He frowned. “Not my scene?”
“You know, babies and bottles and diapers. I get that.”
“Lydia…”
“No, no. Really. I get it.”
He turned Levi’s highchair until it faced him. “I swear, Levi. Women are so complicated. Trust me.”
Levi gurgled, a drop of drool running down his chin.
“Exactly,” Jason said. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Lydia laughed and shoved the baby food and spoon over to him. “Knock yourself out.”
He would never admit it, but feeding Levi was a little scary. He’d never fed a baby like this. When he’d had the kids for the day, feeding Levi had consisted of handing him a bottle and letting him handle it from there. This…this was totally different. But law school had taught him to fake it until you make it, so he jumped in, uncapping the jars.
He sniffed the first one. It didn’t smell bad at all. Strained prunes. Yeah, that didn’t sound so great. Still, he put a little on the spoon and held it up to Levi. He opened his mouth like a baby bird, and Jason deposited the icky-looking mess in there. Levi immediately spit it out, splattering Jason’s clean polo.
Risking a glance at Lydia, he found her resting her chin in the palm of her hand, her elbow on the table, and the cutest grin he’d ever seen on her face.
“Let’s try that again,” he told Levi.
This time, the prunes stayed in, even if a little oozed from the corners of his mouth. Levi slapped the highchair tray and grinned.
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he said, spooning in another bite.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“How would you like a babysitter and a night off?”
She straightened. “I don’t know. These kids are just getting used to me. I’m not sure about bringing a stranger into my home.”
He shoveled another tiny spoonful into Levi’s mouth.
“Not a stranger. My parents.”
“Oh, Jason. That’s so nice but I––”
Before she could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Ellery yelled.
“Good God. That girl is going to let in a serial killer one day.” She sighed. “Don’t open the door until I get there,” she called back. “Not that she’ll listen to me,” she added, standing and hurrying out of the room.
Jason had a good idea who might be at the door. When he heard his father’s booming, deep voice talking to Ellery, he knew he was right. Now, if Lydia didn’t kill him for arranging this without her permission…
“Hi, honey,” his mother said.
“Look who’s here, Jason. It’s your parents,” Lydia said, although he was pretty sure her voice was coming through gritted teeth. She glanced at his mother. “I am so sorry that the house is such a disaster. If I’d known you were coming, I’d have––”
“Hush,” Jackie said. “I raised four children in a tiny ranch house. I know it’s impossible to keep a meticulous, or heck, even a kind-of-clean house with kids.” She went over to Levi. “You must be Levi,” she said, tickling the baby under his chin. “I’m Mimi. That’s what all the kids call me.”
Levi smiled and purple-tinged drool ran down his chin.
“Hi, Mom,” Jason said.
Jackie turned toward Lydia. “How in the world did you get him to feed a baby? No one else ever has.”
“Stop it, Mom,” Jason said, embarrassed at his mother’s comment. “Maybe no one ever let me before. You ever think of that?”
Jackie rolled her eyes. “Right.”
Lane came around the corner with each girl holding on to an index finger. “Did you see these two beautiful ladies I found in the living room, Mimi?”
Jackie smiled. “I did.” She squatted to their level. “I’m Mimi. Now which one of you is Annie and which one is Ellery?”
The girls released Lane’s fingers, ran over to Lydia and hid their faces on her thigh.
“They’re a little bashful around strangers,” Lydia said. She dropped to one knee. “This is Annie,” she said as she patted the back of the girl dressed in green. “And this is Ellery.”
Ellery wore a white top with obvious food stains on the front.
“Girls, these are Uncle Jason’s mom and dad.”
The girls looked at Jason, who smiled back at them and then to his parents.
“Yep,” he said. “My mom and dad. They have been wanting to come meet you forever.”
“That’s right,” Jackie said.
Lane held out his hands to the girls. “They were taking me to their bedroom to see it. Do you want to come along, Mimi?”
