Baby Love(26)

Susan placed Trey's breakfast plate in front of him. I reached over, taking the baby from him so that he could eat.

"I'm going to nurse her for just a few minutes, Susan, why don't you go ahead and sit down and eat with Trey."

"Okay honey," she said. "I'll keep your plate warm."

I took Preston into the living room, unbuttoning my jacket and pulling the silk camisole down to allow her access. She dropped the rubber rattle to the floor and latched onto my nipple before I had even sat down on the couch. I positioned her comfortably in the crook of my arm so I could watch her while she nursed. She fisted my breast and locked her blue eyes on my face. She watched me intently as she always did when I nursed her. I traced a finger along her soft cheek getting a smile from her.

"Mommy is going to miss you today sweet girl," I said softly to her.

"Grandma will take very good care of you, okay? And later on, daddy and mommy will be home and we will all play together before bedtime again. Just like last night, okay sweet baby? Mommy loves you more than anything Preston."

She grinned up at me then returned to her gentle sucking. I loved her so much. She would be five months old in less than a week. Susan had been with us for nearly six weeks. That must have been difficult for both her and Clive. I would hate to be apart from Trey that long.

A lot of changes had taken place in the past six weeks. I had put further counseling sessions on hold with Karla since I was starting back to work. All in all, Karla was pleased with our sessions and the marked improvement in my emotional health.

Trey joined us ten minutes later, reaching down to take the baby so that I could eat breakfast. She released my nipple reluctantly.

I kissed her cheek and buttoned myself back up. Trey distracted her from fussing about the interruption by getting some of her other toys from the playpen and having her reach for them while she sat on his lap.

Susan was cleaning up their breakfast dishes and updated me on two candidates that were coming by for an interview today. We had seen three candidates the previous week from the agency that for one reason or another had not panned out. Susan suggested we run a newspaper ad as well and conduct our own background checks once we had narrowed it down. The candidates this week had responded to the newspaper ad. We were hopeful they would have more applicable skill sets.

The first candidate was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and the second one was scheduled for 3:00 this afternoon. We had decided that since I was returning to work this week, Susan would do the initial interview screening at two a day for a total of eight candidates. She would then narrow it down to three candidates for Trey and I to interview on Saturday. She was leaving Sunday to return to Bristol.

"Do you want me to call you on your lunch hour to let you know about the first interview this morning Tylar?"

"That would be great Susan, yes, thanks."

"The first interview is with a young girl named Julie who came recommended by the family in the apartment on the second floor. I met her when I was getting the mail."

"Yes, I recall you saying that," I replied. "Who is the second interviewee again?"

"That's the retired nurse. Let's see I have her resume here on the counter somewhere. Yes, here it is. Her name is Sheila Bradley. Listen to this - she worked for more than twenty years as a nurse in obstetrics for North Bay hospital. She is retired and misses working around babies. Sounds promising."

I recalled reading through the resumes and seeing the one for Sheila Bradley. It struck me as a little bit odd as to why she had retired if she now missed working around babies enough to want a job as a babysitter. Nurses could always go back on the circuit I would have thought.

"Anyway, I have the list of questions that you and Trey put together along with some of my own," Susan continued. "We will make this a very thorough process I guarantee you."

"I'm still going to miss you Mom," I replied, looking up at her.

Her eyes teared up a bit as she came over and put her hands on my shoulders patting them.

"I know sweet girl, I will miss you too. It won’t be for long though. We expect you, Trey and the baby for Thanksgiving. Clive will be totally mended by then."

Thanksgiving was only eight weeks away. It was hard to believe all that had happened since last Thanksgiving. I was only working for the next six weeks so I would have a couple of weeks as a breather before we started preparations for the holidays. It would be Preston's first Christmas. Trey and I were excited about that. I knew Trey was worried about his dad. We had assured Susan that we would fly to Bristol if she needed us there. She was adamant that everything would be fine.

My first work day back at the firm was spent getting updated on everything that Leah had going over in Mr. Harmon's area. We reviewed the current caseload, statuses, court calendar, deposition schedule and meeting notices. By lunch time it seemed as if I hadn't been gone for any length of time at all.

I was eating lunch in the break room around 12:30 when my Blackberry vibrated. It was Susan. She told me that everything had gone quite well with Julie's interview. She had taken detailed notes of Julie's answers to all of the questions she was asked.

Susan said that she also made sure to observe some interaction between Julie and the baby; asking Julie to hold Preston while she went to check on something she had simmering on the stove. She had been impressed with Julie and definitely felt like she would make a finalist for this position. She also said that Julie had left a reference list for our review.