How the hell was a woman meant to breathe during a time like that? The answer to that would be: only if she had balls of steel and was hella secure with her man, and as I didn’t have either of those I was at an impasse. Basically, I was screwed.
Her eyes scanned my face as I thought this, and then her face softened. “Katy, I’ve only just met you, but I’m thinking that you’re perfect for him. If I had to dream up a woman for him, it would be everything I see sitting in front of me right now.”
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Holy, holy fucking shit.
“I…” I started and then shook my head. “I don’t know what to say.”
Seeing that I was having an internal freak out – although I wasn’t sure I wasn’t having an external one, too – she relaxed into her seat. “Say ok and then we’ll get to know each other. I’ll start by telling you about me and my husband. What do you know about Jamaica?” she asked, changing the subject so quickly it felt like I had whiplash.
“Um, it’s in the Caribbean?”
Throwing her hands in the air and making the row of bangles she had on her wrist tinkle, she launched into a story that by the end of it had me thinking about when I could next take a break and head to Jamaica.
Holy shit again.
Jarrod
How I got home without crashing was a miracle, and it wasn’t until I pulled into my driveway and got out to go to Katy’s that I realized I should have just called one of them on the way. Instead, I’d spent the last twenty minutes imagining Mom putting her through a gamut of tests and trials, like an ‘are you fit to date my son’ assault course.
My mom was awesome, but she was fiercely protective of us.
Hurdling the fence between our gardens was now something I was used to, so I cleared it easily and was in front of her door in seconds. Then I was knocking, praying to the man Maude kept talking to all the time that Mom hadn’t ruined the fragile something that Katy and I had. I had a lot of explaining to do, and for someone who’d never had to do that and wasn’t good with words, this was a big problem. Add on trying to repair any damage Mom had done… I was freaking out.
I was just about to knock again when the door opened and Katy was looking up at me wide eyed, and then Duke was excitedly head butting my thighs.
With our differences in height, I had a clear shot of Mom sitting on the couch with Elodie, watching me with a smile on her face.
“Ma…”
Not mistaking my tone – not that anyone could seeing as how I was frustrated as hell and struggling to hide it – she just shot me a grin back. “Nice to see you, Jarrod. I was just telling your Katy all about Port Royal.”
Port Royal – where her family was from in Jamaica. Was I fooled that that’s all she’d spoken about? No. She’d definitely said more before she’d moved onto home.
Looking down, I tried to read Katy’s current mood, but she was just watching me like she was waiting for something. “Are you ok, baby?”
A hiccupy sigh came from the couch and Mom muttered to Elodie, “He calls her baby.”
Fuck my life.
Fortunately, Mom’s dramatic reaction made one corner of Katy’s mouth tip up in a grin. “Your mom’s a trip,” she snickered, and then sobered. “She can never meet Maude, though.”
That wasn’t something that I hadn’t realized the second I’d met Maude… Those two together would be a huge mistake for the entire world.
“Who’s Maude?” Mom asked, not even hiding that she was listening in now.
Moving out of the door so that I could get in, Katy threw over her shoulder, “My grandmother. She’s a walking holiday, but she’s totally crazy.”
Mom’s head jerked slightly, and she looked up at me in shock. “You’ve met her grandmother?”
Shit.
“Yeah,” I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that I really was screwed now. “And the rest of Katy’s family.” It was only a small exaggeration given that I’d met her parents and sister for all of ten seconds the night before, but I’d met her brothers for slightly longer so it was the truth and lying to Mom about it was just shitty.
A determined look replaced the shock, and she clapped her hands together. “Well, then we’ll have dinner at ours. No, no, no lip,” she snapped, holding her palm out to me when I went to interrupt. “Call your family and tell them they’re coming to ours. You said you wanted to try the food I was telling you about, so that’s what I’ll make,” she told Katy, getting up and looping her purse over her shoulder. “How many of you are there?”
Katy looked up at me like she was pleading for help, but if she hadn’t gotten it by now, she soon would. There was no stopping Gloria Kline when she made her mind up.
“Just go with it, honey,” I muttered, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans for something to cover up the awkward feeling I had now.
I’d wanted this with Katy, but we had a lot of work to do to fix the fragile link we’d had that had been broken by a misconception. I couldn’t do that while my family were around, and I knew my nosy brothers would be watching everything tonight. Basically, this was a fucking nightmare.
“Invite this Maude, too,” Mom ordered, still waiting for the guest number from Katy.
No, now this was a fucking nightmare.
“There’s eight of us,” Katy whispered, then bit down on her lower lip. “Elodie’s super cool about food, though, and eats anything. Her favorite is Mexican that borders on being too spicy for anyone else.”
“I’d heard all about her from my boys,” Mom said through a grin, tickling the baby and making a face at her. “And they were right when they said she was beautiful.”
And there it was – all the tension went out of Katy at the thought of the little girl who technically wasn’t her niece, but who she’d claimed with her whole heart. “Yeah, she’s the most awesome little girl in the world. I’ve been looking after her because her mom – my cousin – isn’t around, but I love every second of it.”
