Baby, Be Mine (Life, Love And Babies Book 3)

by Samantha Chase

  Fifteen minutes later, she was putting the vacuum away and smiled when she peaked in at the babies and saw that they were still sound asleep. A scream almost escaped her lips when she turned around after partially closing the door and found Jake right in front of her. “Dammit,” she hissed with a hand over her heart, “you scared the hell out of me.” He made to shush her, but she swatted his hand away from his lips. “Please, I just vacuumed in here; they’re fine.”

  “But…the noise,” he began and then snapped his mouth shut.

  Olivia’s lips twitched. She knew that he was catching himself before arguing with her, and it took all of her will to not laugh at his restraint. Rather than comment on it, she stepped around him and walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch. “I’m not sure they’ll be as cooperative if you are hammering, but they certainly did okay while I vacuumed.”

  He joined her on the sofa, looking uncomfortable. “Oh, well…I guess that’s something.”

  “Progress,” Olivia supplied. “It’s called progress. You’ll eventually settle in and be able to do all of the things that you usually do without them getting upset.”

  “Somehow I doubt that,” he said miserably.

  “Power of positive thinking, my friend,” she replied before reclining slightly against the cushions.

  “Everything looks great in here, Liv. I didn’t expect you to go around cleaning the place.”

  She shrugged. “It needed to be done.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it wasn’t your responsibility. I know that I should have done a better job at keeping the place clean – especially now that the babies are here – but there never seemed to be enough time.”

  “Well, there’s that and the fact that neither you nor my brother are known for being overly neat.”

  “Hey,” he said in mock protest. “I take offense to that.”

  Olivia playfully swatted at his arm. “Whenever Mike comes to stay with me in L.A., I need a Hazmat crew to come in once he’s gone. He makes me crazy.”

  “Oh, and so you just assume that I’m the same way?”

  She turned her head and stared at him. “You’re forgetting that our families have known each other for a long time. I remember coming over here to get Mike when we were younger, and…” she said when he made to interrupt her, “I was here the other day when the kids arrived. They hadn’t been here long enough for you to blame them for the state of this room.” She continued to stare him down, as if daring him to argue with her.

  “Okay, fine; cleaning isn’t my thing. Sue me.”

  “I have a feeling that I’m going to have to attack that master bath before I’ll feel safe using it.”

  “It’s not that bad,” he said weakly but then caved when Olivia’s eyes narrowed at him. “How about I go in there and clean it while you rest.”

  “Uh, no,” she replied as she stretched and stood. “I need to know that it’s clean to my standards.”

  “Your standards? What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means clean,” she teased before walking away with a smile and a sassy sway of her hips. The sass died away as soon as she got a good look at the bathroom. “You have got to be kidding me,” she murmured as she looked around the master suite. It wasn’t dirty, per se, but it definitely needed an industrial strength cleaner.

  “Believe it or not, I do have a cleaning woman come in every other week,” Jake said from the doorway. “With the construction going on, there didn’t seem to be a point.”

  Olivia could only nod. Between the babies, the shopping and the cleaning, she was exhausted and this was not a task she was prepared to take on. The way her shoulders sagged must have given her thoughts away. Jake stepped around her and opened the closet to pull out the cleaning supplies.

  “Come on,” he said. “Between the two of us we should be able to bang this out pretty quick.”

  He had a point, and she was too tired to argue. Together they worked in silence until every surface had been scrubbed clean – twice- and there were clean towels out for her to use. Stepping out of the bathroom, Olivia looked at the clock and saw that it was now almost ten. A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it.

  “What’s the matter?” Jake asked as he stepped from the bathroom and shut off the light. The babies had slept through all of the noise that they had made while cleaning and so he couldn’t imagine what the problem was.

  “I’m guessing that they’re on a four-hour-or-so schedule, right?” Jake nodded. “Then it’s almost time for them to get up again. I guess the good news is that now that we have everything organized, we can get them changed and fed and back to sleep with a little more ease and then we can go to bed.”

