by Ariel Tachna
“It’s awfully cold outside,” Srikkanth observed. “I don’t want her to get sick.”
“Put one more layer on her than you’re wearing,” the nurse suggested. “And that includes the blanket over her. You don’t want her to get overheated either. So if you’re wearing a shirt and a sweater, she should have a shirt, a sweater, and her blanket, or a onesie, a turtleneck, and a sweater.”
“I mostly just bought sleepers for her,” Srikkanth admitted, starting to worry again.
“That’s fine,” the nurse assured him immediately. “If you need two layers, just put two blankets over her sleeper so she’ll have three layers. Or turn the heat up in the house a little so you’re comfortable in just one layer of clothes.”
“How soon can I take her out?” Srikkanth asked, not wanting to impose on Jaime every time he had an errand to run or needed more diapers or formula or other things for her.
“The doctors usually recommend six weeks,” the nurse told him, “but I don’t know that anyone actually waits that long. Obviously the more people she’s around, the more she’ll be exposed to germs, so keep that in mind when you’re trying to decide if you should take her somewhere. Once she’s had her first round of vaccines, she’ll be a little safer in that respect. If people come to visit, make sure they wash their hands well before they pick her up, and if they’re sick, don’t let them hold her at all.”
Srikkanth nodded, not mentioning that with his parents back in India, there was no one to come visit them. He had plenty of friends, but most of them wouldn’t care about a new baby, and given the circumstances, his colleagues didn’t even know about her yet. “Then I guess I’m ready to take her home.”
“Make a well-child appointment with a doctor as soon as you can,” the nurse reminded him. “That relationship will be invaluable when you have questions.”
“Thank you,” Srikkanth said, standing up awkwardly as he juggled the still-unfamiliar bundle in his arms. “For everything.”
“You’re welcome,” the nurse smiled. “One of the joys of my job is seeing healthy babies go home with loving parents. You’ll be fine. What she needs more than anything else is your love and attention. Give her that, and everything else will fall in line.”
Looking down at Sophie’s sleeping face, Srikkanth didn’t think he’d have any trouble doing that.
Chapter 5
Parking his car in the driveway outside the condo, Srikkanth took a deep breath before climbing out and opening the back door. He checked to make sure Sophie was tucked in well beneath her blanket before lifting the carrier from its base and carrying her inside. No one else was home yet, so he took her upstairs, setting the car seat down and beginning the arduous process of getting her out. She squirmed a little as he released the webbing and fumbled with supporting her head. He told himself repeatedly that it would get easier with practice and that she would learn to hold her head up on her own soon, but he still worried about hurting her. When she settled in his arms and her eyelids did not even flutter, he decided he hadn’t bothered her too much.
His stomach growled hungrily, interrupting his thoughts. He debated for a moment whether he should try to take her with him while he made lunch, but he wasn’t quite sure how to manage her and his food, and he had the bassinet right there. Setting her in it carefully, he tucked a light blanket around her and slipped out of the room to get some lunch. He managed to stay downstairs long enough to heat up a frozen dinner, but he’d only eaten about half of it when the need to check on Sophie grew overwhelming. He carried his plate upstairs, balancing it on his knees as he ate, his eyes glued to Sophie the entire time. It didn’t matter in the least that she didn’t so much as stir. He needed to see her.
He finished eating and simply stayed where he was, the plate forgotten, as he watched her sleep, until he dozed as well, the dish clattering to the floor. The noise startled them both awake, Sophie letting out an unhappy wail at being torn from her restful sleep. Srikkanth jumped up to soothe her, and she calmed somewhat when she was in his arms again, but she stayed fussier than usual. Glancing at the clock, Srikkanth saw it was almost time for her to eat anyway, so he grabbed one of the bottles of premixed formula the hospital had given him and took it downstairs along with her to heat up her snack. She fussed impatiently as they waited for the bottle warmer to do its job. He reminded himself to send Jaime a text asking him to pick up formula, but he’d have to wait until he finished feeding Sophie, because he didn’t have a free hand to reach for his phone.
Once the bottle was in her mouth, she settled down, content to suck on the nipple and fill her little tummy. Srikkanth breathed a sigh of relief, still nervous about his ability to take care of her in the long run. One day at a time, he reminded himself. Just take it one day at a time.
He was so caught up in his worrying that he forgot to burp her until she had already finished the bottle. Apologizing profusely, he lifted her to his shoulder, patting her back to get the bubbles out. She let out a huge belch, followed by a gush of hot milk, all down his back.
“Forget to burp her?” Nathaniel asked, walking in the door at exactly that moment. “You really should be careful about that. It isn’t good for their digestive tracts to spit up too much.”
Guilt assailed Srikkanth immediately as he imagined having to explain to his pediatrician why he’d let Sophie spit up. His stomach churned, but Sophie seemed oblivious, her head resting contentedly on his shoulder.
“Here, give her to me for a minute while you change your shirt,” Nathaniel said impatiently. “You stink.”
Srikkanth handed Sophie to his roommate, surprised when she suddenly started crying. “Go on,” Nathaniel urged. “I can hold a screaming baby for the time it takes you to change clothes. Just hurry up. I need to study.”
