moved a little farther into the room, but quietly. Not to nanny-cam her, just reluctant to interrupt this quiet, happy scene. He could see her profile and knew she was smiling. His son was grinning back, proudly showing off four top and a matching number of bottom baby teeth.
“So, what’s the plan for today, Mr. Kyle? Are you going to help with laundry? Maybe the house cleaning? I know. How about you dust the toys in your basket? That would be a big help.” She put a firm hand on his belly to keep him from rolling off as he unexpectedly squirmed toward her. “Not so fast. And just where do you think you’re going, mister? It was a good try. Points for that. But we’re not quite finished here.”
She encircled his chubby leg in her fingers then bent slightly and kissed the bottom of his foot. He started to giggle and there was a smile in her voice when she said, “Are you ticklish?”
This time the smooch on his foot was accompanied by a loud smacking noise and Kyle laughed, a consuming sound that came from deep inside. Emma laughed, too, and repeated the action several more times, eliciting the same happy response.
Justin smiled at their play and would challenge anyone to keep a straight face under the same circumstances. A baby’s laughter could enthrall a room full of adults. That was just a given and didn’t explain his own feelings about the woman making his son laugh.
Something weird curled and tightened in Justin’s gut and made this morning different from every other morning since he’d moved to Blackwater Lake. It was nothing like the other mornings he’d come upstairs to see the nanny caring for his son. But Sylvia was the grandmotherly type and Emma wasn’t. That changed everything.
The sweet sound of her amusement mingling with his son’s mesmerized him, and her fresh, wholesome beauty made it hard to turn away. In her jeans and soft powder-blue sweater, she was also dressed for work but on her it didn’t look like work. Until yesterday, Sylvia had been there to blunt this reaction, and now all he could do was hope it would go away. Unfortunately, if anything, he felt it more sharply now that they were the only two adults in the house.
Speaking of adults, it was time to start acting like the one in charge. He moved close enough for their arms to brush and the smell of her to drift inside him. “Hey, there, you two.”
Emma glanced up and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Hey, buddy.” He leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead. The boy babbled and held out his car. “I see. Did you sleep okay?”
The answer in baby talk sounded very much as if he were carrying on a conversation. Justin knew the chatter was the beginning of speech and his son was right on target developmentally. Absolutely normal. His goal was to maintain the average and ordinary, but the fact that his son would never have a mother already changed the usual domestic dynamic, and that bothered him. His job was all about fixing and there was nothing he could do to make this right for his son.
The child held out his arms to be picked up and Justin said, “Just a minute, buddy. You have to get dressed first.”
“My fault,” Emma said. “I got sidetracked. He’s just too much fun to play with. I don’t want you to be late because I didn’t stick to the schedule.”
“No problem. I’d much rather he’s happy. That’s the number-one priority.”
She nodded then quickly and efficiently grabbed one foot at a time and slid each one into the legs of the outfit. “I’ll put clothes on him later, but this is more comfortable for now.”
“Sounds practical to me.” When she finished, he picked up the baby and hugged him close, loving the smell of fresh-scented soap and little boy. He nuzzled the small neck until the child squealed with laughter. “I’ll carry him downstairs.”
“Okay. I’ll get breakfast going. The coffee is ready.” She stopped in the doorway. “Is there anything special you’d like?”
You.
The thought popped unexpectedly into his mind with such intensity that it startled him. He swallowed once because his mouth was dry, then said, “Surprise me.”
“Okay.”
Mission accomplished, he thought, before she’d even had a chance to get downstairs. He looked into his son’s gray eyes and smiled ruefully. “So, this is the new normal, kid. We just have to get used to it.”
And by “we,” he meant himself.
He settled the baby on his forearm and carried him downstairs and into the kitchen. There was a steaming mug of coffee sitting on the long, beige-and-black granite beside the pot.
That was something Sylvia had never done for him.
“Thanks,” he said, grabbing it with his free hand.
“You’re welcome.” She glanced up from the bowl of raw eggs she was stirring with a wire whisk. “I’ll put Kyle in his high chair.”
“That’s all right. I’ve got him and your hands are full.”
The chair was set up beside the oak table in the kitchen nook that had a spectacular view of Blackwater Lake below. It was one of the things he liked best about this house. He put his mug down and settled his son, then belted him in before adjusting the tray for comfort. On the table beside it was a plastic dish of dry cereal and he set it in front of the little guy, who eagerly dug in. This was the established routine that he’d learned worked best. Keep Kyle happy so Justin could get breakfast in before work. After he left, Emma would feed him other appropriate nutritional stuff to balance his diet.
Right now she was scrambling eggs in a pan and folded in sliced mushrooms, tomatoes and grated cheese. There was a blueberry muffin sitting by his plate. Obviously she’d been downstairs already to prepare everything before Kyle was awake.
“You’re very organized,” he commented. “Did you get up before God to do this?”
She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Almost. It doesn’t take long without interruptions. And this morning your son slept like a baby and made me look good.”
“I just want to say that grabbing breakfast on the way to work is never a problem if he needs anything. The schedule is flexible.”
“Understood,” she said. “But there’s always a contingency plan so you shouldn’t have to.”
“Like this tantalizing muffin on the table?”
“Exactly. I hope you like it.”
He lifted the small plate and sniffed. “Smells good.”
“I baked them yesterday afternoon while Kyle was napping.”
“From scratch?”
“Yes.” She used a spatula to lift the eggs onto a plate and brought it to him. “I hope this passes the taste test, too.”
He sat beside his son’s high chair and cut the muffin in half. Although there was butter on the table, the cakey inside was so moist he didn’t think it would need any. The bite he took told him he was right. In silence, he chewed and savored the sweet, moist flavor.
Emma
