“What are you doing here? You practically gave me a heart attack, man,” I said, placing the baby monitor on the kitchen table and then going to the cabinets to get myself a coffee cup. I poured myself a hot cup, added some milk and sugar, and sat down across from Mark.
“It’s six thirty. I know you always get up at six. I didn’t realize you’d be in the shower.”
“It’s fine. I’m just tired. Juliana kept having nightmares last night.”
“Is that what that’s for?” he asked, gesturing towards the baby monitor.
“Yes. All her nightmares started with her whimpering and ended with her screaming ‘No!’ I want to wake her up before she starts screaming. I’m worried about her, Mark,” I admitted, glad that I finally had someone to talk to about this.
“Me too. I checked up on Boyle last night to see if anyone heard about him. Turns out, he skipped bail and there is a warrant out for his arrest.”
“Well, that’s just fantastic,” I said, taking a big gulp of coffee. Why couldn’t this scumbag just leave my poor baby girl alone?
“Do you think we should tell Juliana? I hate the thought of making her worry more than she needs to.”
I took another sip of coffee, thinking about that. Mark was right. On one hand, I didn’t want to worry her because it would only hurt her. On the other hand, I thought she had the right to know. Also, if she knew, it would make her more cautious.
Coming to a decision, I said, “I think we should tell her. It’ll make her more cautious and she has the right to know.”
He was about to object, but I held up my hand to silence him as I continued, “With that being said, I will tell her boss so he can make sure to keep an eye on her. I know that you and Juliana have mentioned in the past that he is an older man who has daughters around Juliana’s age and so he’s extra protective of her. Let’s use that to our advantage.”
“What about when she isn’t at work? Her boss can’t be with her all the time, and you and I work.”
“True, but that’s the beauty of being in a practice with three other doctors. I only work one weekend a month, and I always get Mondays off. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I work from nine in the morning to five at night. Then on Thursdays I work from one in the afternoon to nine at night. Juliana works from eight thirty in the morning to five fifteen in the evenings, Monday thru Friday. I’m close enough to drop her off and pick her up four out of the five days in the business week.”
A grin flashed across Mark’s face as he said, “I have Thursdays off, so I can watch her then. But I work most weekends. What are you going to do with her when you have to work that one weekend a month?”
That made me pause to think. The weekends were going to be tough. Thankfully, I only worked one a month, but it was going to be tricky. Then the solution hit me.
“I can bring her to work with me. She can stay in my office. Besides, on weekends the practice is only open from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon. If she doesn’t want to stay with me for those four hours, then I could have her hang out with Samantha or Joey. I know that Juliana has been talking to both of them a lot.”
“That sounds like a good plan. I just hope Juliana will like it and her finding out about Boyle won’t hurt her health anymore.”
I took a sip of coffee before I answered him. The caffeine finally started to work its way through my system and wake me up.
“As crazy as this sounds, I think it will help her out tremendously. She will always be with someone, and I’ll quite enjoy being able to feed her and instill plenty of nap times so she’ll gain some weight and get rid of the dark circles under her eyes.”
“You’ve got a good point there, my friend,” Mark said, raising his coffee cup towards me and then taking a drink.
For about an hour, Mark and I sat at the table talking about work and sports. I’d drunk another three cups of coffee when I heard Juliana starting to wake up over the baby monitor.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, standing and bringing the baby monitor with me. I quietly opened her bedroom door, walked in, and closed it right away. I could see that she hadn’t quite woken up yet, but she was getting there. I walked across the room and sat down on the side of her bed.
Pushing her hair out of her face, I gave her a kiss on the forehead and said, “Good morning, baby girl.”
Her eyes fluttered open and she momentarily looked confused, but then smiled at me and said, “Good morning, Daddy.” Her little fists went up to her face and rubbed her eyes.
“I would ask how you slept last night, pumpkin, but I know the answer to that.”