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The pause was awkward, but then Roberta called out, “Carol, what do you want to eat?”
She got up from the couch to join Roberta in the kitchen, baby in arms.
“Let me take my kid, at least,” he said as Carol reluctantly handed her over. “Ava, how was it watching her?”
“She’s a good baby! I should have tried to keep her awake, because your mom tells me she was up all night.”
“I’ve read it’s pretty hard to do that. They will make their own schedule. She slept six hours the first night I had her. Maybe she was saving it up for my mother.”
“I have her outdoors a lot, so maybe it’s the fresh air. If you get a stroller, I can walk her around.”
“A stroller?”
“You know, the thing with wheels you push a baby in?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” he said, not having any idea what she was talking about.
“Here, let me show you.” She got out her phone and searched for a stroller. “Do you run?”
“Not if I can help it,” he answered.
“Well, this one is called a jogging stroller,” she said, holding her phone up. He sat down next to her with the baby in his arm and looked at the stroller. “There’s this model, too. They aren’t cheap.”
“How long do you use a stroller like that?”
“Until they can walk, I guess. My husband’s kids were toddlers when they came to live with me.”
“I heard about your loss,” he replied, stumbling over words. “I’m sorry.”
Ava looked at him and nodded her head. “Thanks. I’m still getting over it. What do you think about this model? Is it too expensive?”
“Yikes, that’s for a stroller?”
They searched for a stroller while baby Violet slept in her father’s arms. Roberta came out with a food announcement.
“I’m going to pick up lunch,” she said. “Do you need me to stop off for anything?”
“Ma, I’ll go out and get it. She’s out cold. I’ll stick her in the crib and make a food run.”
“I’ll take her for you,” Roberta said, watching Ava out of the corner of her eye, and what she expected happened.
“I’ll drive,” Ava said. “I need to get gas in my car before the prices go up for the weekend.”
It was a lame excuse, but innocent. Honestly, she wanted to spend some time alone with Violet’s father since she was ostensibly working for him and not for his mother, and they’d only had brief phone chats.
“We’ll be right back,” Leon said.
On the way out to her car, she came around to the passenger side to unlock the door. He noted there was an infant car seat in the back. “So are you Leon or Lenny?”
“My baby name is Lenny,” he said, laughing. “My parents can’t get over that I’m not ten. Everyone calls me Leon. A few, Leonardo.”
“Gotcha. Leon it is, then. I’m glad we can spend a few minutes together today. You trusted me with your baby, and I really appreciate that. But I don’t know your parenting style at all.”
“Parenting style, you’re kidding, right? My style is by the seat of my pants. I didn’t even know I was a father until a week ago.”
“Oh. I wondered if it was a sudden breakup.”
“No. I don’t even know Violet’s mother. She’s a cruise director, and we met while we were both plastered, and the rest is history. She sued me for child support, and that’s how I found out I had a kid.”