That pretty much summed up Nathaniel’s life as far as Srikkanth was concerned. Still, the man hadn’t been obliged to offer, and Srikkanth really did need to change his shirt. It was cold and sticky, and Nathaniel was right about the smell. He stripped off the soiled garment, tossing it vaguely in the direction of the hamper, and pulled out a long-sleeved T-shirt this time, figuring it would be easier to get clean if Sophie spit up again and not as much of a loss if it didn’t come clean. He couldn’t afford to have her ruin all his work shirts.
Hurrying back downstairs, Srikkanth all but snatched Sophie from Nathaniel’s arms when he saw the casual way the other man was holding her despite her continued fussiness. She blinked a couple of times when he rocked her and cooed to her and then settled down again, easing some of Srikkanth’s worries. He might not have any real idea what to do with her, but at least she liked him.
Nathaniel accepted his thanks with an absent nod, disappearing into his room to study. Srikkanth looked down at Sophie. “So what am I supposed to do with you while I make dinner?” he mused. “Jaime isn’t home to watch you yet, and I can hardly just put you on the floor.”
Saying Jaime’s name reminded him of the text he wanted to send, so he dug his phone out of his pocket and sent that off before returning to the problem of what to do with Sophie while he cooked. Maybe he should’ve gotten a reclining high chair for her after all. He supposed he could use her car seat. It wasn’t as stable on the ground as when it was attached to the base in his car, but she wasn’t moving around much, certainly not enough to squirm out of it, and if he put the straps on, she would be fine while he cooked.
He hoped.
Usually Srikkanth enjoyed cooking, but this time he was distracted, feeling the need to glance in Sophie’s direction every few seconds to make sure she was safe and happy in her car seat serving an unintended purpose. He only hoped dinner was edible, since he’d overcooked the onions and nearly burnt the spice mixture he used in his mother’s chicken curry.
Jaime smiled as he looked at the text on his phone. Srikkanth had obviously gotten home with Sophie if he was already sending messages asking for help. Jaime had a break he hadn’t used today since the store had been so busy
he’d needed everyone on the floor. Not that he was complaining, but he couldn’t skimp on his employees’ breaks, which meant he’d skimped on his. Glancing at the clock, he decided that he’d just take his lunch and his break now and leave forty-five minutes early. He had two assistant managers already on the floor, and they could page him if they needed him. Flipping open his phone, he dialed Srikkanth’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?”
Srikkanth’s voice was so distracted that Jaime smiled again. “I didn’t wake Sophie, did I?” he asked.
“No,” Srikkanth replied. “She’s sleeping in her car seat while I try to cook dinner.”
“Good. Do you have a minute, or am I going to ruin dinner by distracting you?”
Srikkanth snorted. “We’ll be lucky if dinner’s edible at all tonight. I can’t seem to concentrate on anything but her.”
Jaime laughed. Srikkanth sounded adorably ruffled, so unlike his usually composed self. “I think that’s probably pretty normal,” he assured his friend. “I’m leaving work now, so I’ll stop at the store and pick up the things you texted me about. Do you need anything else?”
“I think we got everything we needed for her yesterday except the formula,” Srikkanth replied.
“I didn’t ask if she needed anything,” Jaime reminded him. “I asked if you needed anything.”
“A bottle of vodka?” Srikkanth quipped. “A hole in the head?”
Jaime chuckled. “Stop worrying so much and enjoy having her. Tell me what she looks like.”
As he waited for Srikkanth to answer, he pulled on his coat and waved good-bye to his assistant manager. The woman waved back, and Jaime put work behind him for the day.
“She looks like Jill,” Srikkanth replied immediately.
“She can’t possibly look like Jill,” Jaime retorted, thinking of the fair-skinned, red-haired woman he’d seen at Srikkanth’s side any number of times. “You’re too dark for her to have Jill’s coloring.”
“She has my coloring,” Srikkanth agreed. Jaime fumbled for his keys in his pocket, trying not to drop the phone at the same time. “Dark hair, dark eyes, although her skin isn’t as dark as mine, at least not right now.”
“Well, she is a mixture of both of you,” Jaime mused as he climbed in the car and pulled out of the parking lot, “so it makes sense she’d be a little lighter than you are. She might get darker as she gets a little older too. I remember my mama saying that babies’ pigmentation sometimes didn’t show up fully for a couple of months.”
“Other than her coloring, though, she looks like Jill,” Srikkanth continued, his voice tender. “She’s got the same eyes and mouth, and I think her hair will be curly too.”
“I’m sure she’ll be as beautiful as her mother,” Jaime said, thinking quietly that she could do far worse than looking like her father. He’d noticed Srikkanth as soon as he answered the ad looking for a roommate, but they’d agreed up front that good roommates were even harder to find than a good lay and that as long as they were roommates, they wouldn’t get involved in other ways. It had worked out great. They’d had boyfriends come and go over the three years they’d shared the condo, and even a couple of third roommates, but their friendship had remained solid. He figured that was a pretty good track record, although he couldn’t help but wonder how Sophie would change things.