  Jake’s eyes widened at her words, and it took Olivia a moment to realize exactly what she had said. “I mean…then we…separately… can um…you know, go to sleep. Separately. Alone. In different rooms.” She cringed at her own yammering and wished that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

  “Oh, um…right,” he mumbled before making a hasty retreat from the room.

  Olivia followed him out. “Actually, I’m going to grab a quick shower before they get up, if that’s okay with you.”

  Jake nodded but didn’t make eye contact. “Sure. That’s fine.” He waited until he heard the bathroom door close before collapsing on the couch. Between Olivia’s fumble about sleeping together and now thinking of her naked in his shower, Jake doubted he was going to be able to relax any time in the near future.

  He heard the water turn on and allowed himself the pleasure of imagining Olivia with suds rolling down her body. His eyes closed as his head lolled back onto the couch. The shower was large, certainly big enough for two people plus plenty of room to move around, and he knew that if he were to join her in there that he’d have enough space to do what he pleased with her. A groan escaped his lips, and he felt himself starting to sweat.

  Forcing himself to sit up, he raked a hand through his hair. “Get a grip, man. You have enough on your plate without complicating things and making Olivia uncomfortable.” While there was the possibility that maybe Olivia still harbored a crush on him, Jake still wasn’t willing to risk offending her and perhaps pushing her to the point that she felt that she had to leave. A shake of his head helped to clear his wayward thoughts somewhat, and he rose to get himself something to drink.

  By the time he returned to the living room, Olivia was coming through the bedroom doorway with her hair wrapped turban-style in a towel and wearing a pair of flannel boxers and an oversized t-shirt. “They’re starting to stir,” she said softly as she passed him on the way to the kitchen. “I’m going to get their bottles going if you want to get diapers and pj’s out for them.”

  Without a word, Jake simply nodded and did what he needed to do. When Olivia joined him again, he was picking Ben up and taking him over to the changing table to clean him up. “Do you need a hand?” Olivia asked as she removed the towel from her head and carefully finger-combed her hair.

  “No, I think I’m getting the hang of the whole changing thing. You’ll probably have to show me the swaddling thing when it’s time to put them back down.”

  They worked together to get the infants cleaned and changed and met up again in the living room. Jake was already sitting with his son but had his daughter’s bottle ready and waiting on the coffee table. Olivia sat on the opposite end of the sofa and curled up with the little girl in her arms. Gently, she ran a finger town Maddie’s cheek. “Their skin is so soft,” she whispered reverently. Then she touched the baby’s hand and smiled when Maddie curled her entire hand around one of her fingers. “And their hands are so tiny.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen babies this small,” Jake said. “Their size scares me.”

  Olivia looked over at him. “Twins tend to be on the small side and they rarely go to term. Do you know if Marilyn carried them all the way through or if she delivered early?”

  He shook his head. “She pret
ty much gave me their birth certificates and not much else. I was too stunned to think of any specific questions to ask her.”

  Olivia wanted to rant and rave and rip the woman to shreds, but that wasn’t going to happen; and it wasn’t what Jake needed right now. “Either way, they’re going to grow, and once we get them in with a pediatrician, you’ll probably be able to get more information.” She looked over and saw the familiar panic on Jake’s face. “What? What did I say?”

  “I don’t have a pediatrician, Olivia,” he said, panic back in his voice. He must have startled Ben because he spit out the bottle and began to cry. “Shh…shh…it’s okay, buddy,” Jake cooed. “I’m sorry.” Gently, he placed the bottle back at the baby’s mouth and sighed with relief when he took it.

  “Well of course you don’t have a pediatrician, Jake. That’s not a problem. We’ll make some calls tomorrow and get some referrals and get that taken care of. It’s okay.”

