Page 11 of Knot Just Their Nanny
“Ugh! Fuck off,” I say through gritted teeth. It hardens my weakening resolve to turn around and catch up to Benjamin before he packs up all my stuff and chucks it out on the driveway.
The shop comes into view, and relief washes over me like a wave. The bell above the door jingles as I enter.
I force a smile and approach the counter. “Hi, I need to buy a SIM card.”
A friendly-looking middle-aged woman with spectacles sliding down her nose—nods and points to the array behind her.
After purchasing the SIM card and giving a polite nod to the woman, I take a moment to swap them out and take a deep breath before heading back to Benjamin’s house. Maybe he’ll be calmer now—maybe we can sit down and talk like adults without him snapping at me and without me making dumbfuck comments about him not being sacked from his job.
“What were you thinking?” I cry out as I stumble down the pavement back the way I came.
As I eventually turn back onto his street, all is quiet, and my belongings are nowhere to be seen. With my heart hammering and my palms sweating, I reach for the door handle on the front door.
It opens, and I gulp back the sob of relief.
The house is silent, so I creep upstairs to my room to take my shoes off and ditch my bag.
I hear Mia crying in the nursery suddenly, that same fretful wail she had last night, and my instincts kick in.
I dash towards the nursery, my pulse racing. As I fling open the door, Mia’s cries crescendo into a full-blown howl. Benjamin looks frazzled and about to go into a meltdown. He’s trying to soothe her with gentle bounces and soft shushes, but she isn’t having any of it.
“Here, let me,” I say, a lot more softly than before. I can’t stand to see them both so distressed.
He looks up at me with weary eyes, and for a second, I think he’s going to argue and tell me to piss off out of his face, but instead, he hands Mia over without a word.
Mia settles down almost instantly in my arms. I rock her gently, whispering soothing nothings into her little ear. Benjamin watches us with a complex expression that I can’t even begin to unpack.
“How? I’m her father,” he says, not bitterly but full of exhaustion.
“It’s my scent. The lavender soothes them. It’s why I stayed with her last night.”
He breathes in noticeably, and his jaw tightens, his nose pinching as if he has smelt rotten vegetables.
Gee, thanks, asshole.
But I let it go because Mia needs me. “I think she might have started teething already,” I murmur.
He frowns. “She’s only three months.”
“I know. It happens. We’ll need to get some teething granules soon.”
“I’ll go now,” he says immediately. “Where? The chemist?”
“Yeah, or any big supermarket.”
“There’s a Tesco not far from here. I’ll go there.”
“Okay, I’ll put on my shoes and get Mia in the car.” I turn to the door, but he shakes his head.
“No, she’s settled now. Stay with her. I’ll go.”
I meet his gaze, and the argument and everything else just falls away as unimportant. He is trusting me alone with his infant, and I’m not going to hold anything against him. He is scared and tired and overwhelmed, and who wouldn’t be in his situation?
“Okay.” I sit down in the armchair and hold the baby close. He nods stiffly and, with a last look back, leaves Mia and me alone.
Chapter 7
Benjamin