“I sure do,” Jackie said.
The girls looked at Lydia.
“It’s okay. You can go,” she told them.
Ellery grabbed Lane’s left finger and Annie his right, and the four of them left the kitchen.
The minute they were gone, Lydia dropped into a chair. “What the hell? I can’t believe you invited your parents over here. Good God, Jason. Look at this place. Dishes piled in the sink. A pile of clothes on the sofa. I haven’t run a vacuum in days. Dog hair is probably covering every surface. I am so pissed right now.”
The last sentence was said with such a fierce growl that Levi’s chin began to quiver and then he began to cry.
“Oh, baby,” she said to Levi, patting his back. “It’s okay.”
Jason swallowed. He’d known she’d probably be upset, but he’d underestimated her ire. Before the children had come, Lydia had been flexible, ready to go with the flow.
“Look, babe, you need a break. You’ve been here twenty-four seven for weeks. Mom’s been bugging me nonstop to let her come over to see the kids or get you to bring them to their house. Nonstop. I swear. I can only take so much nagging.”
Lydia’s lips tightened into a hard line. “Nagging?” she finally said. “So nagging works with you? How about I nag you to get your ass out of my house. Better yet, I’ll nag you to get the hell out of my business.”
Jason lifted a spoon of––he stopped to read the jar label. Pureed turkey. Yum?––to Levi’s mouth, which opened immediately for the food.
“Sorry. You can’t scare me off.”
“I’m. Not. Trying. To. Scare. You. Off.” Each word was said with exact pronunciation. “I’m telling you that I don’t need you, or anyone else, to rescue me.”
“Good. I’m not trying to rescue you,” he said, putting air quotes around the last two words.
“You are really pissing me off right now.”
“Okay.” He pulled on his in-the-courtroom calm composure. She was beyond exhausted. He’d bet every dollar in his wallet that her shoulders were a rock garden. This situation wasn’t healthy for her or the children.
He wiped Levi’s face with the wet cloth on the table and then fed him another spoon of something that looked disgusting but must have tasted fine.
“Lydia. I love you. You know that. Do you think for one minute I’d do anything that I thought would hurt or embarrass you? Of course not,” he added before she could say anything. “But these children have been through so much. Uprooted to a new house. New adults taking care of them. The most important people in their young lives gone forever.”
“I know,” she said, her voice tense enough to cut solid wood.
“What I know about children won’t fill a thimble, but what my mother knows about kids would fill this house and overflow into the streets. She’s the one who pushed me to get you some time off. Time to recharge your batteries so you can be a better mother.”
The word mother felt so foreign rolling off his tongue when talking about Lydia. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected to call her.
She slumped back in her chair, not defeated, but weakening.
“Mom and Dad want to stay here this e
vening. Let me take you somewhere special. Somewhere that will put some sparkle back in your eyes.”
“If this is about sex…”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say no. I’ve missed holding you, but, no, this isn’t about sex. This is about you. You’ve known me for a long time. Can’t you trust me?”
She sighed. “But the house––”
“Is fine,” he completed. “Go take a shower. Put on some shorts and a T-shirt. Don’t worry about make-up or anything like that. It’s just a little Lydia time. Okay? We’ll be back before you know it.”
She hesitated and he went in for the kill, just like he did anytime he saw a weakness in the courtroom.
“Lydia. Trust me.”
“I will kill you at some point for letting your parents see my house like this.”
“Accepted,” he said with a grin. “Go. Get ready.”
After she left the room, he looked at Levi. “I’m telling you, man. These females are tough, you know? But don’t you worry. I’ll teach you all the tricks.”
Spit dribbled off Levi’s chin, and somewhere deep inside Jason, a powerful emotion tugged at his heart.
He’d lived the past ten years knowing that children weren’t in his future. He’d accepted that reality, built his life around it, made sure everyone around him knew it. He had never allowed himself to want children. Never allowed himself to daydream about being a father. He’d told—no, convinced—himself that being an uncle would fulfill any nurturing urges he might have.
