Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(30)
“What if I can’t let her go later?”
“Maybe you won’t have to.”
“What?”
Leigh shrugged. “Not like you and me haven’t seen our share of f*ck-ups over the years. She might decide life’s easier without a baby to take care of. You’re not responsible for Sofia’s actions. You’re only responsible for taking care of the baby.”
Landry texted Tilly just before they reached the office that he and Sofia had returned to the condo. At least they didn’t have to worry about cleaning or tidying the place up. Between her and Cris, the condo was always company-ready.
Tilly swapped the car seat base out to her car. Then she unloaded the extra items she’d bought for the baby to keep at the office. After briefly going through phone messages and e-mails, she loaded the baby and headed home again. She had stuff to do, but it’d be easier, at this point, to do it at home.
Her emotions ran the gamut from anger to worry to guilt. Not entirely convinced it didn’t make her a horrible person for hoping Sofia went back to jail, Tilly knew she’d need to talk this out with her men sooner rather than later.
Especially when taking the nightmares into account. There were times Tilly could admit she couldn’t do something alone. Those times were few and far between, but this clearly was one of those times.
She wanted her men’s input and guidance. Obviously, too many triggers in this situation meant she wasn’t thinking clearly, wasn’t being rational.
When she arrived home, Landry was seated on the couch and working on his laptop. Tilly glanced around, and he smiled.
“She’s taking a nap.”
“Oh.” Tilly set the carrier on the couch and got the baby out. She’d just awakened when they’d returned home and needed a diaper and a bottle.
Landry set his laptop on the coffee table and stood to help her.
“I’ve got this,” she said.
“I know you do, love, but I want to help. I might as well learn these skills.”
“You? Changing diapers?”
“This isn’t a case of she’s one of our friends’ babies. She’s ours, for the immediate future and perhaps longer. That means she’s my responsibility as well. I refuse to shoulder you with the entirety of the burden of her care.”
Tilly blinked away tears that had taken her by surprise. “Imagine that,” she tried to snark. “Sir Fussypants is paternal.”
He gently caught her chin and tilted her face up to his. His green eyes bore a serious intent she hadn’t seen there since his last round of cancer treatments.
“Love,” he softly said. “She’s our baby, for now. I never said I was against being parental. It simply wasn’t an option before now. Give me this chance, please?”
Now she really felt like a shit. “Sorry.”
He kissed her. “I know your emotions are all out of sorts right now. Understandable.” He reached for the baby and Tilly handed her over. “Now, show me the proper way to change our little toxic waste zone.” He smiled.
Tilly smacked herself in the head. “That’s what I meant to get. One of those diaper disposal things.”
“Shall I have Cris pick one up on his way home? He’s going to rent a car after work.”
“No, that’s okay. We have extra plastic grocery bags. We can tie the dirty diapers up in those and throw them away for now. I want him home and here for the visit.” She got Landry everything he’d need to change the baby, spreading the changing mat out on the sofa for him. “So what happened today? What are the details?”
He went through the day, step-by-step, as she supervised him changing the baby. By the time he had the onesie snapped up again and the job finished, he’d completed his story.
“You already paid the fees, then, I take it?” she asked.
He held the baby in his arms. “The print-out is on the counter. Now, how do I prepare her bottle?”
Tilly showed him, including using the supplement prescribed by the doctor. A few minutes later, he was seated on the couch again, a burp rag over his shoulder, the baby happily feeding in his arms, eagerly slurping down the bottle’s contents.
Tilly pulled out her phone, snapped a few pictures, and even took video.
He smiled. “This amuses you greatly, doesn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah.” She fought the urge to break down in tears again. “Not something I ever thought I’d see.” She watched him for a moment. “What do you think the chances are of her going back to jail?”
“I honestly don’t know. I suppose if the probation officer was going to revoke her probation, she would have done so before now. I’m guessing that coming here for a home visit is a good thing.”
“True.” Tilly hated that she felt a twinge of disappointment over that logic.
This wasn’t like her. No, she didn’t want Katie to be separated from her mom.
But Tilly damn sure didn’t want the baby growing up with someone not capable of taking good care of her, either.
Someone who couldn’t even protect herself, much less a baby.
Cris willed the traffic to move faster, even though he knew that was an exercise in futility on a masochistic level.
This was LA, not Florida. Even if he could get off the freeway, the secondary roads were just as clogged this time of day.
Tymber Dalton's Books
- Vulnerable [Suncoast Society] (Suncoast Society #29)
- Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)
- The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)
- Open Doors (Suncoast Society #27)
- One Ring (Suncoast Society #28)
- Initiative (Suncoast Society #31)
- Hot Sauce (Suncoast Society #26)
- Time Out of Mind (Suncoast Society #43)
- Liability (Suncoast Society #33)