by Young, Alexa
“Baby pay dolls?”
“No, he’s too young. He just likes to eat and sleep for now.”
“You pay dolls?”
Oh, sweet Lord.
“Maybe later.” I’m hoping it’s enough to distract her, but she’s like an elephant – she never forgets.
Laurie lifts Noah out of the car seat and holds him. She rocks him for a few minutes till he settles then hands him over to a very excitable Luce.
“Oh, he smells divine. You forget how perfect the baby smell is. He’s beautiful. How much did you say he was again?”
“Eight pounds nine.”
“Wow.” Luce’s eyes widen at that information.
“Tell me about it. Seventeen hours in labour, but worth every minute.” Her eyes hold so much love, staring over at Noah.
“I’m only getting the feeling back in my hand now,” Ritchie chimes in.
When will he learn to keep his mouth shut?
“Shut it, Ritchie, you got off lightly,” Laurie snaps, sending a glare his way.
Dray chuckles. “Been there, done that.”
“Err, Dray, when you push a watermelon through your…” Laurie hesitates then mouths the word ‘cock’. “Then you have reason to complain. Otherwise, zip it.”
“Good to see you, too, Laurie. Wish I hadn’t opened my mouth.” Dray winks before encasing her in a hug.
“Just a friendly warning.” She playfully pats his chest and kisses his cheek.
Dray turns to look over at Luce and frowns, her face now sad. We all know this is a bittersweet moment for her. He walks over and sits beside her. “It will happen again for us soon, baby.”
“I hope so,” she whispers, kissing Noah on the head.
“It will, Luce. Look at my little miracle.” Laurie smiles reassuringly.
“He is perfect.” Luce runs her finger down his chubby little cheek.
“Pity he never sleeps,” Ritchie adds, yawning before Laurie hits him directly in the rib with her elbow. “Ow, what the—”
“He’s a baby, that’s why. You don’t get up with him during the night, so I don’t know why you’re even complaining. Men!”
“Come through to the kitchen, I’ve been baking. I’ll make you a coffee,” Luce says, giving Ritchie the evil eye as Laurie follows suit. He’s well and truly in the dog house now.
Once out of earshot, Dray pipes up. “What did I tell you? Don’t anger them. She’s hormonal as hell, don’t antagonise the beast any more than what you have to.”
“I didn’t think.” Ritchie rubs his rib, pouting.
He truly is clueless.
“Yeah, well, learn to. Women aren’t the same once a baby arrives. They have very little patience, which goes to the baby. You’ve got to learn to keep your wits about you to keep in their good books. I know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to need some pointers.”
Gracie looks up to me and shakes her little head. “Men.”
* * *
An hour later, Noah has woken up, he’s been fed and changed and we’ve all had a little hold. It makes you wonder how a person can be that tiny. I’m sad I never got to be a part of Gracie’s life when she was a baby, but I count my blessings I’m in her life now.
“Oooh, Itchie pwetty.” We laugh as Gracie smiles while doing her usual makeover of adding butterfly clips to our hair. Ritchie is the last. He did try and hesitate, but one look from Laurie told him to keep his mouth shut and play along. His blond hair is cropped short, but Gracie has managed to work with what he has.
I look around the room and smile. Gracie has weaved her girly magic everywhere; Luce and Laurie’s hair are also covered. Mine is clipped onto my quiff, and Dray hasn’t escaped, either. Gracie climbs down from Ritchie’s knee and comes back with a doll. I grin when she hands it over along with her brush. He looks over at a smirking Dray and pulls a face.
“Bwush hair, Itchie,” she urges him with her eyes.
“Yeah, brush her hair, Itchie,” Dray snorts, not even hiding his amusement.
“Darling, I’m a big boy. I don’t—arrghhh.”
“Brush the doll’s hair, Itchie,” Laurie warns, ready to kick him again if he refuses.
“Fine,” he snaps and begins to brush. “But like I tell you every time, if this gets out that I’m wearing girly clips and brushing dolls’ hair…”
I grin at Ritchie’s face till a doll and brush are thrust into my hand. It was inevitable, I guess.
