Chapter Nine

 

 

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sat in my driver’s seat and put my keys in the ignition. I didn’t start the car and instead watched Jared’s back. It had been an interesting night.

Once he was out of sight, I pulled out my phone. Troy had called me twice. I hit his name and it rang once before he picked up.

“Finally.”

“Hi to you, too,” I said as I buckled my seatbelt. “What’s going on?”

“I swear, I’m thinking of asking your voicemail out sometime.” Troy’s voice had a teasing tone to it. “I talk to her more than I talk to you.”

I chuckled and let my head fall back against the seat. “She sounds like a hussy.”

“She’s too predictable to be a hussy. At least your back-talk keeps me on my toes. Were you working late tonight?”

“Yeah. I was actually just heading home.” I turned the key to start my engine. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to see how you were.” He paused for a second. “And maybe cash in on that rain check.”

I closed my eyes and briefly considered it. The second I did, a pair of green eyes flashed through my mind, though. “I’m sorry. I’m going to eat and try to get some sleep. Another time?”

“Yeah. I promised Liam I’d play some Call of Duty with him tonight anyway.”

I grinned buckled my seatbelt. “Send him my love.”

“Fuck that,” grumbled Troy. “He already gives me enough shit about you. He’s lucky I don’t knock out his teeth and make him uglier than he already is.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve realized, Walters,” I said as I connected the Bluetooth “You’re twins. Identical ones. You look the same. And neither of you is ugly.”

“I’m definitely the better looking twin.” He laughed softly. “Bye, babe.”

I made it home and quickly got ready for bed. I slid under the covers and stared up at the dark ceiling. My mind replayed the evening in my head and like I had for so many nights lately, I thought about Jared Hart. I couldn’t help but smile. Jared was going to be a great father. It was obvious that he was already in love with that little boy.

My smile faded when I thought about how being around Jared made me feel. It was like nothing I’d felt before and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. There was something about him that made me feel alive and peaceful at the same time. I loved watching him with his son, from the moments he was uncomfortable and jumpy to the ones where he was almost like an old pro.

He had enough going on in his life without me drooling after him like some high school teenager, though. He was a new dad. He was a client. I needed to push any thoughts to otherwise out of my mind and focus on the big picture. With that, I forced my mind off and closed my eyes.

Thursday and Friday morning, we met for coffee like any other day of the week. On Friday, though, a sense of sadness washed over me.

“I hope you have a good coffeemaker at home.”

He grinned and pushed the banana nut muffin towards me. “The best homemade coffee in the world couldn’t replace this, Steph.”

“You’re such a charmer.” I playfully tossed a chunk of walnut at him. “I’m going to miss you.”

He was going to be off of work for eight weeks, which meant that my mornings were going to be dramatically different.

“I’m going to miss you, too.” His smile was soft but his voice was serious. “Have you started looking for my replacement yet?”

I rolled my eyes. “You not being in here just feeds into my laziness. The drive-thru and I will end up being great friends.”

“You’re still coming by tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir. So if you have any dirty magazines or weird habits, better hide them now.” I grinned when he let out a loud laugh.

“Noted.” He glanced at his watch and sighed. “I need to get to the office a bit earlier today since it’s my last day for a bit. I’m sorry to cut this short.”

I smiled in an attempt to hide my disappointment and finished off the muffin that we had been sharing. We both grabbed our cups and headed to the door. Jared’s hand pressed to the small of my back as he held the door open and the shiver that ran through me had nothing to do with the chill outside.

When we made it to my SUV, he pulled the door open and offered me a crooked smile. “I got you something else.”

“What do you mean?” I raised my brows and watched as he reached into his jacket pocket like he had the week before. He produced a small pastry bag and handed it to me. I opened it quickly and looked inside, laughing when I caught sight of the contents. “You got me a cake pop?”

“A chocolate one, too.” He reached up and ran a hand through his hair almost nervously. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Vanilla Latte.”

“Yeah, you will, Jare.” Ever since the DNA results had come back, I had made an effort to stay more professional with him. Knowing this was our last coffee date, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Have a good day at work.”

I waved to him as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to work. I was about halfway through my day when Robin poked her head into my office.

“Rachel’s supposed to be on call tonight but she’s sick. Do you have the coverage list?”

