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“It’s been a week,” I said dryly. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
But as I went to put the baby down for his nap, I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the guys had met my mom, and everyone had gotten along.
It was a weird step in this weird four-person relationship, but it still felt like a step forward.
28
Clara
Like last weekend, we transferred our whole baby-taking-care-of troupe to Derek’s house in phases. I left the fire station around seven, to avoid seeing any of the second-shift guys.
I wasn’t sure how much it mattered. Billy already knew I was staying there sporadically, even if he didn’t know the true reason. And word had probably spread among the other guys. But the less I saw of them, the less Billy could interrogate me. I didn’t exactly consider myself to be a master liar, so I was happy to avoid any chance at getting caught in a gotcha-moment.
I settled into the living room with Baby Anthony. The Dodgers had already won today (yay!) but that meant the only game on TV was the Giants (boo). But the baby seemed to enjoy having some background noise on, and I enjoyed rootingagainstthe Giants.
The guys got home ten minutes after nine. They tip-toed into the house like teenagers who were afraid of waking their parents, but they relaxed when they saw me feeding Baby Anthony.
“He’s been up a while,” I said. “He’s having a cranky night.”
Derek smiled and gently put his hand on the baby’s back. “I’ll never get tired of seeing you with him.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why? Because all a woman’s good for is taking care of babies?”
I was only teasing him, but he gave me a serious response. “No. Because you always smile when you’re holding him. Like you’re happy, in a different way than normal.”
I frowned, unable to think of anything good to respond with.
“Your favorite fireman asked about you,” Jordan said.
It took me a moment to realize who he meant. “Ugh. Don’t even say that.”
“He was awfully suspicious that you weren’t there,” Taylor chimed in. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then looked abashed about it, and began to blush. “The other second-shifters didn’t seem to care. But Billy was awfully curious about your life.”
“They probably understood that you didn’t want to be around Billy,” Jordan said. “Everyone knows how creepy he is.”
“How about we don’t discuss him?” I suggested. “What’s the plan for this weekend? Relax and watch the Giants lose to the Padres? Oh wait—we’re already doing that. They’re down six runs in the ninth inning.” I gestured at the TV and smirked.
Derek rolled his eyes. “I have a plan. About Baby Anthony.”
I blinked. “Oh?”
“My sister and I are driving up to Sacramento to talk to an administrator with Social Services,” he explained. “We might be able to speed things along, or get some emergency funding, without tipping our hand too much. My sister thinks it’s worth it. At the very least, we’ll get a feel for how much longer we should wait before putting him in the system. Then we’ll know the best way to proceed.”
“That’s great,” I said. “How long will it take?”
“We’re leaving first thing in the morning. It’s only three hours away, so hopefully we’ll be back by tomorrow evening. Regardless, I’m not coming back until I have some idea of what to do.” He gently caressed the baby’s tufts of black hair.
“Hopefully we’ll have a better understanding of what happens next,” I said. “Regardless, I’ll keep helping with the baby for as long as we need.” I kissed Anthony on the forehead for emphasis.
Derek smiled at me, then turned to his fireman teammates. “I’ve got a job for you two.”
“A job? Anything, Chief,” Taylor said.
“I need you to watch the baby for a little while.”
Jordan frowned. “Why?”
Derek gave me a wolfish grin. “Because I’m late to the Clara-sharing party, and I have some ground to make up.”