“I hope so,” Srikkanth murmured, “although that could make high school interesting.”
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Jaime advised. “You’ve got a few years before you have to worry about that. Let’s get her into kindergarten before you start thinking about high school, okay?”
“Damn it!”
“What’s wrong?” Jaime asked immediately, hoping nothing had happened to Sophie.
Srikkanth sighed. “I ruined dinner.”
Jaime smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll stop and get Chinese on the way home. I’m at the store now, so I’ll get the formula. Call and place an order. I’ll pick it up when I go by.”
Srikkanth sighed again. “Okay, let me go see what Nathaniel wants. What about you? You want chicken with cashews as usual?”
“That’s fine,” Jaime said, amused at how well they knew each other after three years.
“Okay, I’ll call it in. Keep the receipt so I can pay you back when you get home,” Srikkanth said.
Jaime started to protest, but Srikkanth had already hung up. “Watch it, Bhattacharya,” Jaime muttered at the phone as he parked and went into the store. “You’re going to start letting me help you if I have to tie you down and make you.”
He grabbed the formula Srikkanth had named in his message, not really knowing how much to get. His mother had nursed his siblings, so this was one thing he didn’t have a lot of experience with. He could change diapers in his sleep, but he’d have to learn about bottles along with Srikkanth. He didn’t mind.
The cashier at the hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant recognized him and handed him his order almost before he’d had a chance to say hello. Jaime paid and thanked the woman as always, but instead of lingering and chatting like he usually did, he headed back to his car and drove the rest of the way back to their complex without delay. Their condo was one of about thirty in the complex, all of them less than ten years old. All virtually identical. It was a far cry from the old house he’d grown up in, his parents having bought it for next to nothing because it was in such terrible shape. They’d spent years fixing it up, always some project going on. It had been a wonderful way to grow up, the family all pitching in to patch this wall or paint that room until his parents had one of the nicest houses in the neighborhood. Jaime didn’t have a family, though, a group of people to come home to and build with, so the condo was a compromise. It wasn’t even his, really, since he rented from Srikkanth, but he didn’t need more than he had at the moment, and it let him save the bulk of his income towards retirement and a down payment on something of his own at a later date. He’d entertained the notion on occasion of finding someone to share those dreams with, but so far he hadn’t met anyone he felt that strongly about. Certainly not strongly enough to give up his current situation, which was pretty much ideal as far as he could tell, other than the absence of a long-term partner in his life. He wasn’t quite ready to give up on Randy, his current boyfriend, but Randy hadn’t given any indication of being interested in more than having a good time.
Juggling bags to carry everything inside in one trip, Jaime tapped softly at the door rather than ringing the bell. He vividly remembered his mother demanding his father disable their doorbell at one point when it seemed like every time she got his fractious sister to sleep, someone would ring the bell. Fortunately, Srikkanth heard him, arriving seconds later to let him inside.
“Thank you,” Srikkanth said before Jaime had even gotten in the door. “Nathaniel came out of his room demanding to know what the awful smell was after I burned dinner. I told him you were bringing Chinese, but I don’t think he was terribly impressed.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Jaime soothed immediately, handing Srikkanth the bag with the formula. “I swear he complains just to have something to talk about. He’ll get over it once he’s had something to eat.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Come on, don’t worry about him. I want to see Sophie,” Jaime insisted, changing the subject away from their sometimes-difficult roommate.
“She’s in the kitchen sleeping,” Srikkanth replied, leading the way through the living room to the kitchen where Sophie lay, as promised, asleep in her car seat.
“You know,” Jaime teased, “you could’ve put her either in her stroller, since it has a reclining seat, or in the napper from her playpen. It detaches, remember?”
“As much trouble as we had getting it put together in the first place, I think I’ll leave it where it is,” Srikkanth said with a short laugh. “She was fine in her car seat.”
Jaime let it go at that, but he remembered some of the seats he’d
seen at Babies / Us, the ones with lights and music that would probably annoy Nathaniel to no end, but they’d amuse Sophie, which was far more important than Nathaniel’s attitude. Maybe he’d see about getting one for her later in the week. In the meantime, he’d see how else he could spoil her rotten. She stirred about that time. “Get the bottle together,” he told Srikkanth. “I’ll see if I can distract her until it’s ready.”
“Maybe I should hold her,” Srikkanth began. “She didn’t react very well when I handed her to Nathaniel.”
Jaime ignored him, lifting Sophie deftly out of her seat and cradling her with the ease of much familiarity. Yes, it had been a few years, but he hadn’t forgotten how to hold a baby. Holding a baby, like riding a bike, simply wasn’t something one forgot how to do. Her eyes opened as she stared up at him, but he rocked her and cooed at her while Srikkanth fumbled with the can of formula. He could tell she was a little confused at having someone else holding her, but he just kept rocking and talking, and she calmed in his arms while they waited for Srikkanth to get the bottle heated up. “Hello, precious,” he murmured. “Were you a good girl for your father today? We’re very glad you’re here, he and I, even if Nathaniel is an old sourpuss who can’t appreciate a good thing when he sees it.”