started pacing the small room. "I'll tell you what then, if you guys all think I'm wrong then forget I said anything."
Jack rose and stood in Blake's path, hands on his shoulders. "I'll help you. I don't want the baby in some germ-infested room with half-trained teenagers in charge."
"Jack!" Suzanne leaned back. "Since when are you an expert on day care?"
He glared at her then turned back at Blake. "But, you have to back off a little bit man. Suzanne is right. Sara has to work her way through this on her own. It's what she wanted, remember?" He glanced at Craig who nodded. "I gotta go." He ran a hand through his hair.
Blake nodded. "Thanks Jack. It's a deal." Rob stood in the kitchen doorway his gaze flat and noncommittal. Blake's heart sped up. He knew this was the right thing. Sara needed his help. He'd promised her he would. He dropped into a chair and watched Jack and Rob shake hands then as Rob turned his back and returned to the kitchen without a another word. The baby monitor at his elbow bleeped. He smiled at the thought of his niece again as he made his way back to her room. Screw Rob. This was his family and he'd handle it how he wanted. He knew he'd drawn a line in the sand by not telling Rob his plan to get Jack on board with the no-daycare thing. He also knew Katie at home with a nannie meant he'd get more time with her.
The small girl flailed around, her thin cries taking hold and becoming full-fledged wails of "where the hell is my food?" Blake smiled at her. "My darling, don't cry. Uncle Blake is here for you, always." Rob appeared with a warmed bottle of Sara's breast milk, handed it to him and left without another word.
Chapter Nine
Two Years Later
Sara stared the amazing assembly around her patio table. The birthday girl sat in her high chair giggling, the center of attention, icing smeared across her face. The enormity of the event was truly overwhelming. Countless sleepless night behind her, she'd jumped back into work with a vengeance. She had even convinced Blake that Katie was "ready" for daycare, that she needed the social interaction with other kids to bring her down off her pedestal. Sara knew the girl was in for a surprise when she realized there were others like her, just as important in the scheme of the universe.
The weird niggling feeling that had haunted her for past few months rose again. She looked down at her hands – hands that held, soothed, changed diapers and clothes, even cooked a few meals now and then, for her child. They seemed separate from her somehow. She touched her hair. She'd gotten it cut shorter than she'd ever had it a year ago, mostly out of self-preservation. Getting up and ready for work had turned into a virtual three-ring circus with a baby, then a toddler, in the house. Since Katie had recently taken to sleeping with Sara, claiming "bad dweams ," it seemed easiest to just let her. But that felt wrong too.
The girl's squealing laughter floated in through the open window. Sara frowned. Her support group out there had been a lifesaver, but as her work level ramped up, taking her away more evenings and weekends, she felt the tenuous connection she'd made with her daughter slipping away. Wandering back out to the patio, she observed the small girl, her light brown curls haloing around her face in the humid night, huge green eyes trained on her uncle who would not leave her side for a second.
"Sara!" her father called from the back door. "Bourbon?"
"Cabinet in the dining room, Dad." She leaned back, trying to relax but for some reason still on edge. "I'm worried about them." Her father stood next to her a minute sipping his drink.
"Yeah, he's a little obsessed isn't he?" Sara sighed and leaned into her father's side.
"Well, I let him be I guess. So my fault, like everything else it seems." She turned away from the group, the sight of Craig there alone, without Suzanne searing her just as deeply.
"Bake!" The little girl burbled making the adults
Jack rose and stood in Blake's path, hands on his shoulders. "I'll help you. I don't want the baby in some germ-infested room with half-trained teenagers in charge."
"Jack!" Suzanne leaned back. "Since when are you an expert on day care?"
He glared at her then turned back at Blake. "But, you have to back off a little bit man. Suzanne is right. Sara has to work her way through this on her own. It's what she wanted, remember?" He glanced at Craig who nodded. "I gotta go." He ran a hand through his hair.
Blake nodded. "Thanks Jack. It's a deal." Rob stood in the kitchen doorway his gaze flat and noncommittal. Blake's heart sped up. He knew this was the right thing. Sara needed his help. He'd promised her he would. He dropped into a chair and watched Jack and Rob shake hands then as Rob turned his back and returned to the kitchen without a another word. The baby monitor at his elbow bleeped. He smiled at the thought of his niece again as he made his way back to her room. Screw Rob. This was his family and he'd handle it how he wanted. He knew he'd drawn a line in the sand by not telling Rob his plan to get Jack on board with the no-daycare thing. He also knew Katie at home with a nannie meant he'd get more time with her.
The small girl flailed around, her thin cries taking hold and becoming full-fledged wails of "where the hell is my food?" Blake smiled at her. "My darling, don't cry. Uncle Blake is here for you, always." Rob appeared with a warmed bottle of Sara's breast milk, handed it to him and left without another word.
Chapter Nine
Two Years Later
Sara stared the amazing assembly around her patio table. The birthday girl sat in her high chair giggling, the center of attention, icing smeared across her face. The enormity of the event was truly overwhelming. Countless sleepless night behind her, she'd jumped back into work with a vengeance. She had even convinced Blake that Katie was "ready" for daycare, that she needed the social interaction with other kids to bring her down off her pedestal. Sara knew the girl was in for a surprise when she realized there were others like her, just as important in the scheme of the universe.
The weird niggling feeling that had haunted her for past few months rose again. She looked down at her hands – hands that held, soothed, changed diapers and clothes, even cooked a few meals now and then, for her child. They seemed separate from her somehow. She touched her hair. She'd gotten it cut shorter than she'd ever had it a year ago, mostly out of self-preservation. Getting up and ready for work had turned into a virtual three-ring circus with a baby, then a toddler, in the house. Since Katie had recently taken to sleeping with Sara, claiming "bad dweams ," it seemed easiest to just let her. But that felt wrong too.
The girl's squealing laughter floated in through the open window. Sara frowned. Her support group out there had been a lifesaver, but as her work level ramped up, taking her away more evenings and weekends, she felt the tenuous connection she'd made with her daughter slipping away. Wandering back out to the patio, she observed the small girl, her light brown curls haloing around her face in the humid night, huge green eyes trained on her uncle who would not leave her side for a second.
"Sara!" her father called from the back door. "Bourbon?"
"Cabinet in the dining room, Dad." She leaned back, trying to relax but for some reason still on edge. "I'm worried about them." Her father stood next to her a minute sipping his drink.
"Yeah, he's a little obsessed isn't he?" Sara sighed and leaned into her father's side.
"Well, I let him be I guess. So my fault, like everything else it seems." She turned away from the group, the sight of Craig there alone, without Suzanne searing her just as deeply.
"Bake!" The little girl burbled making the adults
Similar Books
