Embracing Her Ever After: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (ABCs of Love Book 5)

by Brenna Jacobs

  Oooh, boy. Maybe Tessa had slipped from tiredness into flat out sleep deprivation if she was imagining talking colors.

  “Tessa?”

  She realized she’d already zoned out. “Sorry, you were saying something about suggestions to help Calvin sleep?”

  “Yes. Give him the same routine every night. It might take a few days, but he’ll love it. I’d give him a warm bath first.”

  Tessa’s stomach flipped. “Oh no. I’ve never given him a bath and he’s been here four days already.”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Lezlie said in a soothing voice. Tessa wondered how panicked she sounded to the other woman. “You’re fine. Do you wipe him down with baby wipes at all?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s great. You’re doing great. You probably don’t have a baby tub, right?”

  “I don’t.” Oh no. She was the worst aunt ever. “They don’t just go in a regular bath?”

  “They don’t, but a nice clean kitchen sink will do fine. I’d put a little bit of lavender oil in the water too. Then get him out, put him in a fresh sleep sack, and give him his dinner bottle.”

  “A sleep sack?” The pitch of her voice went up.

  “It’s kind of like a baby nightgown but it closes at the bottom. When he’s done eating, put him in his crib with no blanket. That’s what sleep sacks are for. That way he doesn’t get too hot and wake up because he’s uncomfortable. And don’t worry about finding any of this stuff. I’ll send Ethan by the store after work, and he’ll bring it over for you.”

  “Thank you. But you think Calvin is waking up because he’s too hot?”

  Lezlie sighed, and it sounded small and sad. “I don’t. I think he’s waking up because he’s missing his mama. The best thing you can do if he’s waking up sad is distract him. Keep the lights off, put him in bed with you, snuggle him, and sing him some songs.”

  “I don’t know any kid songs.”

  “He doesn’t either. Sing whatever you want, just in a soft voice, keep cuddling, and see if he goes back to sleep. If he does, put him back in his crib. You don’t want him to sleep in your bed. Too many accidents happen like that.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “That’s when you try a walk or a drive. And sometimes you have to let him cry and hang on anyway. It’ll help him to know you’re there. You can do this, Tessa.”

  Tessa was quiet for a long moment. “I’m not so sure.”

  “You absolutely can,” Lezlie said firmly. “Look at how much you’re doing for him already.”

  “It’s not enough.”

  “It’s more than his mom could do for him.” Her voice sounded sad again but without any judgment. “Trust me, you’re doing great. But . . .”

  “But what?”

  “It can take a couple of weeks, sometimes even longer, for babies to quit missing their moms in the middle of the night. Are you up for it?”

  At this precise second, Tessa wanted to say no. But she thought about how she felt with even six hours of sleep, and she took a deep breath. “Yes.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “I am, kind of,” Tessa answered. “I think it’s because I’m accepting that Rachel isn’t going to show up any day now. Or maybe ever.”

  “That leads me to my next point,” Lezlie said. “Ethan says you haven’t been willing to contact CPS about Calvin?”

  “I don’t want to get Rachel in trouble.”

  “That’s admirable, but there’s going to have to be some accountability from her. If not, then you still need to make something official so that you can make any medical decisions for Calvin, plus a million other things. It is a tedious process, but it’ll help you in the long-run, and I have a lot of experience navigating the foster system. I could help you.”

  “Thank you.” She considered it. She hadn’t even thought about the medical thing yet. What if Calvin got really sick? She didn’t know what she didn’t know, and the evidence of her ignorance was mounting the longer she talked to Lezlie. Not that Ethan’s mom was trying to make her feel bad. On the contrary, her voice stayed patient and warm, and Tessa could practically feel her concern radiating from the phone.

  “I absolutely don’t have time to get tied up in red tape until this project is over, but I promise to go to CPS when it’s done and start making things more official.”

  “How long is that going to be?”

  “Three more weeks.”