Except now, fate had dropped three children into the life of the woman he’d been ready to spend the rest of his life with, which posed huge questions.
Did he want to spend the next eighteen years––minimum––raising children that he’d been sure he didn’t want?
How could three tiny people get wedged into his heart so fast?
Chapter Five
Lydia was embarrassed, humiliated and beyond pissed off at Jason. Not only was her house a total wreck, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d washed her hair. His parents would think her a horrible substitute parent. They probably were feeling sorry for the kids having to grow up with her as their only adult.
But they were here. The damage was done. They’d seen what her life had become…a collection of dirty dishes, messy diapers and little girls who rarely minded her.
She so sucked at this parenting thing.
As she made her way to her bathroom, voices trickled out of the girls’ room. She tip-toed up to the door to see what was going on.
Lane was in the floor. The girls were trying to figure out how to clip barrettes and bobby pins into his chopped hair. Jackie sat on Annie’s bed, giving them suggestions on the best way to fix Papa’s hair. The girls looked happy. Lane and Jackie were wearing grins and flushed faces.
“Everything okay here?” she asked from the door.
“Aunt Lydia. Papa wears barrettes in his hair,” Ellery said.
Lydia nodded. “So I see. You look quite festive, Lane.”
“Thank you,” Lane said. “I’ve been looking for a couple of new ladies in my life to help style my hair.”
Jackie snickered.
“If it’s okay with you two, I’m going to jump in the shower. Jackie, you might want to check on Jason. He and Levi are flying solo.”
She nodded but didn’t get up. “I will…in a minute. It won’t hurt him to be alone for a couple of minutes.”
Lydia’s heart picked up a little. She’d never say it aloud, but it made her nervous to leave Levi with Jason. This was a man who’d made his interest, or rather lack of interest, in childrearing crystal clear, so his nurturing center probably didn’t exist, even if he did feed Levi tonight. Sure, he’d taken care of them for a day, but that’d been an emergency situation, one he hadn’t been able to walk away from easily.
“Are you sure? Maybe you could go check?” Lydia said.
Jackie waved her off. “Go on and get dressed. We’re all fine.” Her gaze met Lydia’s. “We’re all fine. So are you. We’ve got you covered.”
Lydia turned away before Jackie could see the tears that welled up in her eyes. “Damn it,” she muttered as she swiped at her eyes. She was simply tired.
The entire time she was in the shower, she expected the door to come slamming open with some emergency. One of the girls had gotten hurt. Or Levi had aspirated. Or maybe the house was on fire. But nothing happened. The hot water felt like heaven, as did her scalp when she rinsed away days of grime.
Her only problem was after she was out and dried, she realized she’d forgotten to bring any clothes with her to the bathroom. She wrapped her damp towel securely around her and peeked out the door. The hall was clear. She threw the door fully open and made a dash for her bedroom.
“Oh, good,” Jackie said when Lydia walked in. “You’re here. Would you mind if I gave Levi his bath tonight?”
Lydia startled at finding Jackie in her bedroom, but of course, it was Levi’s room too.
“I’m sorry,” Jackie said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you saw me when you walked in.”
“I didn’t, but no biggie. Sure, you can bathe Levi, but you don’t have to. I can clean him up.”
Jackie narrowed her eyes in a threat. “Don’t you dare take this baby away from me. It’s the only baby I’ve got to play with right now.”
Laughing, Lydia headed for her closet. “Hey. You two don’t mind me. I don’t want to get between true love.”
As she stood in her closet and dressed, she listened to Jackie talking and cooing to Levi, who was giggling. Granted, she didn’t know a lot about babies outside her medical training, but she knew Levi was the definition of a good baby.
