Vegas Baby(9)
“Yep, on my way home. Just leaving the bookstore now,” he says. “Hang on.”
Crew presses his phone against his chiseled chest and turns to me, his blue eyes disarming in a way that confuses and delights.
“Are we good here?” he asks.
I nod and push the door open for him, welcoming in a gush of hot air as he leaves. The second he steps outside, he lifts his phone to his ear and turns back to give me a half smile and a quick wave.
So much for telling him off.
“Why can’t they all look like him?” Presley leans against the counter and sighs as her dark eyes twinkle.
“He’s taken,” I remind her. “Clearly.”
“He’s so my type though,” she says. “Goddamn it. Why couldn’t I have met him first? I’d have his baby. I’d have so many of his babies. I’d have an entire mansion full of that man’s sweet, sweet blue-eyed babies.”
“You hate babies.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to load these up in my car so I’m ready to go when Bryson gets here.” I grab the dolly and start stacking books, yawning all the while.
THREE
Crew
“I’ve decided she looks exactly like you.” Noelle swings the baby in her arms as I burst through the apartment door, my arms full of sacks upon sacks of baby bottles, formula, pacifiers, clothes, blankets, and towels. “Butt chin and all.”#p#分页标题#e#
“It’s a dimple.” I drop the bags and head back out to my truck, returning with an armful of boxes of things I’m sure I’ll spend all night assembling.
“Butt chin.” She says, crouching down to rifle through the bags. “Good. You got her more clothes. Her mother only packed a few outfits. They’re really expensive too. Who the hell dresses their baby in Dior? Don’t they know babies ruin everything?”
“You going to stick around so I can put this shit together?”
A bouncer and a changing table sit in upright boxes leaning against the wall. The crib’s still in my truck. I hit up the local baby big box store and grabbed a bored-looking employee. A slip of a fifty into the palm of his hand guaranteed me a personal shopper for the next hour. I took a seat on a nearby bench while he maneuvered the aisles Super Market Sweep-style and met me at the checkout an hour later.
“Sorry, Charlie,” she says, placing the baby back in my arms. She slips her phone from her pocket and checks the time. “I’m working tonight. Picked up an extra shift at the hospital. And you’re welcome. In case you didn’t notice, I picked up your apartment for you. You’re still going to need to baby proof.”
A quick glance around the room, and I realize I can see the floor. The pillows on the sofa are fluffed, and the tops of the end tables shine with fresh polish.
“I stayed clear of your room.” Her hands fly up and her eyes avert.
“Appreciate it.”
“I threw the dishes in the dishwasher for you.” She strides toward the door, stepping into a pair of neon yellow flats garish enough to nauseate our mother. “I’m not enabling you.”
“I know.”
“I’m just being a good sister.”
“You are.”
“You’re lucky to have me.”
“I am.”
“She’s cute.” Noelle’s face softens a bit as she pulls in a slow sigh. “Really, really cute.”
“Of course she is. She’s a Forrester.”
Probably.
“Your life’s about to get all kinds of complicated, Crew.” She shakes her head. “You’re going to have to reprioritize some things.”
“You sound like Dad.”
She juts her tongue out and scrunches her face. “Don’t say that.”
“I don’t need a lecture.”
Noelle checks her phone again. “We’ll talk more later. I gotta go.”
The second she’s gone and it’s just me and a wide-eyed, fluffy-haired baby, I yank a pink fleece blanket from a plastic sack and spread it across the floor before laying her down. Her chubby legs kick as her arms flail, and she flashes a gummy smile when our eyes meet.
I extend a finger and she wraps her tiny hand around it.
I’ve never been a fan of relishing in those still, small moments that force you to feel things, but damn if she didn’t just melt my heart.
I want to remember this—the way I felt when this little girl smiled at me for the first time.
“All right. Enough of this,” I say when my heart feels like it could explode from my chest any minute now. Reaching for her diaper bag, I rifle through, looking to see if Ava had the forethought to send her packing with any toys. She doesn’t seem like she misses Ava yet, and perhaps they never had a chance to bond, but I’m sure she’d still appreciate something that smells like home. I unzip the leather bag and fish around, pulling out a few small items: a rubber giraffe, a silver rattle, and a pacifier with a name etched onto it.#p#分页标题#e#