Page 135 of Good as Gold
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It’s a short drive, but Reina starts howling before I make it home. My brother Alec—on his way into the bar to open the place—ends up helping me carry the groceries upstairs so that I can quickly heat up her bottle.
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he says. “I guess I can’t pressure you to work for me, huh? Not if you’re busy feeding the baby.”
“Verybusy,” I say, relaxing on the couch and watching Reina take hungry pulls of the bottle.
“Let me know when you feel like making some extra cash,” he says. “I’m here for you.”
“Uh-huh. Thanks.” We both know thathere for youalso meansshorthanded at the bar.
“Had to ask!” he says cheerfully. “Come down for a beer before close?”
“Could happen!”
He goes, and I focus my attention on my daughter again. “Want to have a drink with Uncle Alec later? My treat.”
Reina is too busy gulping milk to weigh in.
CHAPTER52
LEILA
When I return home from my doctor’s appointment, Matteo is carrying Reina around the kitchen, putting the groceries away one-handed. I stop on the threshold for a moment, just taking them in.
Seven weeks ago, on the day I was released from the hospital, I asked Matteo if he wanted to stay with me here.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he’d said.
And that was that. After more than twenty years of friendship—and a secret, scorching, sexual relationship—we skipped a few steps and crash-landed into a whole new phase of life.
I’m sure everyone with a newborn probably feels as though a meteor hit them. I don’t even remember what a full night’s sleep is like. But it’s not so bad when there’s a hunk in your bed who brings you coffee every morning and takes the baby when she gets fussy.
I could have managed as a single mom. I could have done it. But it’s really nice that I don’t have to.
“Look, Reina,” Matteo says. “Your mommy is home.”
My baby girl lifts both her short arms in greeting, and my heart melts a little bit.
“Hi, peeps!” I circle the counter to kiss them both. “Want me to take her?”
“Don’t you have to pump?” he asks.
“Well, yeah.”
“Go ahead,” he says. “We’re fine.”
So I kiss Reina’s fat little cheek again and then go milk myself with that strange contraption known as a breast pump.
When I return twenty minutes later, Matteo is walking a sleepy baby around the living room. He’s speaking to her in a low, calm voice. “It’s okay to take your nap, tiny queen. We’ll have more fun later.”
I detour to the kitchen, because I don’t want to interrupt. But the sight of her little body tucked against his broad chest makes my ovaries dance a jig.
After another few minutes of his soothing, her eyes go half-mast. Matteo heads slowly towards the bedroom. I follow at a safe distance, peering around the door frame as he lays her gently down in the crib. “That’s a girl,” he whispers. “See you in an hour.”
She wiggles on the mattress for a heart-stopping moment and then settles.
