by Lexi Wilson
“There, there, little Sasha,” I said. “You feel better now, don’t you? Just a little upset tummy, and now everything is better.”
I sat on a huge black leather sectional couch near the playpen, still holding the baby. More than a few stains decorated the couch, and I suspected the baby had been spitting up a lot. The housekeeper would have a lot of work come Monday.
To my surprise, my heart didn’t quicken, and no tears welled up in eyes. I’d worried that spending too much time around the baby would only make my old memories overwhelm me, but, if anything, it felt like the opposite thing was happening. Exposure therapy of sorts.
Maybe coming over to deal with the baby was working out for both Daniel and myself. I nodded, satisfied.
I sighed and shook my head. I wasn’t there to get over my past. I was there to help out a man being overwhelmed in the present. I needed to not be so selfish and focus on the task at hand. Humming, I continued to soothe and pat the baby.
About fifteen minutes later, Daniel padded down the stairs, now clean shaven, freshly showered, and with a clean shirt and sweatpants on. The woodsy scent of his aftershave hung in the air.
I blinked, struck by the transformation from hobo to hero.
“The baby’s stopped screaming?” he said, his voice full of wonder, like I’d just performed a miracle.
I grinned, “Yes, no more screaming.”
“How did you do it?”
“It was just gas. You needed to burp her.”
Daniel barked out a laugh. The baby squirmed at the noise.
“I tried changing her, feeding her, bundling her up,” he said. “I thought it might be gas at first, but I tried to get her to burp, and nothing happened. It made her only angrier.”
I frowned. He had the right instincts. He’d obviously just messed up with actual execution. This was a very fixable problem.
I held out the baby. “Show me your technique.”
Daniel carefully took Sasha from me. The baby started fussing the minute she left my arms, but at least she wasn’t screaming. He shifted the baby in my arms and patted her.
I shook my head. “When you do it, hold her closer, pat a little more forcefully; you’re trying to get that gas out.” I held out my arms, and Daniel returned the baby to me. Sasha stopped fussing one she was in my arms again. I demonstrated the technique.
“It’s so easy once you see it,” Daniel said, rubbing his eyes.
“Also, I noticed when you had her bundled up, it was just about wrapping blankets around her. When you swaddle the baby, you want them more encased for comfort. I’ll show that to you later.”
“Did you eat?” Daniel suddenly said.
“What?”
“I called you so early on a Sunday. Did you have a chance to eat?”
I shook my head. “No, just some coffee.”
“I’ll make some eggs and coffee if you can watch the baby. The least I can do to pay you back is get you some food.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
My stomach rumbled as the smell of the eggs hit my nose. Sasha had nodded off by this point, so I placed her back into her playpen and made my way to the kitchen.
I almost laughed as I sat on a stool at the granite-topped island in the center of the room. The kitchen was half the size of my entire apartment. I wondered if Daniel did much cooking himself or if it was mostly his housekeeper cooking for him.
Daniel set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me, followed by a cup of coffee.
“I’m sorry,” he said, as he set his own plate and coffee down and then took a seat.
“For what?”
“For calling you here.” He handed me a fork. “After everything you told me, too. It’s unfair of me to ask this of you.”
“We all need to face the things that make us uncomfortable,” I said. “And it’s not good for the baby to just be screaming, so I’m glad I could help.” I slipped a forkful of eggs into my mouth.
“I’m going to call the nanny agency tomorrow,” he said. “First of all, to make sure that Fiona is fired from their staff, and second to get a new nanny. If the second nanny ends up just as bad, then I’m going to show that company why they don’t go toe-to-toe with a billionaire,” Daniel’s gaze hardened.
I patted him on the shoulder, and his expression softened.
“Sorry,” he said. “Just a little overwhelmed.”
“I don’t have anything in particular to do today. If you want, I can stay and watch the baby while you get some sleep at least.”
He shook his head. “I’ve already asked too much of you.”
“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering.”
Daniel pursed his lips as if torn between wanting to accept my help and pushing me out the door. “You’re sure?”
“I can spare one Sunday, yes.”
“Thank you, Morgan,” he said. “Thank you.”
I beamed a smile at him and took a sip of my coffee. Sasha’s cries echoed from the living room.
Daniel rose, and I shook my head.
“I’ve got this, you need a break,” I said.
Chapter 17
Daniel
The next morning, I stared down at the sleeping Sasha, my phone in hand. An hour after Morgan had left the night before, the baby started crying again, and it took forever to get her calm again.
At the time, I couldn’t figure it out. I’d think that some tiny little baby wouldn’t have the lung power to keep crying for so long, but it didn’t seem to matter. How did she have so much endurance?
I seriously considered calling Morgan back and begging her to stay the night but decided against it. She’d already helped me more than enough. I needed to learn to handle Sasha on my own, and I couldn’t go begging my assistant to show up and act as a nanny.
The more I forced her to deal with the baby, the more she’d be forced to think about losing her own. I couldn’t and wouldn’t subject her to that kind of pain.
