She looked confused. “What was I supposed to think, Hunter?”
A sudden need to make sure she knew and understood his circumstances made him blurt out, “For the record, I’m not remarried or involved, and I don’t have any children.”
She lifted her brows, and after a long silence said, “I can’t believe Jade had a baby.”
“It wasn’t under the best circumstances. She’s a single mother and she’s been having a rough time of it since delivery. Truth is, she’s admitted herself to the hospital for treatment for severe postpartum depression, and I’m Sophie’s guardian for at least the next month.”
She looked him square in the face and he noticed a flicker of surprise in her eyes. “All the more reason for you to step down and let me find someone else…”
“We’ve gone over that already, Mandy.”
Subtle warmth spread across his chest. When he placed a hand on his shirt, he realized with chagrin that Sophie needed a diaper change. Now.
“Oh, damn,” he said, holding the baby at a distance and letting the overflow drip to the floor. He’d have to send the suit to the cleaners. He was still on a learning curve with diapers— and everything else where his niece was concerned. Apparently he hadn’t sealed the diaper tight enough.
Sophie’s eyes opened and she fussed, fisted her hand and shoved it into her mouth. He strode to the nearby table and reached for the diaper bag, then dug inside with one hand while balancing the baby under his other arm, butt out and away from his suit. The diaper bag dropped to the floor. “Damn it.”
From the podium, Mandy shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Here, let me help you out.”
If he didn’t love Jade so much, he would never have agreed to take on such a responsibility. What was he supposed to do with a baby? But, through their parents’ neglect, the bond between him and his sister had been cemented. He couldn’t let her down.
Mandy approached, picked up the bag, reached inside and tossed him a cloth diaper and some baby wipes. After spreading out the small vinyl-lined diaper-changing pad on the floor, she reached for Sophie, who continued to protest. Mandy gently patted the baby’s head to help soothe her. “There, there. We’ll get you fixed up in no time so you can go back to sleep.”
The craziest thought occurred to him: he was thankful the baby didn’t have a diaper rash—as though it would reflect badly on his parenting skills. All three and a half days of them.
He couldn’t believe he still cared what Mandy thought, or that he was having such a mundane moment with the woman he’d never been able to get completely out of his system. Be careful, he warned himself. She can’t be trusted.
He’d stood still too long, and let things grow too quiet. She glanced up at him with questioning aqua eyes.
“So you’re working toward your PhD, I’m told.”
“Who told you?”
“Dr. Hersh. He seems very impressed with this study of yours.” Maybe she’d thrown herself back into her career and had given up on her baby fantasy?
She smiled. Sophie fussed again.
“I think she’s hungry,” she said. “Did you bring a bottle?”
He finished wiping his hands and removed his soiled jacket, wishing he could strip off his shirt, too. Mandy had always been so organized. Even now, when it was none of her concern, she seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. “Uh, yes. There’s a can of powdered formula and a bottle of water to mix it with somewhere in there.”
“You take care of the meal and I’ll change her diaper. Did you bring her jammies?”
“Jammies?” He paused. “Oh, pajamas. Yes.”
“Let me guess. Pink ones?” She smiled briefly and he thought daylight had broken through the night. Her finely pointed features had never ceased to amaze him, and right now the slant of her eyes and the turn of her nose captivated him. Through his eyes, Mandy had always been beautiful, and it appeared she’d only gotten better with time. But what was the point of entertaining those thoughts?
He glanced at his niece on the changing pad. How ironic. Mandy’s sudden desire to have a baby had driven them apart. Now a helpless baby was forcing them to drop the past and focus on the “right now.”
He needed to say something. Anything. Now. “Jade has this thing for pink…for such a staunch feminist it’s strange…” he mumbled, and fumbled with the can.
“Pink is just a color, not a political statement.” She looked up, a tentative look in her eyes. “She’s really a beautiful baby.”
“You think?” Truth was he didn’t have a clue how babies were supposed to look.
“How old is she?”
“Uh…nine months.”
Mandy kept staring at him, and he felt compelled to fill the silence. “Who’d have thought in a million years we’d be working together again?”
“If I can finagle it, we won’t be working together.”
He finally popped open the powdered formula can. “I told you—it’s a done deal,” he said. “Baby and all.”
Amanda pondered the incongruity of their current situation. When they’d married, they’d agreed to put their careers first and forever. And because she’d worked so hard the stress had caused her to miss a period. The fleeting possibility of being pregnant had changed her outlook on babies so drastically she’d known she could no longer agree to a life without children. Even though she hadn’t turned out to be pregnant, she’d already made that choice. She wanted a family, not just a degree. But Hunter hadn’t budged. “You promised you never wanted children,” he had repeated, over and over.
“Life is certainly full of surprises,” she said under her breath now, as she removed the soiled disposable diaper, thinking she couldn’t have made up a wilder story if she’d tried. She and Hunter working together while he took care of his niece? She shook her head. “Speaking of surprises, you’ll need to actually read my syllabus if you insist on being my mentor.”
He nodded. “I know. And I will.”
“I’ve got everything broken down day by day,” she said, trying her hardest not to think about how wonderful it felt to hold a real live baby in her arms. “Like I said, we’ll start with physical examinations tomorrow. I’ve arranged for two exam rooms on the first floor. You can do the men and I’ll do the women.” She concentrated on Sophie, cleaning her porcelain fine skin with a moist baby wipe, trying not to succumb to her charm. “We need to get labs drawn and EKGs.”
Back then all she’d wanted was Hunter and a baby…and an advanced degree. Wast hat too much to ask? And here they were.
“We’ll do stress tests on Thursday, and by Friday we should have our group divided for the physical training portion.” If only things could have been different. This could be their baby and they could be working as husband and wife… Where
