10. Parker Cain
10
PARKER CAIN
Oh, my fucking God.
What has he done?
When we arrived at the massive house, there was a large delivery truck parked in front, and several men were rushing in and out, carrying bags and boxes. In fact, it appeared as if heavy boxes would go in and then another group would carry out collapsed empty boxes.
“What the hell? Are you moving in? Or out? What’s going on?” I demanded as Declan drove past the house to park in the long, multi-car garage.
“Patricia worked faster than I expected,” Declan mumbled as he pulled the vehicle into the open spot. The place looked like no garage I had ever seen. It was a car showroom. Declan owned a mix of sedans, sports cars, and SUVS. All of them gleamed and shone in the overhead lighting. The tile floors were spotless, and there wasn’t a single gardening tool or speck of dirt to be seen.
“Who? What? Who’s Patricia?” I stammered, jerking my gaze from the pretty Jaguar that I so wanted to take for a test drive .
“She’s my personal shopper. The one I asked to pick up a few things.”
As I climbed out of the car, I stared at the delivery truck. “You keep using that phrase: ‘ a few things .’ It doesn’t mean what you think it does. This is a lot more than a few things.”
“Good afternoon, sirs. How can I assist you?” Franks inquired as I pulled Joy out of the car in her carrier. The man had just popped up from out of nowhere as if he were a secret wizard.
“The baby food, formula, and new bottles can go in the kitchen. Everything else goes in the baby’s room,” Declan directed.
The baby’s room?
I was in the fucking Twilight Zone. When the hell had Joy acquired her own room? How long were we fucking gone?
“Very good. The workers are putting the last of the furniture together now. It should take me less than an hour to finish putting away her wardrobe. Mr. Cain’s wardrobe is still arriving, but what is here is laid out for him to approve.”
I had been reaching for one of the many bags from the trunk but froze at Franks’s last sentence. “I’m sorry, what?”
Declan took my hand and tried to turn me away from the car. “Leave it for Franks to get.”
“But we have to help. And what’s he talking about my wardrobe? And Joy’s wardrobe? Babies don’t have wardrobes. What did you do?”
“First, we don’t have to help. This is his job, and he is very well paid to do his job.” Declan gave me another nudge toward the house, but I refused to budge. Declan leaned in and added in a whisper. “You will hurt his feelings if you don’t let him do his job.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Franks, who gave me a wide smile and a reassuring nod that this was exactly what he wanted to do, and he was happy about it.
Okay, lesson learned. Don’t do Franks’s job for him .
“Okay, but you still need to answer my other question. What the hell did you do?”
Declan sighed and shot me a look like this was my fault. “It made little sense for Patricia to only get supplies for Joy when you lost everything as well. I asked her to get you some clothes so you can be more comfortable as well and focus on healing from what has happened.”
Every time he spoke, he made everything sound so very logical and reasonable, while I was the one who was panicking about silly things. Of course, I didn’t have the kind of money where I could wave a bank card like a freaking wand and get people to jump to fulfill my wishes.
Empty-handed, I followed Declan into the house and up the stairs to a guest room that was across the hall from the one Joy and I had stayed in last night. I hadn’t seen the contents of the room prior to today, but I could see that it had been transformed into a soft and cuddly jungle that stole my breath away.
A brand-new white crib was against one wall, while a matching white dresser that could double as a changing table stood across the room. Soft pale-green cushions covered a rocking chair and matching footstool. There was a swing and a bouncy chair identical to the one she’d received that day in the office.
And then there were the toys. Mountains of soft plush animals. Bears, giraffes, elephants, and more.
In one corner, there was a pile of bags where I could glimpse more toys and what had to be a complete wardrobe.
My knees turned to water at the overwhelming sight, and I stumbled over to the rocking chair before I hit the ground. It was all so much, and it was perfect. If I’d had unlimited funds, it was what I would have given her. The safe, warm environment gilded in the afternoon sunlight that poured into the room through the three large windows was what Joy needed.
I watched with my heart in my throat as Declan lifted Joy out of her carrier and placed her in the bouncy seat. The little girl didn’t hesitate. She started bouncing and smacking at the activity toys, making them spin, flash, and play music. A happy gurgle rose from her, and some of my anxiety eased.
“Do you like it?”
For several seconds, I could only stare at Declan like he’d lost his mind. Like it?
“I fucking love it.”
He frowned at me. “Is it wise to curse so much in front of your daughter? At what age do babies say actual words?”
Laughing as though my last working brain cell had left on holiday, I jumped from the rocking chair and threw myself at Declan, wrapping my arms around his neck. His entire body stiffened, and his hands came to rest on my hips. I pulled him in close and claimed his mouth in a hard kiss, not caring that until this moment, all the affection I’d ever shown him had been limited to sex. Whatever. Words wouldn’t be enough to cover my feelings right now.