I glanced over at the chart I had taped to my filing cabinet and shook my head. “They’ve all had such insane weeks. I don’t want to pile an unexpected on call shift onto anyone. I’ll take it.

“You sure?” Robin raised her brows and I just nodded my head.

“Yeah. It’s no big deal.”

And it wasn’t. I normally picked up shifts when the others couldn’t handle them. At that time last year, on call shifts had been a normal part of my life so I knew how exhausting they could be. Besides, they gave me an extra opportunity to be out in the field.

“Okay. Thanks, Gibson.” She turned to leave but changed her mind, suddenly refocusing those all-knowing brown eyes on me. “How are things going with the Hart family?”

I felt my cheeks redden slightly and looked at my keyboard to hide it. “Good. He’s going home Sunday and I’m doing a home visit tomorrow. I think it’s going to be great for both of them.”

When she didn’t respond, I glanced up and caught my boss looking at me speculatively. She continued examining me for a moment before nodding.

“Okay, good. Keep me updated.”

And then she disappeared.

I worked for the rest of the morning and spent my afternoon in court. Despite the fact that I went on call at five and really needed to go home to get some sleep just in case, I ended up at the hospital.

Kara was there when I walked into the NICU but she just smiled at me and went back to helping the parent she was next to. I walked right to Chris’s bed and smiled down at the sleeping baby.

The hat was missing from his head, leaving his soft hair on display, and he was swaddled nice and tight. I reached down and scooped him into my arms, cuddling him to my chest gently.

It was amazing to think that just two weeks before, I had found him in a pile of dirty boxes. In two short days he would be going home with a man who was already completely in love with him.

“I had a dream, you know,” Kara drawled as she came and sat on a stool next to the glider. “That you had twin girls that looked just like Mario and Luigi from the video game.”

“You mean twin boys?” I choked out through soft laughter and Kara shook her head.

“Nope. Girls. You named them Vikki and Rikki. They had the bushiest eyebrows I had ever seen on infants.”

The two of us laughed so loudly that Chris startled slightly in my arms and I pat his back quickly to soothe him back to sleep.

“You just missed his father,” she commented off-handedly even though I knew it was anything but. A few days before, I had confessed to Kara that Jared and I had known each other before Chris was born and she had immediately romanticized the situation. “He was in here for about two hours. He’s still scared shitless of that baby but it’s sweet to watch him try.”

“He’s a nice guy,” I replied, leaning down to inhale the baby’s sweet scent. “He’s also a client.”

“Oh. Then you don’t mind if I ask him out?”

My eyes snapped up at her offhanded comment and Kara was giving me an innocent look. When she saw my expression, her lips curled up into a knowing grin. “That’s what I thought.”

“Shut up,” I mumbled, feeling the blush hit my cheeks again. “You and Alyssa will get along great.”

I was saved from anymore of Kara’s teasing when she became occupied with a brand new baby that was brought it. I stayed with Chris for another hour before kissing him softly and heading home.

Shortly after midnight, I was called out to a bar where two little kids had been left in the car while the father was inside drinking, and I spent the next few hours handling that situation. I was almost four by the time I crawled under my blankets so I could go to bed.

My alarm went off just three hours later and I had to move quickly to get ready. I needed to be to Jared’s by ten but I wanted to see Chris before. He was going home the next day and I didn’t know when I would see him again. The thought made my stomach hurt but I also felt uplifted at the same time.

Chris was going home.

Once my hair and make-up were done, I stared longingly at my jeans. Since I was still on call, dressing casual wasn’t an option so I pulled on a grey, long sleeved dress and a pair of black boots. I walked off the elevator on the fourth floor a half-hour later and went to the NICU. Kara grinned at me through the glass as I washed my hands and she immediately took the coffee I’d brought for her when I walked through the door.

“You’re amazing. Seriously.”

I laughed and set my cup on the desk off to the side before walking to Chris’s bed. “You’re an easy one to please, Kara.” I looked down at the sleeping baby. He was tightly wrapped in a receiving blanket and his little hat was on his head. I lifted him into my arms and held him to my chest.

“Dr. Struthers is still on board with him going home tomorrow,” Kara noted quietly and I nodded as I looked up at her.

