Page 58 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

Georgie smacked her lips, making eating motions. I grabbed an applesauce from the cupboard and peeled the foil lid from the individual serving-sized container. I didn’t bother to put Georgie in her highchair. I spoon fed her as I carried her back to the bedrooms. I was getting pretty good at this.

It didn’t take much to finish off the snack between the two of us.

Georgie yawned and rubbed her eyes. I rocked back and forth on my feet for a bit, soothing her until another yawn split her face. She didn’t fight it when I laid her in her crib. I patted her back for a few more minutes until I was certain she was out before I returned to the living room.

Ms. Stanholt looked at me as if I had done something wrong. I was beginning to realize that was pretty much all the time. “You can’t just leave with the baby like that,” she said.

“Yes, I can. She’s my niece, and this is my home. And while I get your agency is concerned that she is cared for properly, I am still the one caring for her.”

“That’s why Nanny Fletcher is here.” Ms. Stanholt pursed her lips and opened her eyes wide at me, as if to make a point.

“Remember, I’m only here part-time until Mr. Alexander returns to his work. Then I’ll be full-time.”

Nanny Fletcher shot me a quick glance and a wink before returning her undivided attention to Ms. Stanholt and their discussion regarding the proper foods Georgie should be eating and when.

Peggy Stanholt would probably have a nervous breakdown if she knew that more than half the time, I had Georgie eating the same foods I had, and not baby mush.

It seemed forever before Ms. Stanholt announced we were done for the day, like some overly strict teacher dismissing class. I stared at her for a long while before she stood up to leave. I think she may have forgotten this wasn’t her office. I let Nanny Fletcher see her to the elevator. After all, it was pretty clear to me that the Stanholt woman no longer thought I was in charge of Georgie’s wellbeing.

Nanny Fletcher returned to the living room and sat down. I couldn’t read her smile. Was she apologizing? Did she think I was as useless as the other woman thought?

“May I speak frankly?” she asked as she folded her hands on her lap.

I nodded. This was going to be interesting.

“That woman is insufferable.”

I barked out a laugh. Tension eased out of my shoulders. What a relief. I wasn’t the only one who thought so. “Yeah, yeah, she is. I thought for a while there that you were going to defect to her way of thinking.”

“She really doesn’t think you have any skill or intention of raising your niece, does she?”

I shook my head.

“The agency she works for originally sent someone over who provided some kind of training. Well, she told me what to do and what to buy. This case manager, she manages the case, not the people involved. Sometimes, I think she forgets that Georgie is an actual person and not a name on a piece of paper,” I admitted.

“I think you might be right,” Nanny Fletcher said. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but I am back tomorrow afternoon.”

I saw Nanny Fletcher to the elevator. It was good to know she was more inclined to be on my side. I needed the support and assistance in raising Georgie. And I would be raising Georgie.

30

CECELIA

A strange sound infiltrated my dreams. It was squawking, like a giant screeching eagle, or at first, that’s what I thought it was. I was being buffeted by the downdraft of large, dark wings. The giant bird in my dream shifted, and somewhere, the transition from dream to sleepy reality happened and the screeching was the baby monitor, and the buffeting was Sterling shifting in and out of bed.

“What?” I asked groggily.

“Shh,” Sterling soothed as he climbed back in bed with Georgie in his arms.

I didn’t know if he was shushing me or her. She snuggled into the pillows between us. She wrapped her little hand in my hair, her big, expressive eyes locked with mine. She shifted her gaze back and forth a few times between Sterling and me.

She let go of the bottle she was sucking on and had the widest open-mouthed baby grin I think I ever saw on her. No longer interested in relaxing, and possibly going back to sleep, she was up on her feet and climbing around the bed between us.

She giggled and grabbed at my face, planting her version of kisses on me. She only puckered up if someone made the same facial expression at her first. Otherwise, she kissed with the same consuming enthusiasm she approached a cupcake with. Grab, bite, love.

“Is she always like this? What time is it?” I moaned.

Sterling chuckled. “She reminds me of you?”

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