“You know we all keep shtum about what goes on in here,” Dray chimes in to reassure him.
“Well, you better,” he grumbles.
“I think we can all safely say we’ll go down together.” I motion to the clips in my hair. Anyone at work would have a complete field day if they saw all three of us right now.
Gracie looks around the room and smiles; we all have dolls, apart from Luce who sits holding a sleeping Noah. She walks over with her little brush in hand.
“Bwush baby hair, Mamma?”
“Very gently,” Luce warns. Gracie nods, starting to move the brush through Noah’s soft, blond hair.
Laurie looks on smiling. I think her hormones are about to explode at the little affectionate scene before her. We all watch in wonder then “ahh” when she bends down and kisses him softly.
“Can I steal her?” Laurie asks, pulling Gracie into a hug and kissing her cheek.
“I bwush your hair, Lolly?”
“Certainly, darling. Make me pretty.”
“I will.” Gracie grins.
“Oh! I think it’s time to hand Noah over to Ritchie.” Luce scrunches her nose before the smell hits the room.
“Yucky!” Gracie shrieks, holding her nose.
“No, I think Laurie’s got it.” Ritchie waves Luce away, looking horrified.
He is unbelievable.
“Ritchie, get on the floor and change your son’s nappy. I am getting my hair done.” Laurie shoots him a no-nonsense look.
“But—”
“Just do it, Ritch.” Dray chuckles. “And make sure you’re prepared, because it goes everywhere.”
“Fine.” He pulls out the nappy, cream and wet wipes, then takes Noah from Luce. “Oh, God, he stinks.”
“It’s only going to get worse when you open it, Ritch,” Dray adds, loving every minute of Ritchie’s torture.
He shoots him a glare. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“Shit,” Gracie repeats instantly.
“Oh, good one, Ritch. That’s a bad word, darling,” Laurie quickly cuts in, trying to rectify the situation.
“Shit.”
“See what you’ve done now!” Laurie barks glaring over at him.
“Itchie shit.”
“Gracie, don’t say that bad word,” Luce warns, looking embarrassed.
“You need to learn to put a lid on that potty mouth, Ritchie,” Laurie snaps.
“I’m sorry, it’s just—”
Dray jumps up. “That’s it, move aside. I’ll change it before you have my baby girl cursing like a sailor.”
Ritchie willingly moves to let Dray take over, and it’s like a military procedure. In four quick moves, he has the nappy off, bottom cleaned, cream and new nappy on, all within seconds. He finishes the final popper on the vest before putting Noah’s dungarees back on.
“All clean,” he says, smiling as Ritchie looks on shocked.
“How did you… and with the smell.”
“You get conditioned to it. At first, I gagged, but now it barely bothers me.”
“Thank you, Dray. Maybe you need to give Ritchie some lessons, because he needs to take his fair share in nappy changing. I’m not listening to any excuses, either. He’s your son, too.” She thrusts her finger in Ritchie’s direction, and even I’m scared.
Gracie walks over to Ritchie and he smiles, picking her up. “Are you still my friend, Gracie?” He stares at her, looking hopeful for some support.
“Shit,” Gracie repeats again.
A
ll eyes turn to Ritchie as he mouths ‘sorry’.
Chapter Seven
I head down to the kitchen to grab an orange juice. Dray is busy on his phone and has his laptop open to his business emails. He looks stressed; I guess losing Ritchie to two weeks’ paternity leave is taking its toll. He’s been used to letting him handle a lot of the business.
I fill the glass and motion to Dray if he wants one, but he shakes his head and continues on, deep in discussion. Gracie is busy having a tea party with her dolls, so I flop on the sofa and flick through the day’s paper. It’s my day off, and I don’t have much on.
Dray rushes through, looking annoyed. “Gracie? You need to come with Daddy to work, angel, there’s a meeting I forgot about. Grab a dolly and then we can get going.”
“No, I stay here.” She continues on pouring her imaginary tea.
“I can look after her,” I offer, smiling.