The clean hair, fresh shorts, clean polo and sandals made her feel better. However, she still wasn’t keen on leaving the children. What if something happened? Her sister had trusted her. Wasn’t leaving them a violation of that trust? Maybe just having the time to shower and dress in peace was enough. She’d thank Lane and Jackie and let them go home.
Jackie and Levi were gone when she stepped back into the bedroom. Lane and the girls were not in their bedroom either. A mild panic seized her. Where were the children?
She raced into an empty living room and then into the kitchen. She skid to a stop. Lane, Jason and the girls were sitting at the table. Jackie had Levi sitting in the kitchen sink, water splashing every surface.
“Hi, honey,” Jackie called. “Lane was hungry. I hope you don’t mind. I made him and the girls some hot dogs.”
“I helped,” Ellery said.
“You sure did,” Lane said.
“I fed Jasper,” Annie said.
“All by yourself?” Lydia asked.
“Yes.”
Jason caught her eye and pointed to his chest and then to Annie. Ah. He and Annie had fed Jasper.
“Well, you girls sure are helpful.”
Their faces lit up with smiles at her praise.
“We brought the girls a movie for after dinner. Something titled Frozen. I’ve been assured by Caroline that they will love it and you will come to hate me because they will watch it over and over.”
Lydia chuckled. She might not have had children before now, but even she knew about the song “Let It Go”.
“Well, I’ll just have to let it go, right?” Lydia joked.
Jackie grinned at her. “Exactly. Now, I think Jason has some plans for tonight.”
Panic hit her again. “I don’t know. I really appreciate you coming over and letting me get a shower, but—”
“No buts,” Jackie said. “Lane and I aren’t exactly newbies at this, you know?”
Lydia walked over to Jackie and lowered her voice. Little ears had long hearing ranges.
“Look, Jackie, I really thank you, but I’m not sure the girls are ready to be
left with strangers.”
“Really?” Jackie tilted her head toward the table.
Annie had crawled into Lane’s lap and was feeding him a chip.
“They lost their parents,” Lydia said. “I don’t want them to think I’m leaving too.”
“Honey, you’re not going to be gone that long. If there’s a problem, we’ll be on the phone to you jiffy quick. I promise. Don’t make a big deal out of leaving. Just walk out the door. Don’t give long hugs and goodbye speeches. That’s what confuses them. By the time they realize you’re gone, we’ll be watching Frozen and eating the cookies I have stashed in the car.”
“You have cookies stashed?”
Jackie grinned. “A grandmother’s prerogative.”
“But—”
“I’m not their grandmother? Semantics, my dear. Now go. We’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
Lydia hesitated. This was such a bad idea.
“Go,” Jackie repeated. “We’ll all be fine.”
Lydia felt pushed out of her own house. She knew Jackie and Lane meant well, but still…
Jason stood and walked over. “Ready?” He glanced at his watch. “We have to be somewhere in twenty minutes.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
She was definitely surprised when Jason wheeled into the Eden Spa. Known for its upscale clientele and impeccable service, not to mention pricey massages and facials, Lydia had never been here. Oh, she’d wanted to, but somehow it’d never worked out.
“The Eden Spa?” she said to Jason when he shut off the engine.
“For once in your life, can you please let someone else be in charge for a little while?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Well, thank God. Now let’s go. We’re almost late.”
And heaven knows, the man couldn’t abide being late. Good thing he didn’t have children.
But on the other hand, he had no idea what he was missing.
The aroma of fresh eucalyptus greeted them in a posh lobby. Soft new-age music drifted from hidden speakers. Cushy chairs and sofas were placed in such a way that privacy was assured, if one wanted privacy.
Jason stepped up to the curved desk. A blonde smiled warmly at him…too warmly, in Lydia’s opinion. She couldn’t blame the girl. Jason was an extremely handsome man. Last fall, when he’d put himself in a bachelor auction to piss her off––which it did––there had almost been a riot among the women to win the date.
Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7) Page 6