One of Mom’s hands flew to her chest. “This poor baby’s mother died?”
Katy looked up at me for help, and I knew what she wanted help with was explaining her cousin’s addiction in a way that wouldn’t bring judgement on her family. Not that Mom would, she wasn’t that narrowminded, but I could understand why Katy would be worried about it.
Pulling her into my side, I explained, “Elodie’s mother has an addiction problem, Ma. She has for years, so Katy’s family all help with Elodie, making sure she has everything she needs and grows up healthy. She’s got a strong bond with Katy, so she’s alternating keeping her with her uncle who can’t always get time off or find someone he trusts with her.”
Telling her this wasn’t a mistake, far from it, and I knew that the second she looked at Katy even more determinedly. “Well, you just found someone else who’ll help out. Bring her with you tonight and we’ll set up some more time together next week, too. Once she’s used to me and you’re comfortable with me and trust me with the precious, I can step in to help you out, too.”
Shit. “Katy has her family who can help, Ma…” I reminded her, but it was no use.
“Babies need love from a variety of people, and you can never have too many people to hand. You yourself help Jose out with her little Olivia, don’t you?” She had me there. “So I can help out with Elodie.” She finished and then started tapping her lip. “I need to get some toys, perhaps." Looking around the room, she took in the box in the corner. “Huh, that maze with the beads would keep your brothers and father entertained for hours.”
“It has,” Katy choked out, and then clarified, “I mean, it’s entertained your sons, not your husband, obviously.”
Rolling her eyes, Mom crossed over to us still carrying Elodie. “Right, little one. You go to your auntie, and Auntie Gloria will see you later.”
She didn’t want her aunt, though, she wanted me, which she made clear when she lunged out of Mom’s arms to me. Fortunately, I knew to expect it by now, so I’d bee
n ready just in case she’d done it.
Bringing her around onto my hip, I tucked Elodie in close. “One of these days, the person you do that to isn’t going to be ready, little precious. Then we’ll have an Elodie pancake and your auntie’s gonna be sad all day.”
Staring up at me with big eyes, she stuck out her lower lip and let it tremble as her nose started to turn pink.
“Ok,” Mom croaked, fanning her face with her hand. “I’ve got to go to the store. Jarrod, I’ll check what time the boys can make it and text you a time to tell Katy’s parents.”
“What if they’ve got plans, Ma?” A bit like we’d had plans that now weren’t going to happen, but I was going to take the rest of the day off to sort shit out with Katy and then I could plan something better to do with her tomorrow night. So in a way it wasn’t actually that bad of a situation – unless you counted the woman you wanted a relationship with meeting your crazy family with her crazier (although, that was a matter of opinion) family.
“Then we move it to tomorrow or just you and your girls come,” she shrugged, giving Katy a hug and leaning in to give Elodie a kiss on the top of her curly head.
I was beginning to think she was going to leave without doing it, but just as she started to walk past, she pounced. Grabbing my cheeks, she used them to pull my face closer to hers, gave them a shake, and then furiously kissed back and forth between them. When that was done, she patted my left cheek loudly twice, and then walked out, leaving Katy staring at me and trying not to laugh. Elodie didn’t have that control because she kept giggling even after the door shut behind twister Gloria.
Peace… apparently even distance wasn’t going to give me that.
Looking back at Katy who was watching Ma go out to her car, she whispered, “I guess I need to call my family.”
Lifting my hand to the back of Elodie’s head – who was now rubbing her face in my chest – I managed to get out the words that almost choked me. “Don’t forget Maude.”
The scared look she gave me would have been funny if it wasn’t for a good reason. In my mind I heard an explosion and realized that it had come from the hopes and dreams of peace and quiet I’d had.
But strangely enough, holding Elodie and watching Katy, realizing how special she was and how much I wanted this to happen… I didn’t mind the explosion.
Nine
Katy
As I’d picked up my cell to call my family, Elodie had started whining and wouldn’t stop rubbing her face on Jarrod’s chest – lucky duck – so he’d taken her upstairs to put her down for a nap.
Now I was done, the calls had been made and my family were now free. My parents would meet us there and still take the baby for the night so that I could have a break. Seeing as how she had a room at their house so that they could help out whichever one of Leo and I had her, and also loved being with them, this was a relief. I’m also not gonna lie – I was freaking looking forward to the lie in tomorrow.
Seeing that Jarrod wasn’t down yet and that I’d left the monitor in my bedroom, I climbed the stairs, stopping when I heard his deep voice singing softly. Describing it was one of the hardest things ever, which was frustrating because its beauty was unreal. Then again, there weren’t many things in life that were so beautiful they were indescribable, and Jarrod had quite a few of those.
Straining to hear the song, I almost melted when I figured it out. Was it a song written for kids? Hell no, but his deep baritone voice and the way he was singing it could have made and song sound like it was.
But Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters? When I listened to it normally, it struck me as an almost angrily, aggressive, sad song. But how he was singing it, those words turned into something that was almost touching and heart wrenching.
