Page 4 of Sheltering Lily

Caring for her was the least I could do for her mother, but I hadn’t expected to love Sofia so much. That had come as a surprise. I liked being a father, and despite my own father’s negative example, I thought I was doing all right. But “all right” wasn’t good enough—not in my book, not when it came to taking care of my family. Sofia deserved the very best, which meant two loving parents. So for Sofia’s sake, I needed a wife. That was the goal—and it was the reason I’d decided to hire a full-time nanny. The nanny I’d had up to now had school-age children of her own and could only work days. But with a live-in, full-time nanny, I’d be able to date more and hopefully find the right woman to complete my family life.

Lily stepped into the room. “Hello, Sofia.” Lily’s voice when she greeted her was like listening to sunshine. Sofia instantly smiled. “I’m Lily.”

“Up.” Sofia held her arms out to be lifted from the crib, and Lily picked her up and rested her on one hip as if she did it every day. I could see the instant connection between them.

“Your room is so pretty.” Lily turned in a circle to take in the large, light-filled space. “Thank goodness,” I heard her mutter under her breath.

I laughed, making Lily spin in my direction.

“I’m sorry. I?—”

“It’s okay. I know my house isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I like things… orderly.” White might seem a strange choice to others, especially with a toddler in the house, but I never had to worry about anything matching, and it was surprisingly easy to clean, as long as you knew how to deal with stains.

“I can see that,” she commented, “but children require something more.”

“That’s what I’ve been told. My sister-in-law and cousin-in-law insisted on decorating Sofia’s room for me.” Both back at the other house and then again here, once we’d moved. And they’d done a great job. The room had wallpaper with lavender and yellow flowers. The bedding and curtains matched, in what Sofia called “praple.” Honey-colored oak furniture gave the room a warm tone. And this was the only place in the house where I was okay with clutter. The room had an organizational system, but I didn’t insist toys always make it back to their shelf or basket.

“It’s beautiful,” Lily said.

“They were afraid I’d raise Sofia in a space that looked like a hospital waiting room.” When the family found out that I was adopting Sofia and moving back to Springwell, they’d gotten straight to work. Everything was ready before Sofia and I even set foot in the house—including diapers and clothes and baby food…and some easy-to-reheat meals for me, too. My family always had my back.

“I hope you thanked them. Do your brother and cousin live nearby?” Lily asked.

“If you’ve ever gotten your car fixed, you probably know my cousin and his wife. Loomis Automotive?”

“Oh!” Lily exclaimed. “Chance is your cousin? He’s such a nice guy—really helped me out when my car broke down last year. Wow, I never would have guessed the two of you were related.”

“We’re not blood related,” I explained. “His dad was my foster dad’s half-brother.” It was a little more complicated than that, but this didn’t seem like the time to get into it.

“I met their baby, too. Such a cutie! And Chance makes quite a picture, working on cars with a little baby strapped to his chest.”

“Yeah, Chance basically never puts Ray down unless he has to. He loves being a dad.”

“Go play with Ray?” Sofia asked, a hopeful note in her soft voice. “And Austin?”

“Austin is my brother Zach’s son,” I explained to Lily. “He’s about the same age as Sofia. All the kids love being together, even though Ray’s a good bit younger than the other two.” I turned my attention to Sofia. “We’re not going to be seeing Ray or Austin today, sweetheart,” I said, reaching for her. Sofia went to me readily, putting a smacking kiss on my cheek and wrapping her chubby arms around my neck. “Today we have to make Lily feel welcome and show her around.” I stepped back into the hall, still carrying Sofia. “My room is at the end of the hall, and there’s a spare bedroom next to Sofia’s.”

The house was larger than I needed, but I’d wanted a family home, one with space for more children.

“I’ll be downstairs, though?” Lily peeked in the open door of the empty bedroom but didn’t comment. It was all white as well.

“Right. Follow me.” I went down the main staircase and cut through the kitchen to the back door. The basement had been one of the home’s selling points for me. The house was built into a hill and situated in a way that gave the basement outside access. It would make a great family room or game room in the future. For now, I’d converted it into an apartment for the nanny. There was a full bathroom, plus a living room and a separate bedroom.

“You can get to the apartment through the house, or if you prefer, you can access it from the outside. There are locks on both doors.” I wanted her close by but also to feel that she had an independent space. She glanced around, a slight smirk on her face. Light came in through the large window, highlighting the whiteness of the space. “You can decorate it however you want,” I added. “Use the white as a blank canvas.” I could tell white on white wasn’t her thing.

She smiled at me then. “I think it’ll be very nice, and I like the idea of living in.”

“Good, because that’s important to me. I work as a logistics and security specialist at a private company, and the hours aren’t always predictable. I do my best to get home early enough to spend time with Sofia every evening, but sometimes that just isn’t possible. When I had a day-only nanny, I had to scramble a couple of times to find childcare at the last minute when I was needed late at work. We always figured something out, but it’ll be great to have someone here.”

While Lily wandered into the bedroom and bathroom to take a closer look, I put Sofia on her feet and let her wander around the space. It was furnished, but the furniture was pretty sparse, so I wasn’t worried about her bumping into anything and hurting herself. She immediately went to the long window next to the apartment’s door and put her hand on it.

“Sorry about that,” I said when Lily returned to the room. By then Sofia had her face pressed to the glass. I didn’t fuss over stuff like that in the main house, but this was Lily’s private space. I didn’t want to make a mess in it.

“Kids do that.” To my relief, Lily didn’t appear to be bothered by it. “No big deal. She seems like a happy child.”

“I think she is,” I said, unable to keep from smiling as I looked down at my daughter, who was humming something to herself while she poked at her reflection in the window. “So you’ll take the job?” Technically, she’d already accepted, but now that she’d met Sofia and seen where she’d live, I wanted to be sure.

“Absolutely. And like I promised yesterday, I’ll give you time to find someone else when I’m ready to move on.”

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