Moonlighter (The Company, #1)(109)

This is pure chaos, and I don’t even care. My baby girl is here. Eric has her in his arms.

We made it.





38





Janurary





Eric





I’m just finishing my coffee when I hear Rosie begin to mewl from the crib. I set my mug down on Alex’s coffee table and go, because Alex is still in the shower.

“Hello, baby girl!” I say, entering the tidy nursery. Rosie’s early arrival caught us off-guard, of course. But now this room is ready, with a soft flannel sheet on the crib mattress and tiny diapers stocked beside the changing table.

When I reach the edge of the crib, she looks up at me, blue eyes blinking, little hands opening and closing rapidly. Pick me up, man, she’s saying. This nap is over.

I lean over the crib and lift her little body onto my forearm. “Look who’s getting heavy! Did you put on another ounce in your sleep?”

Rose looks up at me without comment. But that’s how it is with us. I do all the talking.

I lay her down on the changing table and unzip her pink sleeper. I trade the wet diaper for a dry one. But just as I’m about to zip her up again, I notice that Alex has laid out another outfit. It’s like a whole-body sweater in pink and gray stripes.

“Looks like you’re getting dolled up for company,” I say, grabbing the garment and holding it up. I have socks larger than this thing. There are snaps around the crotch and legs, so I carefully undo those. And there’s a single snap on the shoulder to widen the neck hole.

Hmm. I’m pretty good at the zip-up sleepers now. But this thing goes over her head?

“Okay, kid,” I say, easing her soft little arms out of the sleeper. “This would be easier if you could sit up.” I sort of prop her up with my left hand and then ease the sweater over her with my right.

She makes a noise of displeasure.

“Yup, just another second.” I tug the garment over her round little head.

When her face pops through, her expression is mildly accusatory.

“Don’t look at me, this was all Mommy’s idea.” I lay her down again and snap the crotch closed. But then I realize her arms are still at her sides, so I open it up again and poke around until I can ease those little hands down through the armholes. “Yes!” I say when she’s wearing the thing properly. “Did it.”

Rose is unimpressed, though. She’s hungry, and I’ve burned through all her goodwill with the sweater. She opens her mouth and howls.

“Okay, lady. No need to shout.” I grab the baby sling off the doorknob and drop it over my head, then I tuck her in and head for the kitchen.

“Someone needs a bottle,” says Tara, the young woman that Alex hired to come in and cook a few days a week.

Alex chose to hire help in the kitchen instead of hiring a baby nurse. “There will be nannies,” she had said. “But so long as I’m home, I want to do it all myself.” I would never question Alex’s choices for Rosie. But after I tasted Tara’s cooking, the wisdom of this decision truly became clear.

Tara lifts the bottle out of a bowl of warm water and dries it with a towel just as Rose begins wailing in earnest. “There you go.”

“Excellent timing, thank you.” I grab it and hustle to the living room, where I make us comfortable on the sofa. And after testing the temperature of the milk, I touch the nipple to Rose’s tiny lips.

And—this part always kills me—after she opens her little mouth and takes the nipple, she gives her little head a shake as she begins to suck, just to make sure she’s on there good and tight.

“There you go. This bottle doesn’t stand a chance.”

Blue eyes look up at me, satisfied now. I find her tiny hand with my finger, which she grabs tightly. Her hands fascinate me. I didn’t know they made hands that small. She has short little fingers, each knuckle articulated in miniature, and fingernails no bigger than the head of a pin.

When she’s about half done, there’s a tap on the door.

“Come in!” The sling allows me to stand up and walk to the foyer while Rose keeps on slurping.

“Oh my God,” are Rebecca’s first words when she enters the apartment. “That is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I’m dead.” She puts a hand over her forehead. “Oh, and the baby is pretty cute, too.”

“What? Jeez. Come in already.” I wave her through.

Nate Kattenberger follows his fiancée. He stops to smirk at me. “I need a photo. I’m thinking of a before and after picture. You with a whiskey bottle, then you with a baby bottle.”

“Get your licks in now. Your day will come.”

He laughs. “I don’t doubt it.”

“Hold up,” Duff says instead of closing the door. “You have two more guests arriving.”

I poke my head out into the hallway and spot Coach Worthington getting off the elevator with Georgia, his daughter. “Hey, guys! Come on in.”

Georgia lets out a squeal. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“Yeah, yeah. In you go.” I step aside to let her through. “Hey, coach. I’d shake your hand, but the little miss doesn’t like it when I take away the bottle.”

“Oh, I remember how that goes.” Coach thwacks me on the shoulder as he passes me.