Page 20 of Jaime
“It should be fine for a couple of minutes. Here.”
He offered the instructions and I took them, sinking down onto the floor next to him.
Together, the crib didn’t seem too complicated. In next to no time, it was standing. Before we could place down the base though, my paranoia got to me, and I went to check on Evie. To my surprise, she had fallen asleep.
I knelt next to her, watching her breathe for a minute, and then collected myself enough to get her a fresh diaper and change her. Luckily, she didn’t wake up while I did, not even when I lifted her carefully into my arms.
Poor, sweet little Evie; she was so vulnerable.
Walking as smoothly as I could, I went back to the bedroom.
Ethan was already securing the arm of the mobile on the side.
He glanced over and raised his eyebrows.
“Just a second,” he said, quickly pulling out the bed set and arranging it. Then, he set one of the thin baby blankets on top that Liz had left for her daughter.
When it was all done, he motioned for me to come closer.
Getting the idea, I very carefully laid Evie down on the blanket and wrapped her up as best I could. I was still getting the hang of the burrito thing, but this was the one time that, when it was done, I didn’t berate myself for how it looked.
She was in a crib, wrapped up nice and warm, and she was fast asleep. What more could I ask for?
I shook my head in wonder.
“This will make a big difference,” I said quietly. “It’s like she really belongs here now.”
A hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
“Come on,” Ethan said, gesturing to the door.
I followed him back to the living room.
“Look, it’s late, neither of us had any dinner either,” he chuckled, “so I’ll get out of your hair and let you wind down and hopefully have a proper sleep in your bed for once.”
My heart squeezed at his words. I wanted to ask him if that was it. Would I ever see him again?
“Right. Sure,” I said.
He gave me a smile, but it was strained at the edges.
I swallowed.
“Listen, thank you for everything. You didn’t need to do any of that.”
“I know I didn’t,” he said. “It sounded like you had the money to buy all that stuff. I still wanted to do it for you though.”
Why? I wanted to ask. He couldn’t bethatselfless. No one was.
“We got a pretty big insurance payout when my dad died last year,” I found myself saying instead.
He stared at me for a long moment.
“Sounds like it’s been a rough while for you,” he said. “But it’ll get better.”
The confidence with which he said that seemed to uncoil something inside me.
“You really think so?” I asked. “I'm not really sure what to do with the money. I wanted to go to college, but I’ll need my GED first. And of course, now that I have Evie, I know I should drive, but—anyway, none of that matters.”