  “Can you keep up this pace for three weeks?” Lezlie’s voice was gentle. “Even with Ethan helping out—and he’ll help as much as you let him and probably more—that’s going to be tough to handle. I mean, he says your whole team is in there on a Saturday.”

  “It’s not really a choice. I have to take care of the baby. I have to get the project done.”

  “Understood. I just worry, honey.” And the sound of the endearment spread exactly like honey through Tessa’s chest, warm and sweet. “Just promise that you’ll check in with CPS after this project is done. I’ll do some research for you on California’s laws and figure out exactly what you’ll need to tell them and what kind of help you can get.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Bedford.”

  “Call me Lezlie.”

  “Thank you, Lezlie.”

  “Hang in there, Tessa. You’re doing great.”

  Her vote of confidence did more to clear Tessa’s head than caffeine could have, but just for extra measure, she handed Ethan back his phone and took a sip of the coffee he’d made for her. Through the conversation, he’d sat at the table, quietly eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he listened.

  “I have to do the thing I hate to do most in the world,” she finally informed him.

  “What’s that?”

  “Call a work meeting. I’ve got a problem bigger than I can solve and it’s going to take a team.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Ethan had shepherded the other engineers into the breakroom at her request, so she could finish her coffee and get her synapses firing faster.

  By the time the other engineers filed in, the caffeine was starting to work.

  “I’ll make this short,” she began.

  “Good,” Mary snapped.

  “I promise it affects the whole project.” She glanced over to Calvin, who was wiggling against Sanjay’s back, or trying too. “You guys have been so patient with me bringing Calvin to work this week, but it isn’t fair to you. It’s not going to work anymore.”

  “We like him here,” Darius said.

  “He’s fine,” Sanjay said.

  “Are you quitting?” Mary asked.

  “No,” Tessa said, almost before she finished asking. “I’m not quitting. But I think I need to ask for help.”

  “We’ve been helping,” Darius pointed out. “We’ll just keep helping. We don’t mind.”

  “You guys have been amazing,” Tessa said. “But there are limitations. What happens when we need to go out and road test? He can’t come with us. What are we supposed to do then? We can’t spare a single one of us, and it won’t be good for Calvin to be out in the desert air. And it’s not going to look very professional to the feasibility team.”

  Darius and Sanjay exchanged glances with each other, but neither of them seemed to have a counterargument.

  “I’m hoping you guys have connections I don’t for a babysitter or nanny I could hire to help with Calvin. I don’t know many people in Palm Valley, and I’m not sure any of them have kids. I’m prepared to randomly start asking them if they do, and if they have any suggestions for childcare, but I’m hoping you guys know of someone who wouldn’t mind a babysitting job for a month or two while I get things straightened out. I’ll pay the going rate, maybe even extra if they can start right away.”

  This time all of them looked at each other with helpless or blank expressions, clearly coming up as empty as she had. All of them except Ethan, who studied her with a furrowed brow. It was his problem-solving face, but as much as he’d already done to help
her, there wasn’t much he could do about this.

  “Just think about it. I’m going to start sending emails to the few people I know and join some local social media groups for parents to see if I can get recommendations or ideas. If you guys think of anyone, let me know, okay?”

  They all nodded.

  “Back to work,” Mary barked, and the sharp tone startled Calvin who jerked against Sanjay’s back then wailed.

  “I’ll get him,” Ethan said. “It’s probably time for a bottle and a midmorning nap, right?”

  “That’s my guess,” she said.

  He was already helping Sanjay unwrap. “Then I’ll handle it while you send your emails.”

  “It’s my turn to wear him after,” Darius said.

  “No way,” Sanjay argued. “You got him way longer yesterday. It’s still my turn.”

  “No, man,” Darius insisted as Mary waved them out. “I saw this new wrap hold and I’m going to try it.”

  “Settle down, gentlemen,” she heard Mary say as they headed into the lab. “I’ll make a spreadsheet.”

