4. Cecelia
What the hell was Sterling Alexander thinking?
He stood there watching me change baby Georgie’s diaper like it was some kind of performance art or something. His smirking face and the way he held that mock-tail, non-alcoholic drink made me think he was taking all of this as a joke. I wasn’t laughing.
“Oh, I know, I know,” I cooed at the poor darling. She was shaking, she was so upset. Having just woken up, she was confused, she didn’t know where she was, and another stranger was talking to her.
“You speak baby?” Sterling quipped.
I glared at him with my best laser eyes. “I speak scared and hungry, and she is both.” I hitched the little girl in close, wrapping my arms around her protectively. She needed to know that somebody was going to take care of her. “How do I get back to the kitchen from here?”
I asked the older guy. I had never met a butler in real life before. I barely believed they weren’t something made up for superhero movies. I already made up my mind about Sterling Alexander. He skated through life on his charm, good looks, and family money. None of those were going to sway me, and they certainly had no effect on the sniffling baby in my arms.
She didn’t care about money. She cared about comfort and food and security.
“Shouldn’t you dress her first?” Sterling asked, making useless gesturing motions with his hands.
“She’s hungry. She’ll get food all over herself. I see no reason she needs to be dressed, only to have to clean her up again.” I stopped as we entered the kitchen from a different direction than we had earlier. That time, I had been concerned with Sterling’s day drinking. This time, I was looking out for Georgie and— “Where’s her highchair?”
“She doesn’t have one,” Sterling admitted.
“Why not?”
His eyes went wide as he looked at me. The expressions that danced across his face were almost comical. Wide eyes made way to a wrinkled brow, and then stoic blandness. He looked at me with a complete lack of emotion. He was better looking when he felt things.
“The past day and a half have been a bit overwhelming. I expected you yesterday, and I was under the impression that your agency was to provide support.”
“Support, yes. Furniture, no.” I turned to the butler, Wayne. “I understand you have applesauce? Could you put together a small bowl of that, please? Do you have any cereal, or oatmeal?”
“We have quick oats. Would you like for me to prepare some?” he asked.
“Yes, make them sweet, with maple syrup if you have some.”
“Isn’t giving the kid sweets bad?” Sterling asked.
He could stay out of this conversation as far as I was concerned. I glanced over his expensive clothes and got a very wicked idea.
“We need her to eat. She doesn’t have the same tastes as an adult, and I don’t know her history beyond the specifics of how she came into your life. Was she raised without sugar and only home-grown, homemade organic foods, or did her mom put Coca-Cola in her baby bottle? You said she wasn’t interested in eating earlier. Either she was just too upset”—I stroked her soft hair. She wasn’t crying any longer, but she clung to me like a monkey— “or she didn’t like the food. Let’s try something she’s more likely willing to eat. I don’t know about you, but plain oatmeal isn’t very appealing.”
“The applesauce, Miss.” Wayne set a small bowl on the counter and then placed a spoon next to it.
I glanced around. There was a full-sized table with chairs on the other side of a bar-like counter. I gave Sterling a focused look, darted my eyes to the bowl, and then nodded. “Right, I’m going to need your help. Come on.”
I turned and expected him to be smart enough to grab Georgie’s food and follow me. He set the bowl next to the chair I sat down in, keeping Georgie on my lap the entire time.
“Are you hungry? Let’s try some applesauce, okay?” I got her situated and thought she was going to hurt herself the way she grabbed at my hand and bit down on the spoon. Both men received more laser eye glares from me. “Not hungry? Did you even try?”
Georgie was starving. I couldn’t get the applesauce from the bowl to her mouth fast enough. It didn’t take much time before we almost finished the bowl.
“How is that oatmeal coming?” I asked.
“Almost done, I am returning it to a boil,” Wayne started.
“No!” I practically shrieked. “She can’t have hot food the way adults can. She doesn’t know about blowing on the spoon to cool it down. If it’s too hot to go into your mouth straight out of the pan, it is far too hot for her. A good rule is fully cooked, fully re-heated, but not served warmer than body temperature. At least while you are learning.”
“Learning?” Sterling asked.
“Yes, learning, and from what I walked into this morning, you have a great deal to learn if you are going to properly care for Georgie.”
“But you seem to have everything under control,” he pointed out.
Little did he know I was faking it and falling back on my extensive babysitting experience. I at least knew to give a baby comfort and to not put her in picture day scratchy clothes and not expect her to fuss.
“Yes,” I said, “but I’m the one taking care of her. You need to be able to do this without me around.”
Wayne approached the table with a steaming bowl of oatmeal.
I looked flatly at him. “Really? It’s steaming.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Did you hear anything I just said? Take a clean spoon and put that in your mouth,” I demanded.
Wayne retrieved a spoon, scooped up some oatmeal, and then began to blow excessively to cool down the bite. It wasn’t until he put it in his mouth and made eye contact with me again that my previous words registered. “Oh, I see. I will pop this in the freezer for a bit. That should cool it down.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Basic food safety rules apply, but you have to remember she is going to put her hands into food or shove it into her mouth without pause. It’s your job as her adult to protect her, to care for her, to provide for her. If that’s something you can’t handle, we will make other arrangements for her.”
Sterling’s brow furrowed, and his expression darkened. “That won’t be necessary. She will stay with me.”
“Well, then, you had better start taking notes,” I said.
Wayne brought the cooled oatmeal to the table.
I lifted Georgie and handed her to Sterling. At least he didn’t hesitate to take her, but he didn’t know how to hold her.
“Have you ever held a baby before?”
“No, I wasn’t allowed to when my younger sister was born. It wasn’t considered to be important. Men don’t?—”
“Ouch, really? Men don’t? I… I’m going to shut up before I say something that will get me fired. Men do, all the time. And you’re going to learn how to hold and feed her right now.”
I directed him where to put his hands and how to support her so she felt secure. Georgie whimpered and reached out for me.
“You’re fine,” I told her. “Your uncle has you. He’ll keep you safe.” I lifted my eyes to Sterling’s face. His eyes caught me off guard as he watched me intently. Momentarily flustered, I fumbled over my next few words and coached him through feeding her.
As expected, Georgie fought the oatmeal at first. Sticky globs of oatmeal went everywhere. I tried to suppress my smile as it got all over Sterling’s designer slacks. Served the man right. But after a few tricky moments, the two of them figured out the whole feeding the baby and eating oatmeal routine.
“This will be easier next time when she’s not hungry. You can try her with some rice and butter, and finger foods like Cheerios. She’s old enough to be on solids. Cut things up small. She barely understands what her teeth are for, and she doesn’t have any molars. How many sippy cups does she have?”
“There was one in the bag the lady from the agency gave us,” Wayne answered since Sterling was focused on Georgie, as he should be.
I let out a sigh. “Do you have a pad of paper and a pen?” I asked. “We need to make some shopping lists, and the two of you have homework.”
“Homework?” Sterling asked, looking up from feeding the baby.
“Yeah, you need some parenting books and to find out what she can and will eat. And don’t just buy the books. Read them too. Now, let’s start making a list of furniture and other items you’ll need before I come back.”