Page 26 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

“I guess cats really are her favorite,” Cecelia said.

“I’m still not getting her a cat,” I insisted.

After a snack and a bottle, Georgie grew fussy.

“I’ll change her,” Cecelia announced. She picked up the diaper bag and headed into the restroom.

I found a bench and waited. I could handle this. This was easy. Take the kid to the zoo, feed her snacks. There was a shack decorated to look like a village hut where I could grab something for Cecelia and me to eat. We’d be through the zoo by lunchtime. Georgie would be exhausted and take her first nap.

My utopian ideas of a blissful zoo outing were shattered when the diaper bag landed in my lap.

“You haven’t restocked this. There are no diapers that fit Georgie in there. And there are no changes of clothes,” Cecelia snarled with anger.

Georgie, only in a diaper, was sniffling and crying. At least she wasn’t howling.

“Some nice lady in the bathroom had an extra diaper I could borrow.”

I rummaged in the bag. I hadn’t really looked to see what was inside. I pulled out a handful of diapers. “What are these?” I asked. It was a rhetorical question. They were obviously diapers.

“Those are newborn size. Georgie is bigger, and her output quantity is higher,” she said.

Diapers come in sizes. Of course they did. But the dress I pulled out next, I knew fit Georgie.

“Clothes.”

Cecelia huffed at me. “Look at that, Sterling. It's all scratchy lace and velvet. Do you really want to put her in a hot, miserable velvet dress today? This bag needs to be restocked after every outing. It needs diapers, and it needs at least two full changes of clothes.”

I didn’t deserve all the anger she was focusing on me. “And I know this how? Cecelia, please, this is why I need your help. To you, it was obvious. I have no idea what goes in a diaper bag.”

She pursed her lips and breathed heavily through her nose.

“I’m sorry, you’re right.” Her voice was clipped, but loud enough for it to be clear that she meant it. “Georgie had a bit of a meltdown, and then there were no diapers that fit. The bag is now completely out of wipes. I felt like I had completely messed everything up. I’m sorry I let my frustration get the better of me.”

I stood and placed an arm around her shoulder. She was getting tired, and unlike Georgie, who had ready access to snacks all morning long, Cecelia hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since she arrived at the penthouse. “It’s okay. We’re both learning.”

She wiped her eyes. “That wasn’t very professional of me. Could you please buy Georgie a T-shirt at the gift kiosk so she’s not exposed? There isn’t any sunscreen in the bag either, and I don’t want her to get a sunburn.”

14

CECELIA

I snapped and yelled at Sterling. He was so close when it came to doing the right thing, but then he messed up and hadn’t restocked the diaper bag. And part of me felt that was my fault. How was I supposed to do my job objectively when I let his lack of information make me so irritated?

Was I going to be like this for all my future clients, or was Sterling a special case?

It didn’t help when he was such a constant flirt. Or that I couldn’t resist him.

He tore the tag from the small shirt as he walked back from the gift shop. He handed it to me. It was yellow.

I got Georgie dressed and settled back in the car seat with a bottle.

“Better?” he asked.

I nodded, and he put an arm over my shoulder and pulled me against his chest. He placed a kiss on my temple. “We’re both learning. Let’s get some lunch. Georgie isn’t the only one getting tired.”

I nodded. I was disappointed in myself and overwhelmed. He kissed me. It didn’t matter that it was a comforting gesture. He kissed me, and my brain short-circuited.

I followed behind as Sterling pushed the stroller back to the front gate. The limo was waiting. Sterling strapped in the car seat, and I folded up the stroller like an umbrella. The driver put the frame in the trunk and handed the other bags inside before holding the door for me to climb in.

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