“His younger brother Byron,” Orlando went on explaining. “He got in a little trouble last night.”
They moved into the front room where they sat on the carpet with the baby and a few of his toys. Orlando began telling her about the call he got that morning from Byron. Danica listened intently as they both took turns handing the baby different color balls for him to place into his ball drop toy.
They’d both stop occasionally to engage with the baby, but Orlando went on with his story. “He’s a good kid. But he’s going through some shit right now with his mom and her boyfriend. Long story short, he’s been trying to spare Beast the details, says he has enough to deal with already with the baby and another one on the way. But he and his mom’s boyfriend got into it again, and they both ended up in jail overnight. Kid’s got a temper to boot. According to Beast, his mom said, ever since his first love was killed in a car accident at only fifteen, he ain’t never been right.”
“Ouch.” Danica winced, gulping back the emotion, but kept to herself that she and Byron had three big things in common. She knew all too well about flaring tempers and arguing with stepparents. But sadly, she also knew the horridness of losing someone you cared for so suddenly and tragically. He explained how his girlfriend’s untimely death had affected Byron. Orlando always thought the kid a bit of a player all this time. He was always talking about chicks and hot dates, but as far as he knew he’d never taken any of them seriously.
“Beast’s relationship with his mom and brother is a little complicated. I’ll have to tell you about that another time, but he wasn’t around when all that went down with Byron’s first girl. Beast didn’t even know about that until a few months ago.” Danica listened, trying not to look as flabbergasted as she felt sitting there casually admiring every one of Orlando’s masculine features. While he was definitely rugged and not afraid to get his hands dirty, he was always so well kept. Now that she was able to stare at him for a little longer than usual, she wondered if maybe he got his eyebrows cleaned up because they were perfectly shaped. Not plucked or anything feminine like that. Far from it. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him the first time she staked him out, Orlando was the epitome of a man’s man. A very attractive and sexy as hell man’s man.
With his tattooed covered arms, if it weren’t for the fact that she was sitting here in his equally well-kept home, and seen how lovingly he interacted with his boy, she might think him a bad boy. She had wondered about the name of the shop and what the story behind that was. So, given the tats and the foul language that bounced around the shop all day long, she figured there was or maybe had been a little bad in Orlando at some point. Trying not to be too obvious about taking him in so extensively, Danica went back to concentrating on his explanation of what happened with Byron that morning. “Pretty sure Beast doesn’t know the extent of it, but according to Byron, his mom’s been relying a little too much on her pain meds lately, and Byron blames her boyfriend for it. Says he’s the one who got her popping them in the first place. He talked about the possibility of getting his own place today and getting away from them altogether.” Orlando lifted and dropped his big shoulder with a frown. “Probably for the best. The guy’s temper is as bad as his brother’s. He just started college, and he swears, if he was on his own, he’d just concentrate on that instead. I asked him about the last girl I’d heard he was seeing. Maybe he could use that as a distraction from his mom’s issues, but he said he was done with her too.” Orlando laughed. “He’s swearing off youngins. Says they’re cheaters and full of shit. Like age has anything to do with that. Being a liar or a cheat comes at any age.” The baby giggled when the Orlando bounced a ball in front of him. Orlando looked up at Danica, wide-eyed, then bounced the ball again. Once again, the baby giggled heartedly. It was such a sweet and contagious laugh. Danica was momentarily relieved from the unease she’d begun to feel over Orlando’s last comment. “I’ve never heard him laugh like this,” Orlando said, bouncing the ball again.
This time the baby laughed so long and hard he nearly lost his breath. Both Orlando and Danica were laughing now too. It just couldn’t be helped, despite the heaviness that had begun to mount in her belly. It went on for a while as Orlando continued to bounce the ball and Danica reached for her phone and started filming. It was absolutely adorable, and the most beautiful sound Danica had ever heard. She’d seen the laughing-baby videos on YouTube many times. But it was so much different when the baby was one you adored. Unintentionally, the baby had turned her mood around completely. Her insides were all aflutter now, and she couldn’t get enough of that sweet laugh. And then it happened. When it was all over and the baby’s amusement with the bouncing ball began to wane, Danica swooped him up into her arms. She’d been dying to the whole time but didn’t want to interrupt that beautiful laughter. She kissed his chubby face all over as he giggled again, only this time not as heartedly. Still, his little hands cupped her cheeks as he squealed in delight. “My God—” she caught herself as she happened to glance up and saw the way Orlando was staring at her. The words I love you so much nearly slipped out, but she pressed her lips together just in time. “He’s so cute,” she said instead, still holding him to her but forcing her enamored heart to calm the hell down. How stupid could she be? Both Orlando and Felicia had already made note of the instant and incredible connection the baby had to her. There’s no way Orlando hadn’t noticed that, as excited as he’d been about being witness to this milestone in his baby’s life, she’d been there just as equally thrilled about it as he’d been. Clearing her throat, Danica held the baby against her now pounding chest. “I’ve seen videos of babies laughing like him, but it’s different when . . . you witness it firsthand.” She glanced down and kissed the baby’s head because she couldn’t take the way Orlando’s piercing eyes bore into hers.
“Yeah, it’s different when he’s yours,” Orlando said.
Squeezing her eyes shut before looking up at Orlando, she prayed she hadn’t blown it and scrambled to come up with a proper response to that. “I’ll bet.” She smiled. “He’s just so adorable that it’s hard not to wanna squeeze him.”
“Especially given the way he’s responded to you. Do all babies respond to you like this?”
With a gulp, Danica thanked the heavens she’d prepared for this. With the anticipation of the baby possibly remembering her and the probability that this very question might be asked, she was ready for this. At least she hoped this came out as she’d practiced, and she didn’t blow it like all the other lies she’d planned and had gone by the wayside when she’d blurted out the truth instead. “I don’t work with babies that often.” And there it was. First sentence blurted out was the absolute truth, but she quickly explained why. “Since most of the kids me and my sister work with aren’t usually diagnosed with any behavioral issues until they’re a little older.” She explained that typically the babies she worked with were the ones who had disabilities they were diagnosed with at birth, like those with Down Syndrome, the hearing impaired, and even preemies whose parents were worried they were too far behind in normal development. Swallowing hard, she prepared for the all-out lie, until she was caught in those piercing eyes that seemed glued to her every word. “But, yeah, I don’t recall any other time when a baby bonded with me this quickly.” What was wrong with her? She cleared her throat, looking down at the baby because she couldn’t even look at Orlando as the wrong words continued to spew out. “Of course, all babies are different. I tend to get attached really fast. My sister says, and studies do show, that babies, even infants, pick up on things like that and they react accordingly.”