, have you?”
“No. Is it that obvious?” Noah grimaced.
“It’s okay. I babysat a lot as a teenager, and the classes I had to take to be a foster parent helped as well. We’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks, Mel. I know I’ve said that a hundred times and I’m sure I’ll say it a thousand more.” Noah gently laid the baby down on a folded blanket on the floor, then walked over to Melanie and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re an incredible woman, Melanie Haynes.” He pulled her in for a hug, and for a brief moment Mel let herself lean into his embrace and enjoy the feeling of being held by someone who truly cared about her. His masculine scent surrounded her, and the strength she could feel in his arms and where his body pressed against her, continued to stir up those pesky emotions that she had worked so hard to push away. Suddenly, she caught herself imagining Noah in the morning, sleep rumpled hair, low-slung pajama pants showing off his chest…Maybe living together isn’t such a smart idea,she thought, but that ship had sailed. Somehow, she would have to keep control of her libido and remember she didn’t do relationships. Especially not with sexy single dads who happened to be her close friend. That was a recipe for disaster if she ever saw one. She would just have to keep her walls firmly in place, as she always did. The proximity of having him in her home was nothing more than an added challenge to her ongoing battle to protect her heart.
Mel pushed out of Noah’s arms and turned to carry the bags of clothing and supplies to the spare bedroom, before Noah could see the blush that she was certain stained her cheeks. Dumping the bags on the bed, she began to sort through the clothes, removing tags, and getting a load of laundry ready. She was thankful that Noah, being his usual perceptive self, had seemed to realize her need for some space. That peace was shattered, however, in the next minute when a wail came from the living room, followed by Noah’s frantic voice.
“Uhhh, Mel! Can you come here? What do I do?”