  The rest of Sanjay’s comment faded as they left the breakroom.

  “You’re part of a good team,” Ethan said.

  “Yeah. You sure you don’t mind doing this?”

  “Happy to.”

  “All right. Then I’m going to go do babysitter research. Thanks.” She left him with Calvin, and before she could even go fetch the diaper bag with the formula and bottle, Mary was already halfway back to the breakroom with it. She really did have such a good team, and Tessa felt the familiar thickening in her sinuses of impending tears for the second time in three days.

  She sniffed until the pressure went away. She might be getting used to the idea of letting her team help her, but she refused to get used to crying. It had been unpleasant the last time, and she didn’t care to repeat the experience.

  Opening her email program, she sent requests to all her friends explaining that she had temporary custody of her infant nephew and was looking for a babysitter, then found some online parenting groups and requested to join them, posting the same question there as well.

  When there was nothing left to do but wait and hope, she went back to problem solving, and she was deep into an inspection of their panel prototypes when Ethan emerged from the breakroom with the baby and mouthed, He’s asleep.

  The rest of the day followed the strange routine they’d all fallen into, Ethan and Tessa trading off any feeding, diapering, or burping that needed to happen, Sanjay and Darius fighting over who got to wear Calvin or keep him by their desk on the play mat.

  In late afternoon, Ethan got up and started gathering his things. “I’m going to run an errand, but I’ll come to your place and check on you guys tonight.”

  “Sure, sounds good.”

  Within a couple of hours, everyone else had decided that dinner time was late enough for them to work on a Saturday, and the packing up began. Darius helped her carry the baby stuff out to her car, and she drove home trying not to feel discouraged that her requests to friends and social media hadn’t generated any leads yet.

  She got Calvin inside and set him on the floor to chew his favorite washrag, then changed into her sweats and set to work scrubbing her sink so she could try Lezlie’s bath suggestion. She hoped that had been Ethan’s errand: getting the lavender.

  A knock sounded at her door as she wiped down the sink one last time, and she hurried over to it, sure that Ethan would be there on the other side of the door with lavender. He really was the best.

  “Hey,” she said, opening the door with a smile. There was no use in pretending she wasn’t happy to see him. He knew how she felt, even if they were making the smart play of not acting on it.

  It was Ethan on her porch, all right, but not with lavender. Not unless lavender was the slender woman in the comfortable looking knit jumper standing next to him.

  “Hey, Tessa,” he said. “I’d like you to meet my mom.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tessa stared at him, her mouth half-open, total confusion wrinkling her forehead.

  “Can we come in?” He hoped this hadn’t been a bad gamble.

  “I thought . . . don’t you live in Maryland?” Tessa asked his mom.

  “I do.”

  “So you’re here to visit Ethan?”

  “Kind of,” his mom answered. “Can we come in?”

  Tessa stepped back with a jerky motion, like she’d only just now remembered how to welcome guests. “Sure, sorry. Yes, come in.”

  They followed her to the sofa, but while Ethan sat down, Lezlie knelt down beside Calvin on the floor and smiled at him. “He sure is cute.”

  “Yeah,” Tessa agreed while shooting Ethan a look that begged for an explanation.

  “We just came back from LAX,” he said. “Well, and a stop by the store to get this.” He dug a small vial from his work bag and handed it to her. “Lavender oil? And a there’s a baby tub in the car.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me your mom was coming? I mean, not that it’s my business or anything.”

  “Because I didn’t know until I texted her during the meeting you called. I asked if she could fly out to help for a few weeks, and she said her suitcase was already packed. Literally.” Tessa looked surprised. “It’s this thing she does, and she thinks its ESP. Let’s not dwell on it too much.”

  “We should dwell on the fact that I was exactly right as usual,” his mom interjected.

  “Anyway,” he continued with an eyeroll, “she caught the next flight out of Baltimore. That’s why I left work early, to get her. We picked up an air mattress and some baby stuff then came straight over.”

