Shaking off the irrational unpleasantness this brought on, Orlando went back to worrying instead. More so because now he could rule out the other thing he’d begun to think: that maybe she’d forgotten her phone at home.
With nothing more to offer, he was off the phone with Felicia quick enough. He needed to try Dani again, and once again she didn’t answer. “Maybe her phone’s off,” he said, trying to talk himself down as he zoomed around car after car on the freeway. “Maybe her battery died, and she didn’t bring a charger, or maybe she’s so busy with the baby she’s just lost track of time.” He shook his head, banging the steering wheel. “If that’s the case, this isn’t gonna work. I can’t have some irresponsible kid watching my baby.”
Ever since he’d begun to get annoyed at her lack of response to his texts or calls, he decided maybe she wasn’t ready for this kind of responsibility. She might sound like she knew her stuff, but she wasn’t actually licensed yet. He now knew after going over her application for employment at the shop that she was young. Too young. Just turned twenty-three! “What the fuck was I thinking?” He growled as he pulled off on his exit. Speeding through his neighborhood with his stomach completely balled up, he continued to reason with himself. There had to be a good explanation for this. “That’s it,” he said as his head went back to holding her yesterday. “Maybe she had to leave because of whatever it is she’s been dealing with. Maybe like yesterday at the shop something came up and Dani had run off again.”
It’d make sense that, in her haste and with the added out-of-the-norm responsibility of having to put the baby in and out of a car seat, she might forget her phone in the car, right? The slight relief of that possibility was fleeting when he skidded around the corner onto his street and spotted her car in his driveway.
“The fuck?” Maybe her phone battery had died, and she didn’t bring a charger. Still, he was so worked up, it pissed him off. Who forgets something so important in a situation like this? And if she didn’t forget it, why the hell wouldn’t she respond to his calls? The second he killed the engine in his truck, he jumped out, reminding himself to go easy on her. He was the one that hadn’t been there that morning when he was supposed to be. Skipping the stairs, he jumped onto his porch then punched the code to his door lock. He pushed the door open and rushed in, his heart spiking when he saw no one and there was complete silence. “Dani,” he called out as his mind went crazy, fearing the worst, and his strides got longer with every step he took. “Danica.”
Maybe something happened and it’s why she couldn’t call or answer her phone. He pulled his shirt up to cover his nose as he remembered the local couple on the news recently who died in their sleep of carbon monoxide poisoning. Rushing through his silenced house, he looked in every room until he reached his. He froze when he saw them. They were sound asleep on his bed, the baby cuddled up next to her as she cupped him lovingly against her body. From where he stood, he could see they were both breathing, and he dropped the shirt from covering his mouth and nose. It was nothing heinous, like his dumb ass had begun to think. She fell asleep with him. For almost two hours? Orlando had never gotten him to nap for that long in the day. But that would explain why she hadn’t responded to his calls. Still kind of irresponsible, right, given what she’d put him through? He walked closer to them to get a better look. Baby O had never looked so content as he lay there curled up against her ample bosom. Orlando swallowed hard as his eyes took in Dani’s impressive curves, but feeling guilty, his eyes were quickly back on his son. Baby O even wore what looked like a very satisfied smile as if he couldn’t be happier. It made Orlando smile, despite all the turmoil he’d been through in the past two hours with his heart still pounding in his chest. He turned his attention back to her. Her arm and hand cupped his son’s body, protectively. Even now with her eyes closed, Orlando was drawn to those exotic features. Because her eyes were closed and he had this chance to assess them a little longer, he could see now just how wide her cat-shaped eyes were. He couldn’t decide which he was most drawn to when he got so lost in all of it anytime he spoke to her. Already, at just the sight of her, his mood had done a complete reversal. Maybe it was a little irresponsible to have fallen asleep for almost two hours. But then she probably hadn’t expected Orlando to be this long. She most likely thought Orlando would be there in a few to wake her. Walking softly over to the rocking chair in his bedroom, Orlando took a seat, letting his head fall back as he clutched a hand to his chest. He felt like an idiot now. How in the hell could he possibly think Dani could be a danger to his son in any way? The girl was fucking adorable, and clearly, the baby had picked up on what a sweetheart she was, since he took to her so quickly.
From where he sat, he had a perfect view of his son and Dani sleeping so soundly he almost wished he could join them. He felt completely drained after all the dumb shit that had run through his head when all the while his son had been in such a perfectly safe spot. Orlando actually envied him. Unbelievably, he sat there for almost another ten minutes before Dani woke. The moment she realized where she was made Orlando chuckle. Her eyes nearly bugged out as she looked around and saw him sitting there watching them. But she brought her finger to her mouth because the baby was still out. Somehow, she managed to gently maneuver off the bed without waking him. It surprised Orlando what a struggle it was to keep his eyes from roaming all those curves as he watched her carefully place pillows all around the baby before she walked away. Orlando turned the baby monitor on, and they slipped out of the room without waking him. “Never do that,” she whispered as soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her and turned to him out in the hallway. “It’s not safe and I’ll be checking on him every few minutes to make sure he doesn’t roll off the bed. I can’t believe I fell asleep with him.”
“How long ago did he fall asleep?” Orlando asked curiously, still wondering if they’d really slept as long as he’d been trying to get ahold of her.
“Not long after I got here.” She explained what Felicia had already about the baby being out when she got here then the TV waking him. “He was good for about ten, fifteen minutes after Felicia left, but then it was clear that the short nap he’d taken hadn’t been long enough.” She’d warmed his bottle, changed him, and tried putting him down, but he wasn’t having it. The plan had been to lie with him until he knocked out and then move him to his crib, but she knocked out with him.
“So, he has been out for almost two hours then?” Orlando was still surprised by this. He was going to tell her how he never napped that long for him but stopped when her jaw dropped dramatically. “It’s been almost two hours?”
“Yeah,” Orlando smirked, feeling like a dick for all the reasons he’d begun to imagine why she hadn’t gotten back to him. “Felicia called me to tell me about how well he’d taken to you on her way to work, and I texted you to tell you how cool I thought that was.” Feeling even stupider because she’d know how many times he tried getting ahold of her and about all his worried texts, he had no choice but to add, “When I didn’t hear back from you, I might’ve gone a little overboard with the calls and texts because I was freaking out a little.” He held up his fingers. “But that’s only because it’s the first time someone who’s not a close friend or family member has watched him. I just wasn’t sure what to think because—”