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Eleven
Robin smiled at him when she stepped out of her car. Then she went to the back seat and pulled his sleeping daughter over her shoulder, far more expertly than Nick would ever hope to accomplish.
His nephews stepped out of her way quickly as she carried Nova inside.
“There’s a new couch inside,” Nick told her. “Chandler is getting her mattress set up now. It’s the foam kind and needs to puff up.”
“I have her a blanket in the back seat, if someone will grab it. And there’s a stuffed pillow pet back there, too. My kids love romping all over the ones Glenna got them a few years ago. That will do for now. You’ll want to run her new bedding through the laundry before putting them on the bed. Noah’s as well. I wasn’t sure what pattern to get him, so I went with more neutral bedding. You can decorate his room around it, when you figure out what kind of things he’s interested in. I got him a baseball throw pillow for his bed. Miss Nova most definitely likes pink and purple. And puppies. She loves puppies, but kittens scare her.”
Decorating? He had to decorate their rooms, too? Nick was going to have to get out a notebook and make a list.
The twins had already begun emptying the bags from Robin’s car. Reese had the pillow and blanket on the couch within half a second. Robin lowered Nova to the pillow, slipped the little girl’s shoes off her feet, and then covered her quickly. She never fumbled even once. “She’s worn out. I doubt she’s slept well all week.”
“I bet. Thanks, by the way.” Nick wrapped his hand around her elbow and squeezed. He pulled her close for a quick hug—she’d hugged him before. Now he wanted another. He just barely resisted grabbing on and clinging like an idiot. “I wouldn’t have even known where to begin with getting her stuff.”
“No thanks necessary. I got her the same stuff I use for Becky. You’re going to need a quick lesson in little-girl hair care, by the way. You’ll want to keep her hair brushed, or it’s going to go wild. Completely.”
Fletcher, one of his nephews, stepped closer and looked at the sleeping child as he sat bags containing the pots and pans she’d picked up down nearby. He laughed quietly. “Definitely a Tyler kid. She looks just like my sister did at that age. That hair is darker like Junie’s, though.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Nick said, slipping little glasses off. They’d left an indention on her face. And felt so ridiculously small. “I think the glasses may be too small for her.”
“There’re quite a few things in that bag that she’s outgrown or that have holes in them and are stained,” Robin said quietly. “You’re going to want to hit the eye doctor, the dentist, and definitely the pediatrician for a check-up. Just to be on the safe side—she’s a bit underweight, I think. She says she is going into first grade, but she doesn’t like school. That it doesn’t make sense sometimes. From what she was saying, she just might not have been able to see very well. I had her try to read the menu at McDonald’s, and I’m almost certain the letters were blurred for her. Her eyes also move quite a bit more than I think they should. She probably needs an updated prescription and probably an eye specialist.” She was patting Nova’s back as she spoke. Nick’s nephews kept going with what they were doing, but kept their voices down now. “She’s wonderful, Nick. So lovable. From what Nova’s said, her brother Noah has been the primary caregiver for most of her life. With him being so young, too, some things have inevitably been…missed.”
“He wasn’t even five the last time I saw him. Selena was a decent mother—at least when I was with them. We dated casually for two years, but I was always on the road. I never knew she had a drug problem, then. She just met me at her door one day and said she wasn’t interested any longer. That she’d met someone better—someone more adventurous. I never even suspected she was pregnant. If I had, I’d have been there for my daughter. I would have fought for her.”
“I know.” Robin straightened the blanket a bit. “Let’s get her stuff put away in her room. She’s never had a bedroom of her own. She’s going to be thrilled. And…when she wakes…we need to talk about a bath. I don’t think she’s had one in several days.”
He looked at her in horror. The last little girls he’d given baths—it had been horrible. Phil’s twins had been three or so and had spilled pancake syrup all over each other’s heads—and Pandora’s, who’d been not even two at the time. It had gotten into Pandora’s eyes, and she’d been wailing, her little eyelashes stuck together.
He’d been suckered into watching Phil’s four demon daughters so Phil could take his then-pregnant wife away for a romantic evening. Those girls had destroyed everything in their paths, especially the twins.
He’d thrown all three little girls in the tub and done his best.
He would never forget that incident.
Or forget coming out of the bathroom to find Phoebe drawing pictures in the syrup mess—and needing a bath of her own. As had the dogs sitting beside her, helpfully licking up cheap imitation maple syrup. All three of the dogs.
And both of Phil’s damned kittens his brother had rescued that week.
He had never willingly babysat for a girl under the age of eight ever again. Especially Tyler girls. He’d been reluctant for any kid under eight, actually, after that.
Except for Noah—but he hadn’t considered it babysitting with that kid. It had felt different with Noah. Like…he had been starting to mean something to Noah, to be more than just his mother’s boyfriend.
It hadn’t taken him long to realize he’d missed the kid more than he’d missed Noah’s mother. And that had hurt.
“Is she old enough to do that herself yet?”
“Not quite. She’ll need help with the order of washing things and certainly with getting her hair clean. Don’t worry. I got the best bubbles on the planet, and bubble-gum-scented shampoo and conditioner. I got her pink fluffy bath towels and special pink-duckie washcloths. I’ll help you with the first bath so you can see what to do.”
“How often do kids her age bathe anyway? I don’t know any of this stuff.” He didn’t know what he was going to do. He was not going to be able to figure this out without Robin. It was a given.
Maybe he was panicking.
Just a little. He looked at his daughter—she was snoring and drooling on his brand-new secondhand couch.
“And please tell me Noah should be able to handle that stuff for himself? Know when to bathe and stuff?”
“Noah should probably take one every day or every other day. It just depends on where he’s at with puberty. If there’s body odor, he should shower. Some kids his age need prompted or ordered to do it—others are all about staying clean. It just depends. I did grab some appropriate toiletries for him, too. He’s a bit older than my sons, so I aged up a bit. You’ll need to take him to get some clothes when he gets here. Twelve-year-olds can range so greatly in size I didn’t want to risk it.” Robin stood. Nick stepped back. “I also got some kid-friendly plates and bowls and silverware. A new set of pots and pans as well, so you can cook for them. And plastic cups. I have ‘a-no-cups-without-lids-in-the-living-room’ rule at my place. You might want to have that same rule, trust me. But you’ll need to follow it as well.”
