Infinity(46)

I feel like Pancho, trying to interrupt what these stupid humans are saying. My head cocks to the side, and I raise my lip and eyebrows. She’s got to be crazy if she thinks I’m naming my baby girl Aiden.

She continues. “Ainsley is the female name for Aiden. He’s been such a good friend to both of us, and I rather like the name. Ainsley McKinney has a nice ring to it. It’s different, but not different like no one’s heard it before. It’s cute for a little girl as well as an adult professional. It doesn’t rhythm with anything, so that limits what she can be called on the playground.”

That’s been one of my huge issues with choosing a name. I’m already saddling the poor kid with a famous dad and paparazzi-favorite parents who’ve had every conceivable lie printed about them. Hell, Charlie and I had to sneak our baby out of the hospital using a delivery entrance in the middle of the night, for God’s sake. I don’t want to add a poor name choice on top of her inherent-by-birth baggage.

I say the name out loud, “Ainsley.” It’s pretty. It has a nice ring to it. Of course, Aiden will get a kick out of us naming our baby girl after him. I think that I love it. “Ainsley,” I repeat out loud. “Ainsley.”

I jump off the couch and into the air, yelling, “Sold!”

It startles Ainsley, and she yelps. Charlie shoots me a dirty look as she soothes our baby.

I sit back down, and say, “Ainsley Jane McKinney… perfection.”

Charlie corrects me, and says, “Ainsley Elizabeth McKinney.”

While Charlie finishes feeding Ainsley, I slip out the backdoor and confer with Jamie on what plans he’s put in place to keep my family safe.

Jamie is sitting at his desk, reviewing video footage from the guard shack. “Anything new?” I ask as I take a seat across from him.

He looks apologetic and shakes his head. “Sorry, Mr. McKinney. We’re working our tails off.”

I nod. I know he is. Jamie takes his job very seriously. “What’s the plan for the party today?”

He diverts his gaze from the screen and leans forward on the desk, looking me in the eye. “Your guests will pass through two security checkpoints. The caterer is leaving the food at the guard stand. There’s not enough time to complete background checks on all of the caterer’s employees. Everyone that enters your home will have either passed a previous screening like Alice and Chef, or be on your invitation list.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it under control,” I reply. As I stand up, I reach out and shake Jamie’s hand. “I appreciate what a great job you did training the gate guards. Make sure they get a bonus on their next paycheck from Doctor Collins and myself.”

A smile breaks out across his face, and he says, “Thank you Mr. McKinney. They were just doing their job, but I know they’ll appreciate it.”

As I turn to leave, Jamie yells, “One more thing.”

I stop, and spin around. Poor guy looks like he’s scared to say whatever it is. “You’re going to have to inform Doctor Collins that she can’t jog around the gated neighborhood anymore without taking one of the security guys. Also, I’m assigning two of my men to her and Ainsley at all times when they leave the house.”

No wonder the guy looked petrified. Charlie will not be pleased, but she’s just going to have to suck it up. After the asshole has been arrested, I’ll tell her what a close call we had.

I sigh as I walk back to my home. This is my life… all because I can throw a football.

Our family and friends don’t mind passing through the added security measures when they arrive for the party. Everyone is too excited about meeting Ainsley Elizabeth Jane McKinney. We reasoned if the future king of England can have multiple names, so can Miss Ainsley.



****



My first full day away from Charlie and Ainsley is much harder than I’d thought that it would be. I text her fifty times at least. Finally, her sister Amy texts me back, and says I have to stop because everyone is trying to nap.

Amy has been a gift from God. She’s an elementary education teacher who worked at a pre-school. After nine straight nights of not sleeping more than a couple of hours, Charlie called her and begged her to help. Amy quit her job, and moved in upstairs.

She’s great. She keeps to herself and doesn’t need for us to entertain her. She’s working on her masters, so she’s busy with her online courses, but can pause her work if we need her.

We discussed having my mom or Charlie’s mom come spend some time with us, but we both decided that it wasn’t a good idea. Susan and Charlie are not on the best of terms because my mom can be a clueless ditz. I love Charlie’s mom, but my mom would get her feelings hurt if we didn’t include her.