Tip toeing closer to the door, I peeked around the frame and saw him sitting on the huge bean bag I’d put next to her bed. He was leaning back with her on his chest, his big hand holding her in place on her back, while she looked up at him and listened.
How wrong was it to be jealous of a baby?
Beside him on the floor was Duke, lying face down with his legs spread out like a star. He was also watching him and periodically wagged his tail whenever Jarrod got to the chorus.
Going with the idea that hit me, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone and took a photo. That was totally going to be my wallpaper.
As the song came to an end, he softened his voice until it was a whisper. Elodie’s eyes fluttered a couple of times, and then they stayed shut. She was out.
I was so engrossed in them that I didn’t realize he was talking to me until he said my name.
“Katy?”
Raising my eyes off my niece, I watched as his face split into a huge grin. “Sorry, what?”
“I said, I think she’s got another tooth coming through. I noticed her chewing on her fist when Ma was holding her, but she’s been rubbing her face on me since I got her and her cheeks are warm.”
Shit, I’d noticed it, but it hadn’t occurred to me that she might be in pain. I was seriously such a bad aunt.
Closing the distance between us, I leaned over and put the back of my hand against her cheek like Mom used to do to us when we were little. Sure enough, she was warmer than usual. “Does she need some Tylenol?”
In the months since she’d been born, not once had she been unwell when I’d had her. In fact, I couldn’t even recall a time when my uncle said she’d been properly sick.
Running his hand over the top of her head, he asked, “Do you have one of those kid thermometers?”
I did a mental run through of the contents of my first aid kit and then realized I did in fact have one. Holding my finger up to him, I sprinted through to the bathroom that was attached to my bedroom, opened the drawer that I’d dedicated to all things medicine, and looked at the second drawer in the organizer box that had bigger items in it like bandages and a bottle of that shit that burns when you pour it on a cut. Sure enough, beside it was the thermometer I’d bought the first time I’d taken care of her.
Pulling it out, I made sure the battery wasn’t dead and took it through to where she was now lying on her bed with Jarrod standing watching her.
“It’s a forehead one. You just press the button and it reads it,” I whispered, holding it up for him to see.
When I didn’t move to use it, he gestured at her with his head. “You gonna use it, babe?”
That was a good point.
Leaning over her, I pressed it gently on her forehead and put my thumb on the button. In a matter of seconds it beeped, and I lifted it to look at the screen. “Ok, if your temperature is meant to be around ninety-eight, that means that literally just under one hundred is high, right?”
Frowning at this, Jarrod walked around and gently pulled me out of her room and into my room.
Now was the time for me to embrace my inner Maude. Sweet Jesus, I had Jarrod Kline in my bedroom. Jesus needed to take that wheel and drive!
“Ma,” he said into his phone, something I hadn’t seen him using until he spoke. “'Lodie’s got a fever. Yeah, almost one hundred. No, just chewing and rubbing her face on me. Her cheeks are pink and warm, but she wasn’t sweaty. Hang on, I’ll ask her.” Raising his head to look at me, he asked, “How’s she been with eating and drinking, honey? Any issues?”
Thinking back, I did a quick analysis of how she’d been eating. “No, she was fine. Fed Duke like normal, was chewing ok, but she was thirsty this morning.”
Focus back on his phone, he asked, “Did you hear that? Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, too. Ok, we’ll do that. Thanks, Ma. Yeah, later.”
“What did she say?”
Putting his phone back in his back pocket, he blew out a breath. “She says it’s probably teething, but if anything changes to call the doctor. She also said she used to check our temperatures every hour when we were sick, just so she was aware if anything changed.”
That was a good idea. “I’ll do that for sure.”
“How do you feel about giving her some Tylenol right now, just to see if that helps?” he asked, his head tilting to the side as he watched me.
That question made me freak out. I’d never given her any medication before and, honestly, after her mom being addicted, the thought of doing it was terrifying.
I don’t know what he saw on my face, but he definitely would have been able to read my fear. “What’s going through your mind, Katy?”
Wringing my hands in front of me, I laid it out. “Her mom’s an addict, but I don’t know enough about addiction to see if kids can inherit it. I know that they learn by viewing, but addiction is addiction, it’s a disease that a lot of people can’t help, Jarrod. Giving Elodie a medication, even if it’s only baby Tylenol, when Effie has that…”
Closing the distance between us, he lifted his hand and cupped the side of my neck. “Baby, she’ll be ok with Tylenol, especially the baby stuff you’ve got for her. After that, you need to speak to a doctor and do some research so that you understand it better, and so that in the future you can help Elodie understand what her mom’s going through.”
“Ok,” I breathed, my freak out slightly calming.
“Now, get the stuff and look at how much she needs to have. Do you want to hold her, or do you want me to do it while you give her the Tylenol?”
How did he know so much? I hadn’t even gotten to that stage of the process in my mind. I was still stuck on the part where I went to get it.
Knowing she’d wake up when she was picked up, even if it was only for a second, I made my choice. “I’ll hold her, you give it to her.”
Talk Flirty To Me: Cheap Thrills Series Book 4 Page 10