Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“It’s the baby,” she murmurs, moving her head from side to side, no doubt trying to wake up from sleep. It takes her about five seconds before she goes from lying down to sitting up in the bed, then she turns and swings her legs to the side, standing up. My hand moves slowly off her and falls onto the bed with a thud.
I get up on my elbow as she stands right next to the bed, my eyes go straight to her ass. She must have changed from when she got into bed before, because she is now wearing booty shorts. When did she change out of her pants? Also, when did her ass get so—umm sexy? I blink a couple more times to clear my head. Maybe I’m delirious from the lack of sleep? Or maybe I’m delirious because my life has been flipped upside down in the past two weeks? Maybe also I’m delirious because it’s been a month since I’ve had sex with someone? “Why is she crying?” I sit up in bed, listening to the crying becoming louder and louder.
“How am I supposed to know? I’ll have to get my magic ball out to see what it says.” She rubs her eye with the palm of her hand before she walks out of the room. The crying gets louder and louder. I look over at the bedside table where the white monitor sits and I see the green lights fill it to the top. The lights go down when she takes a second to breathe while wailing. It takes less than a second to hear Eva’s voice coming through from the monitor. “What’s up, baby girl?” Eva’s voice comes out soft. “Are you hungry? Come here, baby girl.” I hear her lift the baby as I toss the covers off me, getting up and making my way toward Cici’s bedroom. “What’s all the tears for?”
My feet sink into the carpet as I walk into the room seeing Eva holding Cici to her chest, right in front of the crib where she picked her up from. “Should I do something?” I ask and she turns around to look at me.
“Can you get her a bottle?” she asks as Cici buries her face in Eva’s neck, looking over at me, not sure if she should cry or not.
“Um,” I say, looking at her and then at Cici, “is the bottle ready? Like how does one make a bottle? Do I grab it from the fridge, twist the top open? Do I put it under hot water? Do I boil the water?” I put my hands on my hips, suddenly petrified she is going to tell me what to do and then I’m going to go downstairs and, of course, fuck it up, because chances are I’m going to fuck it up.
Eva walks over to me. “Okay, fine.” She hands Cici to me. “Hold her and I’ll go make a bottle.” The minute Cici is in my arms, she starts screaming. I’m expecting Eva to rush back in here and save both of us, but she just looks over her shoulder at us. “Walk her,” she orders me as she heads toward the stairs, leaving me with a wailing Cici.
I put my hand on Cici’s back as her eyes stare at the door for Eva to come back. “I feel you,” I mumble. “It’s okay.” My voice comes out softly, making her turn to look at me. She stops crying for a second before she shudders as she looks at me, her lips going into a pout. “I know the last person you want is me.” I take Eva’s advice and start to walk toward her bed before turning back to walk toward the door. “But she’s going to go and get you food. The good stuff.” She looks at me, taking her little chubby hand in a fist and rubbing her eyes. I’m a forensic accountant, who literally takes down million-dollar companies for fraud and embezzlement. I sometimes make grown men cry, I’m a beast in some people’s eyes, especially most of them trying to hide shit that I will eventually find. Yet, here, this little girl, not weighing more than twenty pounds, terrifies the fuck out of me. She takes a big inhale. “I’m just the middleman.” I walk back and forth. “I promise not to keep you longer than I need to.” I put my hand on the back of her head, rubbing her softly. “It’s just that I don’t know how to make a bottle. But I promise to rectify that in the morning.” She just looks at me. “Or I’ll YouTube it as soon as you fall asleep, just in case you need another bottle before morning.” She lets out a soft cry. “She just has to get the goods and then she is going to come and get you.” She looks over at the door as footsteps come up the stairs. “I think she got it. I think she is almost here.” Cici looks up at me, her eyes filled with water, not sure if she wants to cry or not. Her little bottom lip quivers as she puts her two balled-up little fists against my bare chest, and I can’t help but fall in love with this little girl. My eyes go toward the door. “There she is.” I kiss her head as Eva comes into the room. “That was fast.” I see Eva with sleep still in her eyes, but a smile on her face when she sees Cici has stopped crying.