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“She’s here.”
“Let me get it,” Leon said.
The only way he was going to combat his fears was by jumping in and taking charge. The family waited and watched from the dining room, which had a straight shot to the front door.
“He looks so natural with that baby,” Candy whispered.
“He really does. The change in twenty-four hours is amazing,” Roberta explained. “He was hesitant to even hold her at first.”
They strained to hear the conversation at the front door, a low monotone that was interrupted by giggling periodically.
“Jeez, I wish he’d bring her up here,” Candy said.
“He might not think she’s suitable nanny material,” Roberta said. “If he engages her, then it will be too awkward to refuse.”
“Uh-oh, here they come,” Big Mike whispered.
“Hush,” someone hissed.
“Everyone, meet Ava Adams, Violet’s nanny.”
Chapter 3
The plan, Leon would drop baby Violet off at Ava’s house on his way into work at the start of his three-day shift. At night, Ava would bring her back to Roberta’s house to sleep. The next morning, she’d come back and pick her up, and so on for three days. Leon would take over from Roberta on the morning of the fourth day and play daddy.
There was no reason to hide the situation from his colleagues, and they gave him a good amount of ribbing. It solidified in his heart that he wanted to be a good father. She was so cute. Her facial expressions were so much like his, he saw his genes when he looked at her. Being a dad for forty-eight hours wasn’t such a bad thing. By noon on the first day back to work, he’d forgotten about the baby until her mother, Tina texted him.
How’s Violet? I miss her so much. Thank you for taking her at the last minute.I didn’t know what else to do.
He read it, frowning. “What’s up, son?” He looked up to see his father watching with concern.
“I just heard from Violet’s mother.”
“Don’t answer her,” Big Mike replied. “Send the text to your lawyer. By the way, your mother is visiting the baby. She said she felt guilty about refusing to babysit, so she went over to Ava Gardener’s to make sure everything was okay, and it’s fine.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Leon replied, thinking,Great, now I’m going to worry about her all day.
And he didn’t answer the text. What did he owe Tina? Down the road, maybe they would share custody. It was his family’s idea to cut her out completely. She’d obviously trusted him or would she have dropped her kid off not knowing anything about him? Or maybe she did know. They were taking a lot for granted. Tina could Google as well as anyone.
Trying to put it out of his mind, he got back to work. The next three days were spent alternately focusing on firefighting and learning what he could while doing it, and thinking about his daughter. He talked to Ava Adams daily and his mother at night, getting the updates on baby Violet.
On Friday morning, looking forward to a four-day weekend, he arrived at home to find his mother sleeping in a recliner with the baby in her lap, safely encased in pillows so she didn’t fall off.
“Ma,” Leon whispered, “let me take her.”
“She’s the devil in disguise. Put her right in her crib so you can get some sleep. She has her days and nights mixed up.”
“I’m sorry, Ma. You go to sleep, too.”
“I’m not moving.”
She closed her eyes, dismissing him. He put the bundle in her crib and got ready to sleep. He’d had a restless night with only one call and probably less than four hours of sleep, so a few hours extra would help. The things he usually did on his days off no longer applied. Hanging out with his friends didn’t seem like a possibility, and he didn’t desire it for sure. Crawling into bed, he glanced over at Violet, who was out cold.
At noon, she woke up howling. It was time to eat. After four extra hours of sleep, Leon felt like he could conquer the world. This eight-pound bundle was not going to rule him. He reached for her and she stopped crying, opening her eyes and making eye contact.
“You’re not the boss of me,” he whispered. She smiled at him, and that made him laugh. “You might be.”
He carried her over to his bed to change, placing her on a bath towel. It was a good thing, too, because she’d had a blowout, with liquid poop up her back and into her hairline. Standing over her, he looked around like the answer to the dilemma would magically appear.