  Jake only wished he could believe her. It seemed that as soon as he felt things were getting under control, he was thrown another curve ball. Pediatricians, cribs, diapers, nurseries…where was it going to end?

  “I’m sure if I called my mom, she’d be able to recommend someone. We all grew up here so even if she doesn’t know of one, she’ll probably know someone that we can call and ask.”

  “Sure, okay.”

  Olivia knew by the sound of his voice that Jake wasn’t feeling as confident about the whole thing as she was. At this time of night, there wasn’t anything that she could do to reassure him, so she just let the topic drop. “So…um, how did they do with sleeping the last couple of nights?”

  Jake shrugged. “I hate to admit it, but I was too tired to pay attention to how long they slept and how long they were awake. All I know is that it seemed like as soon as I would fall asleep, they’d be awake again.”

  “Okay, well let’s try and keep track of it starting tonight so that we can work on a schedule. Once we get them down after they’re fed, we’ll estimate that they’ll sleep about four hours. It would be best if we tried to get them both up together so that at some point they’ll be in sync, and you’ll be able to get some sleep, too.”

  “Are we sure that’s ever going to be possible?”

  Olivia chuckled. “You’re going to have to toughen up a bit, Jake. It’s only been three days; you’ve got at least eighteen years to look forward to.”

  His eyes grew wide. “Now I may not know anything about babies, but I know that kids sleep through the night long before they’re eighteen!” He startled Ben again, and the baby began to cry. “Dammit,” he cursed.

  “It’s okay, Jake,” Olivia soothed. “I’m sure it’s going to take a while to remember to speak a little softer and to be careful not to startle them. You’re doing great.”

  “Sure, if by great you mean screwing up more and more each second.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Geez, between you and my brother, I don’t know who’s more dramatic.”

  “He is. I’m not the dramatic type.” Olivia looked at him with disbelief. “What? I’m not.”

  “You just go on believing that,” she said sweetly. Looking down, she saw Maddie’s eyes were starting to droop and that the bottle was almost empty. Carefully, she pulled it away and braced the baby on her shoulder and began to pat her back. She noticed Jake doing the same with Ben and knew that it wouldn’t be long before they had the babies back in their bassinets.

  And she could go to sleep.

  Ten minutes later, they were each laying a sleeping baby down and stepping back carefully in hopes that they would stay asleep. When a full minute passed without anyone making a peep, Olivia turned to Jake. “I guess I should probably try and get some sleep, too. I’m not used to getting up in the night so I think it would be best if I grabbed a couple of hours while they’re sleeping.”

  “Oh…okay,” Jake said hesitantly.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, no…it’s just that I thought that now that they’re asleep and everything else is done that maybe we could just sort of sit and talk – you know, catch up.”

  Olivia couldn’t help but smile. “As much as I’d like to, I’m beat. Besides, you’re stuck with me for the next couple of weeks. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get caught up.” When he continued to stand there, Olivia gave him a playful nudge toward the door. “Go and get some sleep, too. I’ll wake you up for the next shift.”

  Jake left the room and watched as Olivia shut the door. He knew he was exhausted; knew that he definitely needed a couple of hours of sleep. As he lay down on the sofa, however, and shut his eyes, sleep didn’t immediately come.

  Instead, visions of Olivia’s smile and the way she had looked as she fed Maddie were there. It was a good vision, and after several minutes of savoring it, he finally fell to sleep.

  ****

  It was three a.m. when Olivia heard the first cry. She thought that she was dreaming and then remembered where she was and nearly fell out of the bed. She made shushing sounds as she stumbled over to the bassinets to see which one was awake and to gage how upset they were. Ben was fussing, but Olivia knew that she had a good five minutes before he got frantic.

  Quietly, she crept from the room and went to the kitchen to get the bottles started. Jake was passed out cold on the couch, and she decided to wait it out a little bit longer before waking him. She knew that he desperately needed the sleep, but she also knew that she was going to need his help before too long.

