Page 4 of An Endless Memory

“Are you coming?” Cali called from partway down the hall.

I looked at Lily.

She danced sideways when Bug lunged for the cookies again. “Yes. Okay. I’ll only be a minute.”

I dipped my head. This had to be nerve-racking for her. I was a strange guy with her kids, but she might be afraid of losing her job if she lost the dog again and Wilder witnessed it. I was fairly sure she wouldn’t, but I wasn’t the new employee.

I stepped into the hallway. “Lead the way, boss lady,” I said to Cali.

I left Lily to handle Bug, though she could’ve used help with that too. Something about the undercurrent of defensiveness made me think she wouldn’t ask for it.

Cali skipped to the offices. Her pigtails bounced. Her hair was a lot lighter than her mom’s. The crying got louder the closer we got to the office door.

Inside, I found a baby strapped in his carrier in a stroller with a red, angry face and wild hair that was as dark as his mom’s. His little hands were balled into tight fists. “Goddam—dang, he’s a fresh one, ain’t he?” Little Kellan couldn’t even be two months old.

Cali giggled. “He cries a lot.”

I unbuckled the baby from his straps and lifted him. His bottom was soggy, and judging from the state of Lily’s shirt, he was probably hungry. I cradled him in my left arm. “Where’s his diaper bag?”

Cali dug out a backpack from behind a desk.

“Wanna dig out a diaper and wipes to have ready for your mom? Maybe a new outfit?”

She nodded and retrieved them for me. She also tugged out a plastic pad and proudly brandished it.

I took them from her and set them on the desk so they’d be ready for Lily. Kellan cried and squirmed. The dampness from his butt seeped through my sleeve. “I’m Eliot Knight, by the way.”

I was awarded with her toothless grin. “Cali Wilson—wait. Mommy changed it to Duke.”

Kellan kept crying, so I gently swayed from side to side. Cali hadn’t produced fresh clothing. “Is there another outfit in that magic backpack?”

Cali yanked out a tan onesie. It flopped open to reveal what I’d guess was a milk crust. She wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

“Maybe there’s another?”

“Nopers,” she sang.

There was a fresh diaper waiting for him. That would be enough. They couldn’t live far away.

Kellan quieted to steady whimpers, warning me he’d blow again. “Okay, champ. Let’s clean up the break room until your mom can feed you. Coming along, boss lady?”

She followed me down the hall. “Mommy feeds him with her boobs.”

The last thing I needed to be thinking about was Lily’s boobs when I was holding her new baby.

We approached the door to the holding area, where we could hear movement and the occasional command from Lily.

“Mo-om,” Cali called through the door. “We have Kellan.”

“Uh, just wait a minute, please,” came Lily’s harried reply.

We went into the break room, and I shut the door.

“Think we can find a broom?” I squatted and picked the empty cookie container up. Kellan started crying again, a start-and-stop wail that was different from his five-alarm beller earlier.

Wilder opened the door and poked his head in. “What the—” His gaze landed on Cali, then the baby in my arms. He swung his attention back to Cali. “Hi. Cali, right? Your mom told me about you.”

She scooted closer to me. Suddenly, she was shy as could be.

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