“But it’s your day off. Are you not meeting up with any of your friends?”
“Maybe later, but I’m free now.”
A look of relief crosses Dray’s face. “You are a lifesaver. I don’t especially want to take Gracie in, she’ll end up doing everyone’s hair.”
I snort at the fact, because I know it’s true.
“Gracie, come here, angel,” Dray says, kneeling on the floor.
She places down her teapot and runs into his arms.
“Daddy has to go out. Now, you be a good girl for Uncle Lex, okay?”
“I will.” She nods, smiling.
“I love you. I’m going to be away for a few hours but will be home soon.”
“Okay.” She scurries back over to her picnic and continues to pour out the tea, barely noticing Dray leaving.
I lean back into the sofa and grab the remote, but no such luck. A little hand pulls me to come and join in the fun of the picnic.
* * *
An hour later, I decide to take Gracie to the park. It’s a beautiful day, plus she loves to feed the ducks. It’s late November, so we wrap up warm. I text Dray to tell him our whereabouts, and he asks me to come into the office to collect some keys to take to Ritchie.
We pull up outside, and I help a chatty Gracie out of her seat before heading indoors. I know whenever Gracie visits there’s always chaos brought on by a lot of hormonal women. I was hoping to nip in and out, but I thought wrong.
“Oh, is that Gracie?” Jo rushes over and instantly lifts her from my arms, much to my annoyance.
“Do you remember me, Gracie? It’s Jo.”
Gracie looks at her then smiles. “Jo.”
“You do remember me!” she shrieks. It’s only because she just said her name, but I’m not about to rain on her parade.
“Such a pretty girl. I love your little coat. Are you off anywhere nice?”
“I feed ducks.”
“Oooh, I’m off in an hour. Maybe I could—”
“Sorry, we have a few other things to do and we’re in a rush, just in and out to grab some keys. Better go. Say bye, Gracie.”
I swiftly lift her into my arms as Gracie yells bye and waves. I feel bad, but I have enough of her reading into things already.
We walk up the stairs and pass by Abbie’s office. I normally get some sort of glare, but on this occasion her face lights up.
“Hey, Gracie, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
I’ve never seen her smile before; usually, her face is in full-on glare mode whenever I’m around.
She walks around her desk completely ignoring me to take Gracie from my arms. “How about a nice lolly?”
“Yes, peas.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just go and—yep.” I awkwardly walk off, unnoticed by either of them, and go to get the keys. I step back out the office minutes later to find Gracie laughing as Abbie finishes telling her a story while she sits sucking on a lolly. I hate to disturb them both, but we need to get going.
“Come on, Gracie, we’ve got some ducks to feed.”
She turns to face Abbie. “I feed ducks.”
“Oh, such a good girl. Are you going to come see me again?”
She nods and smiles.
“Thank Abbie for the lolly.”
“Fank ooh,” she chirps in an adorable way as Abbie hands her over.
“My pleasure. Hopefully see you soon.” She waves, and I can’t believe it’s the same person. I shake my head in wonder.
Did I actually imagine her being kind?
She’s normally abrupt and standoffish. Women – I could never even try and fathom them out. There’s only one lady in my life, and she’s my world.
We head to the park and there are quite a few people out dog-walking. Everyone is bundled up, and Gracie greets every dog she passes.
The ducks soon flock our way when they notice food is involved, and Gracie squeals with delight as they quack away. I’m too engrossed in watching her to notice the cute blonde standing beside me.
I turn and find her staring. Her chocolate-brown eyes hold mine for a few moments before she shamelessly takes her time to peruse the full length of my body. When her eyes return to mine, she smiles, licking her overly glossed lips.
“So, is this your daughter?” she asks, barely even noticing Gracie.
“No, she’s my niece.”
Her smile grows even wider.
Gracie tugs on my jeans; her food bag is empty and she’s tired after our trip. I know she’ll be ready to take a nap the moment the car starts moving.
“Hey, pretty girl, are you ready to go home?”
