ChapterFourteen
Hadley
Iso do not have this.
Tanner has been whining and crying for the last five minutes.I’ve tried the puff things.I’ve tried to feed him a jar of baby food.
“I get it.Chicken from a jar doesn’t sound, smell, or taste appealing,” I say to him as I pull out my phone, looking for some other food options that Tanner can eat.
Easton probably doesn’t have any of the other food items listed, but I’m dying to get this baby to be happy since Easton is due back in ten minutes.
“Eggs?”I say to Tanner, but that bottom lip of his will not stop quivering.“How about we forget food, and we’ll just play for a little while as I figure this out.”
I move my hands to unstrap him, but his little fists bang on the table of the high chair, the puffs bouncing around like little jacks.
“I don’t know what you want.”I wish he were older so he could tell me why he’s not happy.“Where’s that little smile?”
I pick up a puff and try to offer it to him, but he pushes away my hand.
I’ve done it all.
Activity mat, but he didn’t want to look at himself like Easton said he loves so much.
I tried to read him, but he squirmed in my lap.
I changed him, and I’m surprised he didn’t just jump off the changing table.
I played puppets with the stuffed animals.That worked for two minutes before he shook his head and started crying.
I’m failing and have no idea how to fix this.
I glance at the microwave clock and see that Easton should be here any minute.I need his baby not to be crying when he walks in the door.
“Okay, hang tight.I’m going to get some bananas, and then if Daddy has eggs, I’ll make you some scrambled eggs.”I walk away, and his whimpering turns into outright wailing.
It pulls at something in my chest to see his little tears slide down his cheeks.
I search the entire kitchen, but there’s no banana.Sure, there are baby food jars, but I feel as though if I bring out a jar, Tanner will flip his lid again.He wants something, and I have no idea what, even though it’s my job to know these things.
I open the fridge, and thankfully, there are eggs.
“Jackpot, little guy.”I hold up the carton.“You’re going to get something new.”
He doesn’t care—and why should he?He doesn’t even know what an egg is.
I search the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers as though I’m playing a game of lost and found until I have everything I need.
As I crack one egg, Tanner lets out a huge cry, and I close my eyes from the piercing wound that hits my ears.The door opens, and I freeze, seeing Easton in the doorway.
Foster peers over his shoulder from the hallway for a second, raises his eyebrows, and disappears up the stairs.
“We’re not a freak show.This is just a woman who doesn’t know how to calm down a crying baby,” I want to shout after him.
Although I’m sure Foster doesn’t come home to a crying Ellis and a panicked Callie.
I stop everything I’m doing and wait for Easton’s reaction.
He walks in, puts his bag on the floor, shuts the door, and toes off his shoes.I watch, waiting for him to yell at me, to ask me why the hell his kid is crying and why I’m not fixing it.I know I suck at this, and now he does too.
