Page 11 of Impossible

Chapter Five

Riley

It’s the last day of school and I’m on my lunch break sitting in the teacher’s lounge with Tiffany and Faye. We're eating our annual last day of the school year deep dish pizza from Ferentino’s Pizzeria. I even made sure to wear pants that have a little extra give in the waistline.

“So, I hear you’re playing nanny this summer,” Faye says in between bites of the pie.

“She’s going to be the best auntie ever,” Tiffany winks at me.

I roll my eyes at her. “I’m not her aunt.”

“Oh, please. Becca was going to have that girl calling you Aunt Riley from the beginning. She even got you that Best Auntie Ever t-shirt.”

I smile, thinking about the day she gave the shirt to me. It was how she told me she was expecting. I was so excited for her I was jumping up and down. She told me I could never wear the shirt in front of her sister, Erica.

“I’m excited, it will give me a chance to spend some time with Harper.”

“What days are you going to watch her?” Faye asks.

“We settled on Tuesday and Friday. I was thinking about asking him if I could come over this weekend to spend some time with the two of them together so I could get used to what her routine is. I just don’t want to bother him.”

“You’re watching his baby for free this summer. I think you could bother him all you want,” Tiffany argues.

“Well, I thought it was for free. Now heinsistson paying me. I told him forget about it, but he told me he would send me money weekly, whether I liked it or not.”

“Just let him pay you. It’ll make him feel better. He probably needs to feel like you aren’t doing it because you pity him,” Faye tells me.

“He can’t think that!Pityhim, no way! I’m doing this for me, and for Becca.”

“Well, men are different. They don’t realize that women do things like this because we want to. I agree, just let him pay you. It will make him feel better,” Tiffany says.

“Fine! But it feels weird to take his money!”

It’sTuesdaymorning,myfirst day with Harper. I opted out of asking Liam to see them this past weekend. It was his last weekend with Harper before he went back to work. I didn’t want to take away from that. I chose to wear a pair of jeans and a dark blue fitted t-shirt with my cream canvas sneakers. I don’t bother doing my hair, settling for a high ponytail.

When I arrive, I knock on the door and am greeted by Liam in a gray suit with a little Harper cradled in his arm. He looks like he is a bit frazzled as we walk into the kitchen. I watch him as he begins pouring coffee into his tumbler.

“Can I take her for you?” I suggest.

“Thanks.” He hands her over to me then continues to pack up his briefcase. He grabs a granola bar and banana, packing them up as well.

I watch on as I try to figure out how I could be of more help for him. I hate for him to have such a stressful morning five days a week. Harper is being an angel while she looks up at me as she sucks on her pacifier.

“Okay,” Liam grabs his briefcase and coffee before he walks over to us at the kitchen table. “I changed and fed her when she woke up an hour ago. She will probably be ready for a nap soon and another bottle after she wakes up. She isn’t really on a consistent schedule yet, so you will just have to play it by ear. I wrote down everything you need to know right here, but don’t hesitate to call or text me with any questions.”

“I think this little peanut and I will be alright. Right, Harper?”

“Thank you so much for doing this, Riley. It means the world to me.” Liam leans down to give Harper a kiss. “Bye, baby girl. I’ll see you soon.”

Once Liam is out the door, I move over to the couch with Harper. We settle in for a bit while I put on the news. She eventually falls asleep in my arms, and I move her to the portable crib in the corner of the room. I take this time to read one of the books on my summer reading list. Although I am a teacher and read all sorts of genres, romance is my guilty pleasure that I like to read over the summer. There’s something about summer time that makes me feel like it’s for me to kick back and enjoy these romance books. Tiffany tells me I’m missing out since I generally wait until the summer to read them. I get through almost a third of my book before Harper begins to make noises here and there.

When she begins to fuss, I take that as my cue to rush and start making her a bottle. It’s a good thing that I remembered, because she is pretty unhappy by the time the bottle is ready. Just like she did on my visit two weeks ago, she calms down as soon as she gets the bottle. I play with her brown hair while she eats and enjoy the time I get to spend snuggling with her. We repeat this process throughout the entire day until it’s four. Liam told me that he will be back around five-thirty every day.

I remember how bad I felt when Liam told me that he orders takeout every night. I can’t believe that he doesn’t eat any home-cooked meals anymore. I decide to peruse his pantry and fridge, to see what I have to work with. It’s slim pickings in here, I couldn’t come up with a single thing to make. He has enough for breakfast and lunches. There’s no fresh produce or meat. I make a mental note to come on Friday with ingredients for a good dinner for him. I learned today that newborns sleep a lot, giving me some free time that I could use to make his life easier.

Liam walks through the door right on time while Harper and I are hanging out on the couch. She just finished her bottle and was enjoying listening to me talk to her. I was in the middle of telling her all about her momma. I look over the couch and watch as Liam kicks off his shoes, shrugs out of his jacket, and puts his briefcase on the kitchen table. He comes over to sit next to me on the couch.

“How was your first day?” he asks as she reaches for Harper. He is smiling at her and kissing her cheeks as I explain our day.

“She is just such a chill baby. Although, I didn’t realize there was so much free time while she is taking naps.”

“Yeah, I’ve watched more tv than I care to admit in the last six weeks. I should have set you up with a car seat base so you can take her to the park and go for walks. I have an extra one, I’ll put it in your car next time.”

“Oh, that would be great. I would love to enjoy the summer weather with her.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about you being stranded in the house all day.”

“No problem. I think her and I needed the first day to get to know each other.” She looks over at me while I’m talking. “Didn’t we, pretty girl?”

She responds to me with some babbling sounds. Liam and I both smile at her effort to use her voice. I stand up to pack my bags and promise to be there five minutes earlier Thursday morning to give Liam a chance to set me up with the car seat base.

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