Page 42 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

Georgie started to cry as the woman got closer.

I twisted away in my seat. “Not right now.” I couldn’t read her expression, but she looked disappointed as she sat back down.

“Did you have any additional questions, Ms. Stanholt?” I asked. I was done with the interview.

Ms. Stanholt started to ask something as I took Georgie and left the room. I carried her into the kitchen to get her a bottle.

I set her on the floor next to me as I opened the refrigerator. Georgie grabbed onto my pants leg and pulled up onto her feet.

“Did you just stand up?”

She looked up at me, and her butt wobbled back and forth before she landed on it. I grabbed a bottle and swooped her back up. “You are getting so big and strong.”

I was so proud of her. I pressed a kiss to her cheek and hugged her. She took the bottle and leaned back. I shifted her so she could lean back and drink. Her big eyes locked with mine.

“I’m going to tell you something,” I whispered so that only she could hear me. “I hope they never find your biological father. You look so much like your mother. I miss her. But I have missed her for far longer than she’s been dead. I lost her long ago. I don’t want to lose you.”

I leaned over and kissed the top of her precious little head.

When I returned to the living room, Ms. Stanholt was alone. The other woman had already left.

“She seemed like a reasonable candidate.”

“No,” I said as I sat down.

“Why not?” Ms. Stanholt asked.

“She couldn’t even tell when Georgie was trying to not be looked at by her. That wasn’t some game of peek-a-boo. Georgie was literally trying to hide and get away. I don’t want a nanny who is that oblivious to the body language of the baby.” I placed the baby next to me on the couch. She leaned against me, not a care in the world.

“You are running out of time. You should have begun the nanny hiring processes from the very beginning.”

“Maybe so,” I started. “But if that were really the case, your agency would have been more upfront, don’t you think?”

She stared at me blankly.

“Fine,” I said. “I will find a nanny, and you will get me an update on exactly how the manhunt for Georgie’s biological father goes,” I said.

Ms. Stanholt pinched her face and began to huff. “I don’t have access to that information.”

“I need to know. It would be helpful when I contract a nanny to let them know whether it's a short term or longer term position.”

We had a bit of a stare-down. I wanted information, and the Stanholt woman just looked pissed.

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Your next appointment is here,” Wayne announced. “Shall I send this one in?”

The next two hours passed with interviewing candidates. The meetings didn’t last long. The nannies tried to interact with Georgie, but she wanted nothing to do with any of them. One woman even made her cry.

I wouldn’t have said any of the candidates were someone I’d consider calling back.

“Are you planning on coming back to the interviews I have scheduled tomorrow?” I asked as Ms. Stanholt gathered her things.

“I trust you can make initial assessments without my being here. I would like to be included in the second round of interviews.”

I nodded. I was going to have to call a second agency at this rate. I picked up Georgie after Ms. Stanholt left. I carried her to the kitchen. It was time for lunch, and then it would be time for her afternoon nap.

It had been a long morning. As Georgie crammed little bits of chicken and rice into her mouth, I popped a full-sized chicken nugget into my mouth. It seemed easier to just ask Wayne to make one meal for the two of us. Just as Georgie was becoming a functional kid, I was becoming the parent of a soon to be toddler. I chuckled as warmth spread over me. I liked the thought of being her father.

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