  “You can’t make your mother sleep on an air mattress,” she said, her tone horrified.

  “That’s for me. She’ll get the bed.”

  “I don’t feel bad about it either,” his mom said from the floor. “But go ahead and tell her why I’m here.”

  “She’s here because—” he started, but his mom interrupted.

  “Because we haven’t had a baby in the house for seven years unless his brothers bring the grandbabies. And I needed a fix.”

  Tessa stared from him to his mother and back. He didn’t know how to read the expression on her face now because it kept flickering through so many different emotions.

  He tried again. “What I’m saying is that she’s here to help until the project is over. If you’re okay with it. She can take care of Calvin while you’re at work.” He waited for her to decline. She’d do it politely, he had no doubt, but she hadn’t accepted any help up to this point unless she’d asked for it, and she’d only asked so far when she was at the end of her rope. “You said in the meeting that if we had any relatives who might help . . .” Maybe reminding her that she had asked would make her more likely to say yes?

  “I didn’t mean for you to drag your mother across the country to deal with my problems.” The note of horror was back.

  “No one was dragged,” his mom said. “And this is a baby, not a problem. I’ve been trying to talk Ethan into letting me come for two days, and now I can’t stand it anymore. Can I pick him up?”

  “Of course,” Tessa said.

  His mom scooped up Calvin like he’d seen her do with countless other babies and settled him in her lap to smile down and croon at him. “He’s darling,” she pronounced. “And I’ll do more checking, but I have a feeling his developmental markers are all fine.” She looked up at Tessa and fixed her with a gaze that Ethan knew all too well was impossible to break. It was a look that said she was reading all things you weren’t saying and so there was no point in giving her anything but the honest truth. “You are doing remarkably well considering what you’ve been thrown into. I don’t know if you’ve decided what you want to do long-term, but I can help you either way.”

  “I’m keeping him.” The words seemed to burst out of Tessa.

  His mom gave her a small smile. “That’s good. I can help you figure some stuff ou
t and teach you stuff. Why don’t I help you give him a bath right now? Ethan, go get the bathtub.”

  He went out and fetched it, knowing Lezlie Bedford would only continue to make Tessa more comfortable while he was gone. He took his time getting it from his trunk, and when he came back, his mother had taken over his spot on the couch, and she had Calvin over her shoulder, and one of Tessa’s hands in hers.

  “My baby is leaving for a foreign country in three weeks,” his mom said. “I wanted to visit before he left but he told me he’d be working too much. Then he asked me if I’d come help with Calvin, and it’s working out even better because now I’ll have something to do all day.” She nuzzled Calvin’s cheek and he nestled against her. “As long as you’re comfortable with it, that is.”

  Tessa nodded, a slow uncertain nod. “If you’re sure.”

  “Of course. My grown baby and a fresh-from-heaven baby all in one trip? It’s the perfect vacation. Shall we give him a bath?”

  “Yes, please. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  “Let’s go.”

  And that set the tone for the rest of the night and every day after it. Tessa was determined to handle Calvin on her own at night and wouldn’t call, but for the first three mornings she reported which song would eventually put him back to sleep, usually a softly sung Green Day classic, and by the fourth morning, she said as soon as she started singing “Basket Case,” he’d fall back asleep.

  By the next week, Calvin was sleeping six hours straight at night, and Tessa was opening the door to Ethan and his mom each morning looking well-rested.

  Not just well-rested. Gorgeous.

  All this time with her was killing him in ways he hadn’t expected.

  Now that she trusted his mom to handle Calvin all day, Tessa’s mind was fully on her work again, and it was brilliant. The project, sure. But even more so the mind it sprang from. He’d always known that about her but watching her now was a whole new level. He’d been convinced by his third day in the lab that there was no way for them to finish Helios on time, but now that Tessa’s concentration was fully on working out the last of the problems, she was hurtling over kinks and obstacles like Usain Bolt.