Read Online The Christmas Baby by Eve Gaddy - Free Book Online Page B

all right. And he damn well knew it, no matter what she said.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    D URING THE WEEK leading up to Thanksgiving, Brian kept busy with a new client, putting in a new system for a small firm in Corpus Christi. The actual work was enjoyable, but the paperwork it generated wasn’t. He might have to hire an assistant before long to keep up with it. Still, for now it was a good thing because it gave him less time to think about Faith. She hadn’t gone on another date since the one with Dr. Smooth, which pleased him more than he wanted to admit.
    He hadn’t gone on another date, either. He rationalized it, telling himself he hadn’t had time and it was easier to come home and play with the babies and eat dinner with Faith than to go through the trouble of a date. Besides, Will needed his father to be at home with him in the evenings.
    Mark hadn’t been the only one who’d told him he needed to spend time with his son. Gail and Cat had given him a bundle of books on child development and child care, and every damn one of them stressed how important it was for a father to be involved in his child’s upbringing. And since the last thing Brian wanted was to be anything like his own father, he tried his best to do the right thing for the kid.
    Thanksgiving morning he went to get Will dressed for the day at Ava’s house. He put him in a pair of denim overalls that snapped at the crotch and a long-sleeve shirt. The kid had outgrown nearly everything his mother had bought him but these overalls had been a larger size. Brian wondered if he could get Faith to pick up some more clothes for Will. That was part of a nanny’s job, wasn’t it? Besides, what woman didn’t like to shop?
    “Da-da,” Will said.
    “That’s right. Dada. I’m your dad.” Will babbled all the time and said “Dada” occasionally, but Brian didn’t believe he had any idea what it meant. Faith said if he didn’t he would soon, but Brian wasn’t too sure of that. The kid must still miss his mom, though he did seem happier since Faith had come to take care of him. His face lit up whenever he saw her.
    After Will was dressed, Brian took him into the den and put him by the coffee table. Will could pull himself to a standing position and walk around holding on to things now. Cruising, the books called it. Brian had a feeling when the kid started walking, he and Faith would have a hard time keeping up. Will got into enough trouble already just crawling.
    Faith came in carrying Lily and an enormous diaper bag. “Did you remember a change of clothes for Will?”
    “They’re in his diaper bag.” Along with half the contents of his room. “He needs new clothes. I think he’s only got two pairs of pants that fit.”
    “I know. Lily needs some, too. I planned on shopping tomorrow. If you’re working, Gail offered to keep both the children while I shop. The sale prices make it worth braving the crowds but there’s no way I’d take the babies out in that.”
    Brian shuddered. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.
    Faith set Lily down on a blanket and started folding up one of the playpens. “Ava said to bring both the playpens so we can put the babies down for a nap if they want a rest. She’s set aside a couple of bedrooms for them to sleep in.”
    “Do you really think they’ll sleep there? With—” he tried to count and gave up, “however many babies are going to be there?”
    “Five, including Will and Lily. They’re more likely to sleep if we bring them something to sleep in.”
    Just more crap to haul around, he thought, but he folded up the other playpen and stowed them both in Faith’s car. He still hadn’t gotten around to buying another vehicle. Maybe he could do it over the long weekend.

    “H OW MANY PEOPLE are supposed to be here today?” he asked Faith as they went up the walk. He knew she’d been talking to Ava, so he figured she’d have an idea. “There sure are a lot of