Page 69 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
Then the strings of lights around them turned on, and the two violinists, the cellist, and the viola player were revealed.
Angelina squealed and clapped. “Oh my God a real string quartet! I’ve only seen them on YouTube.” After listening for a few seconds, she said, “Is that Brahms’ opus number sixty-seven in B flat major?”
I laughed out loud. “If you say so, Angel. All I know is it’s Brahms. I told them that’s what you like so they’d better play it all night.”
She turned back to face me, her face flushed and those tears finally winning the battle and streaming down her cheeks.
“Sully... I’m overwhelmed. This is just...wow. No one has ever done something this thoughtful for me before. And no one haseverknown me well enough to know exactly what I’d like. Thank you.”
Reaching across the table, I swiped my thumb under her eye. “You’re welcome, Angel. Happy birthday.”
And nowIwas about to cry. I switched the subject.
“So how’s your mom doing? We never talked about it after you went to visit her in the hospital.”
Her mood changed instantly. “She’s home now—I think. I only saw her for a few minutes, and it didn’t go well. She didn’t even want her doctor to tell me what was wrong with her since I’m ‘no longer a family member,’ but they said they were going to discharge her in a day or two. She only let me in so she could say what she wanted to say... then she took me off the approved visitor list.”
My jaw unhinged. “What? Aren’t you like, heronlyfamily member?”
“Not now. I’m disowned.”
“So, was that what she wanted to say to you? That she took you out of the will or something?”
Angelina’s expression shuttered. “I don’t really want to talk about her anymore, if that’s okay.”
“No problem.” I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking even bringing it up on what should have been a happy night. If Angelina was going to leave, I wanted her to do it with only the best memories.
“You know what Skyla said to me tonight at bedtime?” I asked, trying to bring some lightness back into the conversation.
“What?”
“She burrowed into my chest and said, ‘I just want to cuddle with you, Daddy. I don’t want to do anything but cuddle you right now.’ God, I’m gonna miss having them here every day.”
Angelina’s hand went to her chest, resting over her heart. “They are just so sweet. Claire said to me today, ‘I love you and Daddy better than anything. I love you more than any of my toys—even the downstairs toys—even the pool toys.’”
I laughed and raised my eyebrows. “Wow. That’s pretty big.”
“I thought so.” Her smile matched mine.
Of course I knew better than to say it out loud, but I thought it was pretty significant that Claire had included Angelina in that declaration. Inside my head the words were screaming at an almost deafening pitch—
Can’t youseeit? Don’t youknowyou’re supposed to stay?
But then, the girls weren’t staying. So that meant Angelina couldn’t reallybetheir live-in nanny anymore. They were due to go back to Anouk’s place in New York and start school there next week. I was taking them with me when I left tomorrow.
Honestly, I didn’t know how it was all supposed to work, but to me it seemed obvious none of this had been an accident. It felt like Angelina wasmeantto be part of our little family.
She’d agreed to stay here in the house and keep an eye on it until my return from New York. Once it was just the two of us and she was no longer in my employment, we could have a wholenewkind of discussion.
I assumed she was still trying to decide whether to begin the postulancy thing or look for new employment and new housing, and I desperately wanted to weigh in on that and make sure she understood all of her options.
In fact, I was dying to ask her about her planstonight. But she hadn’t brought it up, and I didn’t want to upset her any further on her birthday. This night was supposed to be abouther—not what I wanted and needed.
So, we listened to the quartet play and finished our meals while chatting about safe subjects like the activities she’d shared with Skyla and Claire this summer, plans for their upcoming school year in Manhattan, and the title fight.
“Are you going three days ahead of time to sort of settle into the environment?” she asked.
“Basically. I’ll stay with my trainer and the rest of my team in a friend’s empty apartment. It’s near the venue and the location of the press conference and pre-fight weigh-in.”