In the end, it took me thirty minutes, but Sasha did fall asleep again with me holding and patting her. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually calmed her or if she had just exhausted herself. Same result in the end. At least it let me get some rest.
No, I didn’t need to call my assistant and have her come over. I didn’t pay her to help me with the baby, and it was unfair to continue asking her.
I needed to keep my resources in mind. What I needed was an actual nanny, which was why I was waiting on the phone for the head of the agency that had sent me Fiona.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Brown,” a woman came on. “Mrs. Gray is in a meeting right now. I’ll be more than happy to deliver a message to her the minute she gets out.”
“No,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“Pull her out of the meeting,” I barked out. “Right now.”
“Sir, you need to understand that she’s in an important meeting.”
I was about to throw down a card I almost never used. I didn’t care how it made me look, and I wouldn’t even claim it was only about how exhausted I was.
No. My heart thumped, and my pulse throbbed in my ears. I’d not been this angry in a long time, and I didn’t want to take it out on the secretary, so she needed to get me her damn boss on the line, so I could blame the person in charge.
“Do you know who I am?” I said.
“You’re a valued client,” the woman said, her voice soothing. “We understand that.”
“Wrong.”
“I don’t understand, sir.”
“I’m the CEO of the Brown Investment Group, and I’m dealing with a screaming baby because your agency sent me a woman who was incompetent, and who ran out after a few days, despite your guarantees about the quality of your nannies. It’s not like you’re the only elite nanny agency in Seattle.”
The woman sighed on the other end. “I understand that you’ve had some issues with a nanny assigned—”
“Let me make this clear,” I interrupted. “Get Mrs. Gray on the line rig
ht now. I need someone who has the power to make things happen. If I can’t speak to her right away, keep in mind that I might just buy your agency and fire everyone in it to make my displeasure clear. There are a few perks that come with being a billionaire, especially one who is dealing with the newborn baby of my deceased younger sister. Do I make myself clear?”
The woman gasped. “I’ll get Mrs. Gray on the line right away, sir.”
I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. At least I’d gotten them to stop stonewalling me, but I had a feeling I was going to have to make the same speech to Mrs. Gray, and if I had to, it was going to be a much less pleasant conversation.
Another thirty seconds passed.
“Mr. Brown, this is Lydia Gray. I understand you have some concerns, and I understand where your concerns are coming from. Let me apologize for what happened, and I just need to know what I can do to make this right by you.”
Now we were getting somewhere.
“You’re going to send a new nanny over to my house today. Someone who is actually competent, experienced, and can handle a newborn. You’re also going to make sure that any relationship that Fiona has with your agency is terminated immediately. That woman has no business being anywhere near children. Do I make myself clear?”
Lydia sighed. “Yes, sir. I’ll make the selection personally to ensure that our best nanny is sent your way. Again, I want to extend an apology on behalf of the entire agency, and I’m terribly sorry if we’ve caused you any additional distress in this difficult time for you.”
“Thank you for your concern,” I said. I glanced at the clock. “I want the new nanny here by noon.”
“That’s not a lot of time, Mr. Brown. I’d think you would understand that making a decision—”
“Tick tock. Noon. You should be glad that I’m giving you the opportunity to fix this, instead of going to another agency and trashing your reputation.” I hung up.
Lydia needed to make things happen. If she could, then I could accept her apology. Otherwise, they’d learn just how stupid it was to piss off a billionaire.
Yes, I was being an ass. I wouldn’t deny that to anyone who asked. I also had spent days dealing with a newborn and paying a woman to help me who had only made things worse. The whole point of going to the agency was supposed to provide qualified and vetted help, not to send me some clueless fool who couldn’t last more than few days.
I’d hired them to make my life easier, and instead, they’d made it much, much harder. So if they sweated my anger for a few hours, so be it. Next time they’d do a better job of vetting their employees.
I ran my hands through my hair. The agency had to give me someone competent. I didn’t know how else I’d handle things otherwise. I was close to losing it.
The next couple of hours exhausted me, between dealing with diapers, bottles, and feeding the baby. Not to mention trying to calm the baby down. Sasha screamed a lot, but I was able to calm her down after a good twenty minutes when I did, but for whatever reason, I didn’t have the miracle touch of Morgan, who could calm her down in under a minute.
Around 11:30, I finished patting Sasha until she burped and then put her down in her playpen with a frown. Everything would have been so much easier if she’d just stop screaming every three seconds. Why did she have to be such a difficult baby?
My hands curled into his fists. Anger flared up in me, not at the baby, but Daisy. This entire ridiculous situation shouldn’t have happened at all.
My sister should have never gotten knocked up, and I shouldn’t have ended up raising her daughter without her. The whole thing was insane.
Yes, I’d made my promises, and I would keep those promises. I would make sure my niece didn’t want for anything, but it was still hard to not be annoyed at the whole thing.
I gritted my teeth. There was no point in bemoaning the actions of the dead. My sister had died, and now I had a responsibility. Staring down at the chubby little baby, I frowned.
