A woman in her twenties smiles, and then frowns when I don’t step aside to let her enter.
The babysitter.
I’ve already reviewed her references twice. I still don’t want her to come in.
“Adele.” Roxy appears beside me. “Come on in.” She glares at me.
The babysitter—Adele—enters after Roxy pushes me to the side.
“Don’t mind him.” Roxy juts her hip, nudging me out of the way. “Follow me.”
My wife moves through the apartment, fastening her earrings while giving Adele instructions. I trail behind them, cataloging every instruction, ensuring nothing is omitted.
Of course, she mentions even minor details I would have forgotten. That’s beside the point. We’re leaving our baby with a stranger.
Yes, Adele came for a playdate. Three times at my insistence.
Still…
“She needs a change of diapers, but I already fed her. Hopefully she will go down without a fight.” Roxy smiles when they enter our daughter’s room.
Ro is babbling in her crib, happily attempting to eat her foot.
“Excuse us for a moment.” Despite my better judgment, I pull Roxy out of the room, leaving our baby with the stranger.
We move down the hallway hastily. Before I even get a chance to raise my objections, Roxy puts her hand on my chest.
This infuriating woman knows how to calm me. It’s not working tonight.
“She has certifications,” Roxy says.
“Certifications don’t guarantee judgment.” I grind my teeth.
“She raised three siblings.” She sighs.
“That suggests stamina. Not necessarily competence.”
She gives me a look, groaning. “You vetted her.”
“I verified the documentation. That’s different.”
“She is twenty-two, Liam. Not an infiltrator.”
“Shecould still?—”
“She could still what? Replace Ro with a lookalike?”
I don’t answer.
Ro coughs once in her crib, and I’m already halfway down the hall before I consciously decide to move.
It turns out she’s giggling while Adele blows a raspberry into her belly as she changes her diaper. Perhaps she is competent.
By the time I return, Roxy is standing by the door, coat on, amused.
“You can’t hover over her forever,” she says.
“That seems like a perfectly reasonable long-term strategy.”
