Page 28 of Unexpected Love
He lets out a gush of air, like he’s letting out a relieved sigh. Jeez, he needs to chill out. “Are you this anxious when you run calls? My god, that must be exhausting.”
“Give me a break. In my defense, I haven’t had to run any calls on any humans I’m responsible for.”
I chuckle, and Charlie mimics with an attempt at forced laughter, all traces of her temper tantrum forgotten.
I put the phone on speaker so she can hear his voice. “Charlie, can you say hi to Uncle Cal?”
“Hi.” The word comes out loud and clear in her high-pitched voice, and she waves at the phone.
“Hey, Belle, how’s my girl?” he coos, andholy shit, it should not be attractive listening to this man talk to this child.
I place the phone on the counter, out of reach of little hands, and fill him in on what Nancy had to say about the day, our car ride home. I’m tempted to tease him with a vivid description of climbing the flight of stairs but manage to resist.
“So you were able to get in okay?” he asks.
“Yep. We’re at your place and all settled.”
“And you’re going to stay there tonight, right?” he confirms for the third time, two previous times via text.
“Yes. As soon as I get off the phone, we’re going to finish dinner, have a bath, and maybe read a book.”I swear. I don’t remember my brothers being this neurotic even when they had newborns, but maybe that’s because I wasn’t in the house. Also, I actively avoided my family so they wouldn’t see all the problems I was dealing with, namely a husband who was a total dick.
I reassure Cal and am in the middle of promising to call him if we have any issues when a loud alarm sounds in the background, blocking the last of my statement.
“Shit. I’ve got to run.”
“Duty calls. I’ll text if I need you.” And then I hang up before he can get another word in.
“Shit,” the tiny terror in the high chair pipes up.
“Great. You learned a new word. I’m sure Uncle Cal is going to love that.”
Charlie does her fake laugh again. I’m reasonably sure she will eat her food instead of throwing it now, so I refill her little plate and stand guard as she inhales strawberries, green beans, and little-kid protein mac ‘n’ cheese. On a whim, I shove a noodle in my mouth.
“Hmm. Not as good as the real thing, but not bad either. Kinda bland, if you ask me.”
“Yeah,” she replies, shoving another fistful in her mouth.
“Okay there, little goblin. Don’t go choking on me,” I warn and remove the bowl so that I can control how quickly she shovels.
Dinner ends with no further drama. We survive bath time, and she picks out her pajamas. There’s a drawer full of clothes that look brand new, and on further inspection, I realize they are. Tags on them and everything.
Poor guy probably doesn’t know that he needs to wash them first, so I pull them out of the drawer, set Charlie up with some toys, and run a load of laundry for him.
I teach Charlie the joys of doing a dance party, and her tiny giggles as she shakes her booty have me in stitches. We do story time and drink milk, brush her teeth, and then she and her little fox go right off to bed.
It’s the easiest babysitting job I’ve ever had.
Besides the dinner incident, which I’m beginning to suspect was actually due to a case of her being hangry more than anything, we’ve had a lovely, chill evening.
The apartment falls silent, and with not being in my own space, I’m suddenly left with nothing to do.
I finish the laundry, then clean the kitchen.I check on Charlie via the monitor that Cal has installed and find her sleeping soundly. I scroll through shows on his TV.
I intentionally left my planner and all the shop plans downstairs, and now I’m wishing I hadn’t.
With nothing left to do, I pick up my phone and call Lissette.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?”