“This isn’t your fault, Sasha,” I said. “And I need to keep that in mind. You didn’t choose your mother or how you’d be born.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I’m not great with kids, and you could help me out by screaming less. Just work with me a little, and we’ll both be a lot happier.”
The doorbell rang, and I jerked up my head. I looked down at the baby for a second more. She was safe enough in her playpen for the moment, so I headed to the door to see who it was.
I prayed for their sake it wasn’t anyone who would annoy me. I was down to my last nerve.
When I opened the store, and a squat, middle-aged woman stood on the other side, a huge leather bag on her side.
I frowned, taking her in. A saleswoman? Did people still try and sell things door to door in this day and age?
“Mr. Brown?” the woman said.
“Yes, and you are?” I said, looking her up and down. Her gray dress looked like something out of the fifties. I wasn’t impressed by her fashion sense, but I didn’t even know who she was.
“Sandy,” the woman said. “The agency sent me to help you with baby Sasha.”
“I see,” my face tightened. “And how many babies have you taken care of? Forgive me; I’m less than trusting after what happened with the last woman your agency sent to my home.”
“You’re right to feel the way you do, sir. I would in the same situation.” Sandy nodded, not even a hint of offense in her eyes. “Let me tell you about my background; I’ve been a nanny for twenty-five years. I’ve worked for a variety of families and have dealt with newborns on many different occasions.”
Twenty-five years? She’d been working as a nanny longer than Fiona had been out of the hospital herself, but I still needed to make a couple of things clear before I let her in.
“Newborns fresh out of the hospital?” I asked. “She’s brand spanking new, not six months or anything.”
Sandy waved a hand dismissively. “Please, Mr. Brown, you have to understand that many families like yours need help immediately, so yes, I’ve worked with many babies fresh out of the hospital.”
I liked her confidence, but Fiona had been confident as well.
“You’ve dealt with babies that scream?” I eyed her suspiciously.
“Oh, yes, many times.” Sandy laughed, a throaty sound. “Let’s just pray your little niece doesn’t end up with colic. That would be an unpleasant few months for all of us.”
I grimaced. “Colic? That’s where they just cry and cry no matter what you do?”
“Pretty much.” She tucked a few strands of graying brown hair behind her ear. “But I’ll be handling her if that becomes an issue. My sole goal here is to make sure your niece is taken care of with the benefit of over two decades of professional childcare experience. Not only that, but I come from a long line of nannies.”
I rubbed my chin. “Okay, that does sound good.”
“So are you satisfied enough to at least give me a chance with your niece?”
“Yes,” I stepped back and motioned inside. “Please come in, Sandy.”
She stepped inside. She set her bag down by the door and pulled out a notepad and pen. “The first thing I wanted to discuss was the baby’s routine. If she’s having problems, one place to examine is the routine and how we might want to alter it.”
“Routine? What do you mean exactly?”
“You have Sasha on a set routine, right? Trying to have her sleep at certain times, meal times at certain times, that sort of thing. You know, a routine.”
“I give her a bath at night. Otherwise, I feed her when she wants it.” I shrugged. “She’s a baby. It’s not like I can take her allowance away and make her do what I want.”
I winced. The nanny talked about routines like they were the most obvious thing in the world, and now that I thought about it, she was totally right. This was part of the problem. I’d forgotten to apply the same principles to taking care of Sasha that I did in business.
A good business is always proa
ctive, not reactive. So it only followed that a good parent was proactive, not reactive.
Sandy clucked her tongue. “No, no. This will not do. Well, we can discuss the details of a good routine later.” She offered me a thin smile. “And I think you’ll find that babies are easier to deal with than older children. Their needs and wants are much simpler after all.” She marched past me then closed on the playpen. She smiled down at the now-sleeping baby. “What a lovely little girl.”
“At least when she’s not screaming,” I mumbled.
Sandy cut me with a sharp glare. I winced again, despite being the man employing her.
“Never blame the baby,” she said. “If babies are upset, it’s because their needs aren’t being met. They aren’t surly teens smoking reefer.”
Reefer? I almost laughed. Between that comment and the dress, it was like they’d gotten her from some time machine. I didn’t care. She already seemed way more competent than Fiona. Things were finally looking up.
I nodded quickly. “Sorry. I’m just exhausted. It’s been a rough few days.”
“I understand, Mr. Brown, and again I want to apologize on behalf of the agency. I can assure you that Fiona will never work as a nanny not only for our agency but in this city again.” She scowled. “A nanny abandoning her family because it’s too hard is like a heart surgeon giving up in the middle of the operation. Disgusting.”
I liked this woman. About the only thing she didn’t have going for her was an English accent.
“I think we’re going to get along very well,” I said.
Sandy looked me up and down. “If you don’t have a schedule or routine to share with me right away, why don’t you go get some sleep? You look very tired, Mr. Brown. Remember, it’s important for you to take care of yourself so you can be there for your baby.”
I moved over to my couch and dropped down right there. “A little rest sounds like a good idea.” I was asleep almost instantly.
