Page 6 of I Found You
My phone rang as I was building the sandwiches, and I rushed to answer it in case it was Jackson and he needed something.
Another random number flashed across the screen, different from the one this morning. “Hello?” I answered cautiously.
“Oh, hi. Could I speak to Maeve?” the caller asked in a surprised and cheery tone.
“This is Maeve. What can I help you with?” My voice was decidedly less cheery until I knew what I was dealing with.
“Hey, Maeve, I’m not sure if you remember me. Kara Dawson, from Calla Bay High. We had AP Bio together. Well, I’m actually a social worker now for the Department of Children and Families. We have a huge favor to ask you. You see, there is a baby in our care who is currently without a family, and your name came up as someone who was prequalified in our system.” She paused as if she had asked that favor when, in reality, she had not.
“Kara, of course I remember you. Ah, that’s terrible for that poor baby, but I am in no way qualified to take care of a baby. I am only in the DCF system because I was my brother’s caregiver when he was a minor.” And apparently, now that he was an adult, that was supposed to stop, according to him.
“I understand your hesitation, really, I do. It’s just that right now, we are really short on people who can care for an infant. And she needs to find a placement immediately. Please, Maeve. It should be a couple of days, tops. We are working with theCBPD to track down a next of kin or a family member. And she seems like a really good baby.”
Kara spent the next fifteen minutes convincing me this was a good idea, going over the arrival process and the requisite equipment and necessities. After we disconnected, I paced the living room, berating myself for agreeing to this. I didn’t know how to take care of a baby. She promised that the little girl was laid-back and easy, but even an easy baby was terrifying.
There was a noticeable theme in my life of allowing myself to get talked into things that I should be saying no to. Just like last night, I didn’t particularly want to go out drinking on a holiday night. I knew the bar would be crowded and noisy. I had tried to say no, but Abbie wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, I broke out my blue-and-white striped dress, tied my hair back with a red hair tie, and drank too much alcohol.
But last night turned out to be a colossal mistake. Abbie hadn’t told the others that she invited me along, and I got the impression none of them were too excited about it. After a few drinks and a couple of snide comments masked as compliments, especially from Andrea, I’d had enough and took off. The best part of the night was when I thought I saw Wyatt Wilder looking my way.
Wyatt was seriously attractive, with dark hair, dark eyes, and just a little scruff. He kept glancing our way, and a part of me hoped that he would make his way over to our table, but I knew we must look like a lot. Five women, drunk, laughing, shouting, and singing. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep his distance. Plus, there was the blonde woman with an amazing body in cutoff shorts and a crop-top tee that seemed to be touching him or hovering near him anytime I peeked his way. He didn’t seem overly enamored by her, but I didn’tspend too much time trying to figure out their dynamic, and I certainly didn’t have the capacity to be spending any time on it now either. I just had to hope this decision wasn’t a mistake as well.
A solid pep talk was in order. I was absolutely old enough to be someone’s mother. I just hadn’t had the time to adjust to the idea. A small learning curve was to be expected, factored into. I was a fast learner. I had taken care of my brother for most of his life. Sure, I wasn’t really responsible for him when he was an infant, and that was almost twenty years ago anyway, but still, I could do this. A couple of days with baby cuddles and cute baby bubble baths. Yeah, I could do this.
I had two hours to get everything I could think of. Kara would be dropping the baby off with me sometime after 11:00 a.m., after she had a thorough exam at the hospital.
Diapers
Wipes
Outfits in size 0-3 Month
Bottles
Formula
Blankets
