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I smiled. "I'm not at all surprised; I knew you'd be that good. Sounds like you got it under control. I know he can be a handful at times." Tristy claimed he cried nonstop.
"Well, I haven't seen proof of it yet. This little man is a complete sweetheart. He hasn't cried once and boy, does he love to smile."
My face stretched as my own smile grew. "Yes, he does."
"Though I'm learning a big difference between the genders when it comes to diaper changing. That was a . . . wet learning experience."
My eyes went wide. "Oh, shit. Did he piss on you?"
"A little bit, yeah." Her laugh was full, letting me know she wasn't upset at all. "I hope you don't mind that I used your dryer."
My head filled with images of her sauntering around my apartment topless while her shirt dried.
Oh, hell. Instant wood at work. Not good.
"No," I croaked, my voice hoarse and jeans way too tight. "Not at all. I'm sorry he got you. I guess I should've warned you he might do that. After I open his diaper, I usually only lift it up just enough to let the air hit him and he can do his thing before I unwrap him completely."
"What a good tip. Thank you. I will definitely keep that in mind for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I echoed stupidly, while my heart raced faster.
"Well, yeah. I thought your normal sitter was going to be contagious for a good two weeks."
I went dizzy. Eva Mercer was going to be in my apartment, watching my kid every day . . . for two weeks? How was I going to survive that, always knowing she was there, caring for my child, walking through my rooms, sitting on my furniture, drying her pissed-on shirts in my dryer? I was itching enough to get off work now so I could rush home and just bask in her presence. But two weeks of this luxury? God, I could overdose on such a rush.
"Oh, hey. Quick question before you go."
Go? I'd been planning on dragging this phone conversation out as long as possible. "What's that?" I asked.
"He's four months old now, right?"
"Yeah."
"That's what I thought. So I borrowed your laptop and looked up a few sites so there wasn't anything huge I was missing about caring for that age. And it said four months is an okay time to introduce them to a couple of solid foods. But I didn't see any in the cabinets, so—"
"Wow, I hadn't even thought of that yet. But yeah, I'll make sure to pick up some the next time I go grocery shopping. What do I get for him?"
"They said it's okay to wait a couple more months, but he seems to chew a lot, so I thought maybe . . . I know, I'm overstepping my bounds. Sorry, I—"
"No! That's . . . actually, I'm glad you brought it up because I have no clue what he really needs. I've pretty much been faking it for the past four months. Any advice you have is appreciated."
"In that case, you can start weaning him on baby rice. I think he could use this diaper cream I have for Sky, too. It's got the best recommendations, and Julian's poor little tushy seems to be recovering from a nasty rash."
I couldn't tell her that was because his mother had never changed him and many times he'd gone most of the day without a fresh diaper. It was humiliating enough, knowing my kid was going through that and that I couldn't be there to keep him constantly changed, but listening to Eva point out the obvious only ratcheted up the shame.
Sad as it was to admit, it was a godsend that Tristy had left. He was finally getting some real care.
***
Five o'clock couldn't come soon enough. I punched my timecard and sped home. As I unlocked and opened the front door to my apartment, a baby's laughter startled my ears.
Frozen in the doorway, I watched Eva—her back to me—as she sat cross-legged on a blanket on the floor and leaned over Julian. Flat on his back, he kicked his legs and flapped his arms, giggling uncontrollably up at her while she made raspberry sounds.
When she paused, he stopped smiling, stopped kicking and stared up at her with a serious expression. But then she started again and even swished her blonde hair in his face, making him laugh and kick again.
Next to him on the other half of the blanket, little Skylar was sprawled on her stomach as she tried to lift her head off the floor, her miniature little noggin wobbling from the effort it took.
The three of them together like that was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.