  Maddie was still sound asleep when she got back into the bedroom so she picked up Ben and got him changed and then carried him to the kitchen with her to grab the bottles. Maybe if she fed him in the bedroom and had Maddie’s bottle waiting, she could swing this without waking Jake.

  With a quick peek at his twin, Olivia confirmed that she was still sleeping before settling herself and Ben on the bed. She kept the room fairly dark with only the light of a small lamp to help her see. She wanted to keep the room peaceful and quiet so as to not stimulate either of the babies so they’d go back to sleep easier.

  Halfway through Ben’s bottle, Maddie began to stir. Not sure of what to do, she placed Ben on her shoulder and went to check on his sister. “Shh…sweet girl,” she cooed. “Give me five more minutes with your brother and then I’m all yours.” Carefully, she reached out and patted Maddie’s tummy before turning back toward the bed and nearly screaming.

  “I thought you were going to wake me up?” Jake asked sleepily.

  “You have got to stop sneaking up on me,” she whispered.

  “Sorry. I heard them stirring and was waiting for you to come and get me.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

  “I had hoped to not have to wake you at all, and if Maddie had slept for another five minutes, I could have pulled it off.”

  “You didn’t have to, Liv. We’re supposed to be doing this together, remember?”

  She did, but she hadn’t counted on how sexy Jake was going to look in the middle of the night. She had barely been able to keep from drooling a time or two during the day, but as he stood before her now in a pair of jeans and no shirt, she could actually feel her insides beginning to melt.

  “I know, I know,” she said, averting her eyes. “Um…if you want to take over with Ben, he’s almost done with his bottle and just needs to be burped. I’ll get Maddie changed.”

  “No, it’s okay; you finish up with Ben. He looks pretty comfortable.” He felt pretty darn good, too, Olivia thought as she massaged the baby’s back. Ben was curled up on her shoulder, and she was beginning to really enjoy the feel of him there.

  “Are you sure?” Jake nodded, and Olivia went back to her position on the bed to finish feeding Ben. Five minutes later, Jake sat down beside her, and she gasped. “What are you doing?”

  “Feeding Maddie. Why?”

  Good question. “I…um…I just thought that you’d be more comfortable out on the couch, that’s all.”

  He nodded and then yawned. “Thi
s just seemed easier.” Actually, it wasn’t easier, Jake came to realize. Sitting on the bed with Olivia in a dimly lit room was not going to help with the images he’d had in his head earlier, or the erotic dreams he’d been having since falling asleep. He kept his focus on his daughter and was actually disappointed when Olivia rose to put Ben back in his bed.

  “I’m going to grab a glass of water,” she said quietly. “Do you want one?”

  “No, thanks.” Jake watched Olivia leave the room and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Why had he thought that this was a good idea? Any of this? He should have let Mike’s mother come and help out; hell, he probably should just give in and hire an agency to find him a full-time nanny. One day with Olivia, and he was already losing his mind. He needed to focus on his children and making a good life for them while finding the balance between home and work. Olivia wasn’t a distraction Jake could afford right now.

  He could only imagine what he was going to feel like by the time the month was up and she was gone.

  Chapter Five

  For the next week, Jake was too busy to let his attention linger on Olivia for too long. The nights were the worst, but during the day there was so much going on that he was having a hard time keeping track of it all.

  True to her word, Olivia had found a pediatrician for them to take the babies to for their first checkup. They were also able to find out – with a little bit of help – that the babies had been delivered at thirty-six weeks. The doctor assured Jake that both of his children were fine and in good health, and by the time they left his office, Jake felt marginally better about how he had been caring for them.

  He and Olivia had worked out a schedule so that he could try and get some work done on the second floor of the house each day. Jake did his best to keep the noise and the dust levels down to a minimum, but sometimes it just wasn’t possible. The spring weather was cooperating, so when Jake told her that there would be a lot of noise going on – or dust flying – Olivia would take the babies out for a walk in their new double stroller.