4. Vivi
Vivi
I can’t stop a smile curling my lips as Easton fights to get a diaper on the baby’s tiny bottom. It was simple enough to get the soiled one off, and we followed the instructions we found and covered the little guy’s ‘fire hose’.
We had to use paper towels because apparently a bachelor doesn’t own face cloths. Thankfully, neither of us got hosed. But now, Easton is having trouble getting a clean diaper on our little charge.
“Want me to replay the video?”
“No.” He gently rolls the little guy to the side. “Why are the tapes on backward?”
“What do you mean?” I lean in and instantly see the problem. Laughing, I say, “The tapes aren’t on backward. You’ve got the diaper the wrong side up.”
“Huh?”
“This.” I put my hand on the front section. “Is actually the back.”
“Does it matter?”
“I don’t know, but I bet it’s easier to secure it when it’s the other way round.”
“Fucking hell,” Easton mutters as he pulls the diaper out from under the baby to start over. It isn’t even clear of the little guy’s butt when our success at keeping dry is ruined.
“Shit!”
“Eek!”
Both of us lurch back then immediately lunge forward, our hands landing on the baby, mine on the boy’s belly and Easton’s on his groin, the diaper still in his hand soaking up whatever the little guy has left to offer.
“Fuck.” Easton’s gaze meets mine. “That was close.”
I look at the front of his shirt. “Ah, I’d say it was a direct hit.”
“No. I mean him falling off the table.”
“Falling…” My gaze moves back to the baby lying on Easton’s dining table. “You think he’ll fall off?”
“The video said to make sure you keep a hand on the baby at all times so they don’t roll over and fall.”
His serious face, the concern in his eyes, has my insides warming. He might be a bachelor in his mid-thirties and clueless when it comes to babies but he’s willing to learn and he’s taking those lessons seriously.
Never underestimate the sexiness of a man taking care of a baby.
My biological clock isn’t even ticking and the sight of Easton with a baby has my chest warming, my ovaries pulsing, and my womb clamping with need.
It’s ridiculous how turned on I am right now.
Dislodging all sexy thoughts, I get back to the conversation. “I think he’s too little to roll over yet.”
“Maybe. But we should get in the habit of doing it now so when he can roll over, we won’t have any issues remembering.”
“You’re planning to keep him.” It’s not a question—he’s alluded to it all night, but Easton answers me anyway.
“It’s what Lisa wants.” He frowns as he manages to get a clean diaper right way round and fastened. “Whoever the fuck Lisa is,” he mutters.
“She is young.”
Not taking a hand off the baby, Easton brings his head up and locks eyes with me. “You saw her?”
“No. Not clearly. But I’d say she’s late teens, early twenties at most.”
“Fuck!” He uses his free hand to scrub at his face. “We need to find her.”
“Going off my estimation, and what she said in her letter, she would have been a kid, well, pre puberty I’d say, when you knew her. So simple math, let’s say, ten years ago or more. Where were you, what were you doing?”
“A few years out of college.”
“Maybe still in college? Who did you know that had a daughter and was a single mom. Lisa said her mom was disappointed because she hadn’t wanted her to turn out like she did.”
“Okay, single mom…” His gaze moves to the window where the storm still rages outside. With a sigh, he mumbles, “I’ve got nothing.”
“That’s okay. We’ve got a starting point and it’s not like we can go anywhere at the moment.”
“I’m going to have to go out.”
“What? Why?”
“We’ll be out of diapers before morning.”
“Oh.” I look at the two soiled ones Easton dropped on the floor at our feet. “I’ll get rid of those. How many more were in the bag?” Picking up the dirty ones, I walk over to the trash.
“Two.” Our gazes lock again. “It’s either you or me going out in this to get some. We should check the formula too. See if we need more of that.”
“And baby wipes. You went through half the packet on that one.”
“ Fuck.” He shakes his head. “We need to get better at this.”
“You will.”
“ We , Vivi. We will. We are doing this.”
“I didn’t agree to your request.”
“I’m not requesting. I’m telling. No, I’m begging. Begging you to move in and help me.”
“Begging?” Tilting my head, I grin. “On your knees?”
“If that’s what it takes, yes, I’ll get on my knees and beg.”
I laugh. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll help for as long as you need. And we’ve probably got a day at most to come up with a story. Unless you’re planning to tell everyone the truth.”
