Karen Booth – The Ten-Day Baby Takeover (страница 6)

“Is it the closest room to yours?” Sarah asked.

“No. The smallest is the closest.”

“That’s probably a better choice for now.” Without invitation, she ventured farther down the hall. “In here?” Sarah strolled in and turned in the small, but bright space—not much more than four walls and a closet. “This is better. It’ll make it easier on you. He still gets up in the middle of the night.”

“And I’ll need to get up with him.” He stated it rather than framing it as a question. He was prepared to do anything to feel less out of his element, as if any of this were logical to him, which it wasn’t.

Oliver fussed and kicked, wanting to get down.

“Let’s let him crawl around,” Sarah said.

Aiden gently placed the little boy on the floor. He took off like a bolt of lightning, scrambling all over the room on his hands and knees.

Sarah pulled a few toys out of her bag and offered them to Oliver. “Yes. You’ll need to get up with him and comfort him, especially when he’s teething like he is now.”

Aiden leaned against the door frame, acting as a barrier in case Oliver decided to escape. “Is that why he drools so much?”

Sarah smiled and sat on the floor with Oliver, tucking her legs beneath her, her dress flounced around her. “My mother used to say that’s not drool. It’s the sugar melting.”

Aiden wasn’t prone to smiling, let alone laughing, at things that were quaint and homey. But he couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to. He drank in the vision of Sarah. She was so different from every woman he’d ever known. She was beautiful, but not made up. Eloquent, but not pretentious. There was no hidden agenda, nor did she seem concerned with impressing him. She just came right out with it, but didn’t mow people over with her ideas. She simply stated what she found to be best, in a manner that made it seem as if it were the only logical choice.

Sarah again looked around the room. “We should probably order a crib online and see how quickly we can have it delivered, along with some other necessities. He’ll need a dresser, a changing table. You should probably invest in a rocking chair for this room.” She began counting on her fingers. “Then there’s clothes, diapers, formula, bottles, toys, bath supplies, baby laundry detergent.”

“Special laundry detergent?”

Pressing her lips together, she nodded. “When he’s crying in the middle of the night, you don’t want to be wondering if it’s because his skin is irritated. One less thing to worry about.”

Just when he thought he was getting a handle on things, a new spate of information came down the pike. “Like I said before, it’d be great if you could make some lists. You can use the computer in my home office and get a lot of that ordered.”

“We need to call the nanny agency, too. They probably don’t take calls after five on a Friday. Sounds like we have a busy night ahead of us. Oliver’s going to need a bath, too.” Oliver crawled over to Sarah with a stuffed toy in his hand and showed it to her.

Aiden’s cell phone rang with a call from his sister Anna. “Excuse me for a minute. I need to make sure this isn’t anything important.”

“Sure thing. I’ll call the nanny agency and Oliver can play. Avoiding outlets, of course.”

“Right. The outlets.” Gotta deal with that, ASAP. He accepted the call and stepped out into the hall. “Anna, hi. Everything okay?”

“I was calling to ask you the same thing. Is everything going well with Sarah and Oliver? I can’t believe it, Aiden. A baby. It’s so amazing. Are you just bursting at the seams?”

Aiden wandered into his room and sat on the leather bench at the foot of the bed. “More like my brain is about to implode. I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. At least you’ve had time to get used to the idea of becoming a parent. It’s only been a few hours for me.”

“I’m sure it will take some time, but I’m so excited for you. You know, the minute I looked into Oliver’s eyes, I knew he was yours. He looks just like you. It’s going to blow Mom’s mind when she sees him.”

Oh no. The one thing he hadn’t yet taken into account. “Please tell me you haven’t said anything to Mom. Or Adam for that matter, but especially not Mom. I need to figure out how best to deal with this.”

“I haven’t said a peep.”

He exhaled a little too loudly, if only to make the weight of dealing with his mother subside. “Good.” His mind often raced at the mere mention of his mom, thoughts quickly mired in bad memories and sad stories. He couldn’t fathom the moment when she’d meet the son he hadn’t known he had. Would he feel better about his suspicions, a misgiving he’d shared with no one other than Anna? Or would he feel worse? Either way, his mother’s reaction to Oliver would be telling. If she accepted him unconditionally, he’d always wonder why she hadn’t treated him the same way. If she rejected him, he’d have a hard time not blowing up at her.