She nods and yawns, rubbing her eyes as I lift her up. She nuzzles into my chest, and I sigh in contentment and kiss her hair.
“Oh, you can’t go just yet. I came over to ask if you wanted a drink, my treat.”
Seriously?
“I kind of have a tired little girl here,” I point out.
This girl is unbelievable.
“So? She can sleep on your knee. And at least now she won’t be interrupting us, babbling away.”
The cheeky bitch.
“Yeah, I’ll pass, I think.” I move to walk away.
“Wait, you’re really going to pass up the chance to get to know me?” She stands there brazenly, hands on hips.
“I think I’ve seen enough, thanks. Say goodbye, Gracie.”
“Bye-bye,” she mumbles.
“She’s not even that cute,” the bitch mutters to herself.
I whisper in Gracie’s ear; it’s only then she notices the over-the-top hair this girl is sporting. It’s Gracie’s weakness, and her fist springs out to grab some, but her hand soon gets caught. She tugs hard to get it back.
“Arggh! Get her off! My hair!” the blonde girl shrieks like a banshee.
Gracie giggles, thinking it’s a game, then looks shocked when she eventually pulls back her hand along with a huge lock of hair.
I guess it wasn’t her own after all.
“Give me that back, you little brat.” She snatches the hair from her hand, much to Gracie’s horror.
“Bad girl!” Gracie shouts, pointing.
“Come on, Gracie, let’s leave the nasty girl to it.” I kiss her cheek and walk off.
“Your loss!” she shouts.
I turn and smirk. “I think I’ll survive.”
I tickle Gracie as we head towards the car.
“You’ll always be my girl, Gracie.”
She nods then promptly falls asleep. I think she’s had enough action for today.
Chapter Eight
I’m in for the early shift. It takes its toll, but as I have Gracie coming in for her five-o’clock snuggles I should be used to these early mornings.
I head to the office and almost walk by Abbie, who’s sat at her desk sipping on a coffee. Her glasses are perched on her nose, her auburn hair swept up in a top knot, but she’s too busy reading her Kindle to notice me. She’s dressed in her usual black attire, but it’s not enough to disguise her curves.
Trust me, I’ve noticed.
“Morn
ing,” I chirp.
“Shit.” She jerks her hand and her coffee splashes over her jumper. “Oh, great stuff. You maybe want to announce yourself sooner next time rather than creeping up on people,” she barks.
Holy shit.
Gone is the sweet Abbie I saw yesterday.
“Sorry, I didn’t frighten you intentionally,” I mutter, feeling defensive.
“Then why the hell are you even here?” She bangs her coffee down in anger.
“I came to grab something from Dray’s office.” Though I really shouldn’t have to justify myself.
“Well, now that you got it, you can leave.” She fixes me with a stare which says she means business.
“Wow, you really don’t like me, do you? I don’t know what I’ve ever done to justify this attitude.”
Her eyes widen at my direct tone. “I know guys like you who come along. You think a hot body is enough to win the ladies round, then you screw them and leave them. You might take delight in adding all these notches on your bedpost, but not all of us fall for your patter.”
I move closer, my eyes holding hers. “So what? You lose yourself in your Kindle instead?”
She leaps up, slamming her hands down onto the desk. “Fuck you. At least I have some respect and keep my knickers on. You might be charming all the girls here but with me, you’ve more chance of flying to the moon than luring me into your bed,” she snorts.
“And what makes you think I want to have you in my bed?”
“Because you’re all the same.”
I shake my head in annoyance. “There you go again, making assumptions. What if I’m waiting for the right woman to come along? It happened with Dray, and he was the biggest man-whore of them all.”
“That’s different. He only became a man-whore because he couldn’t have the one woman he wanted,” she barks.
“And what if it’s the same for me? What if I’m interested in someone but they revoke any kind of attention I send their way? What advice would you give me?” I edge closer, and her eyes stay locked on mine.
“I’d tell you not to bother, that some minds are not for changing, and to redirect your energy somewhere else.”
I chuckle to myself. “But here’s the thing. I like a challenge, and I know what I want.”