“Shit. You’re right but we can’t keep him completely under wraps. Quade and Vail, Hadley and Laney. We’ll have to tell them something. But that’s it. We don’t need the authorities sniffing around and taking the baby away.”
“A baby who needs a name.”
“Hmm…” He concentrates on getting the all-in-one outfit back on the baby. “We’ll think about it.”
“We can’t keep calling him baby.”
“No. But little guy or bud or something will do for now.”
“All right. Time to find out how to feed this little guy.” I grab my phone and type the name of the formula in the search bar.
“There’s instructions on the can,” Easton informs me as if I wasn’t the one to unpack the bag.
I don’t look up. “I want to see if there’s a video we can watch.”
“We’re really going to raise a baby with the internet?”
“In days past, we’d head to the local library or the wise old women of the tribe.”
A snort laugh bursts from Easton’s chest. “Fuck, woman. You say the weirdest shit.”
I tap my temple. “This thing is a steel trap. Information goes in, and stays. It’s crazy what floats around up here.”
“I bet.”
I can hear the smile in his voice but I’m busy looking for what I want.
“Vivi?”
“Hmm…”
“Vivian.”
My head snaps up, my gaze colliding with his.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And I’m sorry our date didn’t turn out as planned.”
“I think our date is going fine. Better than fine.” I grin. “After all, you haven’t even given me a goodnight kiss and you’ve got me moving in.”
Laughing, Easton’s scoops the baby off the table and into his arms. “Hey, I think his eyes are blue.”
“All babies are born with blue eyes.”
“They are?” He brings their faces closer together. “Oh! He’s gone cross-eyed.”
“Don’t bring him so close. They can’t see well for the first few months.”
“We need a book about babies.”
“It’s not all we need.”
“What?” Easton smiles at the baby. “What else do we need for you, Little Man. Huh? What do you need?”
God. They’re so cute. My ovaries are aching again and I have to force myself to focus on the conversation. “A bed.”
“I have a bed.”
“For a baby. We need a cot. Or cradle. Whatever they sleep in at this age.”
“Oh.”
“I think we should call Vail or Quade. They’ve had experience and can give us pointers.”
“Vail’s probably the better choice. Quade’s in the middle of it.”
“True. But either is a good option. Of course if you go to one without the other…” I let my words trail off. He’ll work it out. They’re his best friends.
“Fuck. I need to call them both.”
“Should we do it now or tomorrow?”
“One of us needs to head out for supplies so maybe now. That way we can pick up whatever else we need to make it through the night.”
“Want me to get a video call set up?”
“Yeah, use my phone…”
I already have my phone mirroring on the big screen in his living room. The ringing comes though his surround speakers.
Laney answers first.
“Hey! How’d the date go—” She sucks in a sharp breath. “What the hell is Easton holding?”
Laney barely finishes talking when Hadley joins us. “Hi. You’re back from your date early. Things not go well?”
“Date’s going great.” I grin and move across the living room to put my phone on the shelf beneath the TV. “But E and I need to talk to you guys. Vail and Quade too.”
Moving back, I take a seat on the sofa next to Easton and wait for Laney to demand an answer to her question.
Lightning flashes outside and a split second later the lights flicker.
“Looks like we might lose power,” Easton murmurs. “Let’s get this done before that happens.”
“Okay, we need to ask some questions about newborns.” I dive right into the heart of the conversation. “How often do they eat, sleep, poop. What they need. All that.”
“That’s how you answer my question?” Laney asks. “Where the hell did you get a baby?”
“The stork delivered him. The weather is crap for flying so it was kind of an emergency landing.” I grin.
“Vivian Lenore Garnett, don’t you bullshit me!”
I drop my smile. “We’re not sure exactly where he came from. He arrived on E’s doorstep tonight.”
“Someone brought you a baby?” Vail moves in next to Laney. “Is it yours?”
“No. Yes.” Easton shrugs. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything tomorrow but tonight I need to know what we need to take care of him.”
“Him?” Quade finally joins the conversation. “Him who?”
“They have a baby,” Hadley explains.
“They have a what ?” Quade’s gaze bounces between us and his wife.
“Short version. This little guy was left on my doorstep with a note. He needs us to take care of him.” Easton explains. “We need to know how to do that. And what we need to do that.”