After a brief pause, Declan’s lips softened and parted, kissing me gently, but I broke it off before we could get too wrapped up in that tenderness. I knew the boundaries between us. At least, I had prior to all this insanity. What we had was simply sex. Nothing more.
And yet, he’d come to my rescue twice now. Not just with his way of sweeping in and taking control of the chaos. Or even how he had an amazing way of splashing money about to make the problems go away. I was more impressed with all the times he’d held me and chased away the pain and panic.
“Thank you. It’s perfect,” I whispered as I stepped out of his embrace.
Declan released me and glanced at Joy. “There’s an elephant on that bag you carry. And she has a stuffed elephant. I told Patricia to go with that theme.”
“Great idea. Molly loved elephants. She would have approved of this room for Joy. ”
Declan grunted, and our awkward conversation ground to a halt. I wandered the room, looking over the toys and decorations. There were even elephants on the bedsheets. I’d made a complete circuit without coming up with something new to say. It wasn’t as if Declan were a big talker. It was usually me rambling about a bunch of nonsense that he didn’t care about. Yet things felt different now, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with the baby in the center of the room playing “Pop Goes the Weasel” on an endless loop.
Thankfully, Declan’s assistant rescued us.
Franks stuck his head into the room. “I apologize for the intrusion, sir, but Chef Donovan was wondering about lunch. Should he serve it at the regular time of noon, or should we make new accommodations for Miss Cain?”
Declan said nothing but stared at me.
“Lunch! Yes, that’s a brilliant idea. What time is it now?”
“Twenty until twelve now, sir,” Franks replied.
“Wow! Time flies when you’re shopping. Yes, Joy needs to eat, but first she could use a fresh diaper. Joy and I will be down shortly,” I announced in a very loud rush before darting to lift the child out of her new chair.
“Excellent. Shall we do the same as breakfast—two purees and half a bottle?”
“That would be perfect.”
Instead of leaving, Franks entered the room and motioned toward the changing table and dresser. “I didn’t have the chance to put away her clothes, but I set up the changing station for you.” With a bit of a flourish, Franks pulled open a drawer neatly filled with diapers. He then took a step to the side and opened another box that I thought was purely decorative. Inside there was a stunning assortment of lotions, wipes, and even ointments to treat diaper rash. Fucking everything I could need for changing Joy’s diaper, all within easy reach. No more frantic hunting and scrambling to find things .
“Holy crap, that’s amazing!” I exhaled as I laid Joy on the padded table.
“Wonderful job, Franks,” Declan murmured.
The assistant beamed at his employer, looking as if he were about to burst. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing, only because I knew that feeling all too well. Declan wasn’t effusive in his praise, but there was something about getting a taciturn guy to say you did a good job that made you want to preen.
“Thank you, sir. I will go alert Chef Donovan to your lunch plans.”
“I would be surprised if she eats all of her lunch,” I mumbled as I worked on getting Joy’s shorts off.
“You don’t think she’ll be hungry.”
I shrugged one shoulder as I pulled out a fresh diaper. “She is, but it’s been a busy day. I suspect she’s going to fall asleep while eating.”
“Oh.” There was a long pause where Declan didn’t speak, and I fought a wiggling baby who didn’t want to let me get at her diaper. “Parker?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you…teach me how to change a diaper?”
Joy’s wiggles were forgotten for a moment as my head jerked to stare at my companion. “What? Really?”
Declan nodded. “In case you need me to watch her. I’ve never changed a diaper. It’s not something I wish to do incorrectly.”
“Ah…okay,” I mumbled while trying to kick my brain out of neutral. I’d never imagined Declan wanting to watch Joy. Not that I’d gotten the impression it had been a terrible experience for either of them—but I’d thought it would be a quick, one-time thing. I’d expected Declan to cut all ties with me once I was out of his hair. Who wanted to schedule a weekly fuck with a guy who had to plan around his kid’s sleep schedule ?
“Is that a problem? Would you not feel comfortable with me?—”
“No! It’s fine. I trust you. Your request surprised me.” I rebounded after hearing the hesitance in his voice and jumped right back in. “Diaper changing is super easy. Especially with these disposable ones. I remember Molly debating between cloth diapers and these disposables. When she considered all the washing, she went with disposable and I am so freaking glad. The first step is getting the wiggle worm to lie on a blanket or on the changing table. You’ll need a fresh diaper and some wipes close at hand. Once you get her undressed from the waist down, you pull these little tabs to unfasten the diaper and?—”
I didn’t get any further in my instructions. My sweet, precious daughter had dumped a massive stinky load into her diaper. Poor Declan gagged and gasped before charging out of the room. I might have gasped, but that gave way to near-crippling laughter. My vision blurred from the unshed tears and I kept one hand on Joy’s belly as I laughed, struggling to stay on my feet.
This was an important lesson for Declan. Babies were cute and adorable, but they also produced very sticky, disgusting things that required a strong stomach and a somewhat dead sense of smell.
“I guess we’ll have to try with a non-stinky diaper,” I said to Joy, who giggled at our antics.