“When are you going to tell her?” Anna asked.

“Tomorrow. Or maybe Sunday. I need time to get us settled.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “Sarah’s calling the nanny agency, we have an entire nursery of furniture to order and I’m apparently in Daddy School after that. I have to learn how to change a diaper and give him a bath.”

Anna tittered.

“What’s so funny?”

“I like the image of you bathing a baby. It’s sweet. And unlike anything I ever imagined you doing.”

“You and me both. I never thought I’d have kids.” Not after everything with Dad.

“Sometimes life gives us unexpected gifts. I felt like that when I got pregnant.”

Anna was carrying a miracle baby. Her doctor had told her it would be nearly impossible to conceive and even more difficult to carry a pregnancy to term, but she was doing great. “I hear you. I’m still getting used to it.”

“Well, promise me you won’t keep Oliver to yourself. I want to see him, too. I could even come over and take care of him if you need help. I could bring Jacob. It would be great practice for us.”

Anna always managed to take the edge off his greatest concerns. Even if he’d come back to New York and everything had been a total disaster with the rest of his family, he still would’ve forged a better relationship with Anna. “Thanks. I’ll definitely need your help after Sarah leaves.”

“She’s staying for ten whole days? How’d you convince her to do that? She seemed hell-bent on only being in town through the weekend when we first talked.”

“We made a deal. She gives me ten days and I help her with her business.” Aiden then realized that his sister might be able to help. Before she’d taken a job at LangTel, she’d been CFO for a company that manufactured women’s workout clothes. “Did Sarah happen to tell you what she does?”

“She did. And the idea of you helping her with it is almost as amusing as the image of you giving Oliver a bath.”

“I’m glad you find my life changes so entertaining right now. Do you think you could help me out with some contacts in the garment industry? I haven’t talked to Sarah about it that much, but I know she needs manufacturing and warehousing and distribution. Maybe you know someone I could call.”

“Oh, absolutely. Let me think about it and I’ll email you a list.”

“Perfect.” One thing he could check off his to-do list. “God only knows how I’ll get any work done on Monday when I’m back at the office. I doubt I’ll get much rest this weekend.”

“Don’t worry about that. Work can wait. You’re a dad now. That’s the most important thing.”

Four

Sitting on the floor in Oliver’s room, Sarah ended her call with the nanny agency. She leaned down and kissed the baby’s head. He’d been playing quietly in her lap for a few minutes. “Guess what? Your daddy’s going to hire someone very nice to take care of you. Won’t that be great?”

Oliver gnawed on a plastic teething ring, not interested in much else.

Sarah swept his soft curls to the side. “She’ll play with you and take you for walks in the park and sing songs to you. Just like I do.” Her voice wobbled as Oliver peeked up at her with wide eyes. She wrinkled her nose and forced herself to smile, if only to stop tears from gathering. The thought of leaving Oliver was as unhappy as it was inevitable. Getting attached to children who weren’t her own was no longer part of her self-destructive pattern. Nor was getting wrapped up in the life of a single dad. The sooner she left Oliver with Aiden, the better.

“It really is too bad that you can’t just stay and be his nanny,” Aiden said.

Sarah nearly fainted. First out of surprise at his voice, then from the view as she slanted her sights to him. Leaning against the door frame, he stood there like he could hold up the whole world that way. He’d changed clothes. In a long-sleeved black T-shirt and a pair of jeans with a dark wash, he was now at a level of casual she hadn’t pondered, although he had to take off the suit at some point. That thought sent her brain skipping ahead, especially now that she could better see the contours of his shoulders and how well-defined his chest was. No doubt about it—Aiden Langford logged his fair share of time in the gym.

Cut it out. The things cycling through her mind were not good—thoughts of peeling away his T-shirt and smoothing her hands over his chest, kissing him. Her curiosity was getting the best of her, and his presence was making it worse. Unfortunately, his expression was just as irresistible as the rest of the package—a look that said he didn’t care what anyone else thought about, well, anything. Sarah could hardly keep her jaw in a place that suggested some measure of decorum. Forget ladylike—right now she was going for not ogling him like a sex-starved loon.