“I’m so happy for him and his dad and so sad for me.”

Kara smiled and dropped her head to my shoulder as we both stared down at the perfect bundle in my arms. “You’ll have your own someday, Steph, and you’ll be the best mom.”

“I hope so.”

We stood like that for a few more minutes and she left me with the baby so she could attend to a little one who woke up crying. I took my usual spot in a glider and ran my hands down Chris’s cheek. I didn’t say or do anything else for about thirty minutes and I grinned when his little eyes fluttered open. He let out a big yawn and smacked his tiny lips together as his deep blue eyes looked up. I knew he couldn’t focus on my face but I liked to think that he knew who I was.

“I’m going to miss you, buddy,” I whispered softly. “You’re going to have a great life, though. Your daddy already loves you and he’s going to give you the world.”

A tear slipped down my cheek and I reached up to wipe it away quickly but more followed anyway. I silently cried while peppering his precious little face with kisses, only then realizing how much I’d come to care about Christopher Hart. I continued speaking to him in a low voice and only stopped when someone said my name.

I glanced up at Kara and saw that Jared was standing next to her with a small smile on his face. He wasn’t wearing the usual suit I was accustomed to seeing him in and instead had on a pair of jeans and a Michigan Wolverines t-shirt. I stood and turned slightly to remove any signs of my tears from earlier still on my cheeks. Once I was sure my face was clear, I faced Jared and plastered on a smile.

“Great minds think alike, City Roast.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “I guess so. I just wanted a quick visit before you came by.”

“Well, here. I’ve been hogging him for a bit now.” I offered up the baby and Jared shook his head.

“You hold him. I don’t mind watching.”

I stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to reply to that, and only looked away when Chris began to whimper in my arms. I tried to comfort him for a moment but Kara glanced at his clipboard and shook her head.

“He’s probably hungry. He hasn’t eaten since about six.” She readied a bottle and tried to hand it to me but I gestured to Jared.

“Come on. Let’s practice while we can.” I held out the baby and gently transferred him from my arms to Jared’s. His face lit up as he stared down at his son and it was truly breathtaking to see. I backed up as the two of them sat in the glider and Jared began to feed him the bottle.

“What are you doing tonight?” Kara asked, glancing up at me as she changed Jewel’s diaper.

“I’m on call for a bit longer and then I was thinking about going to bed early.” I sat on a stool next to her and sighed. “I live such an awesome life.”

Kara started to wrap the little baby back in the blanket and raised her eyebrows. “Honey, you work ten hours day, go out on calls in the middle of the night, and find babies in the garbage. It sounds like your life is kind of complicated.”

“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck and laughed softly. “I guess that means I definitely earned the right to go to bed early.”

I twirled on the stool and sighed tiredly as it came to a stop so I was facing Jared. He smiled when my eyes met his. I returned it with one of my own but didn’t say anything.

Kara and I supervised while Jared did the diaper changing on his own and she gave him swaddling pointers. Around nine-thirty, he stood from the glider. Just as he moved to hand me the baby, Kara made us stop and pose for the camera.

“It’s for the graduation wall,” she said, gesturing to the wall of photos behind her. “Now smile, you two.”

I stood next to Jared, who was still holding Chris, and we both smiled so she could take the picture. Once she had set the camera down, he offered me the baby. I smiled gratefully and held Chris, who was sound asleep, tight.

“I’ll see you again soon, baby boy. I promise.” I pressed my lips to his forehead and inhaled the clean, baby scent mixed with men’s body wash. “Stay sweet, Christopher.”

I placed him back in his bed and had to swallow to keep the tears that threatened back. I stepped away so Jared could kiss his son and Kara wrapped me in a hug.

“I’m going to miss you around here.”

I hugged her back hard. “Then we just have to see each other outside of the NICU.”

“Please. You better call me.” She let me go and smiled at Jared. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, Mr. Hart. Bring your car seat and I’ll have some bags ready for you take home.”

“Okay.” He thanked Kara and followed me out of the NICU. He grabbed his jacket as I did the same and swung my bag over my shoulder. We didn’t speak as we stepped into the elevator and I fidgeted slightly in the awkward silence.

“Thank you,” Jared said quietly from where he was standing next to me. I turned my head and raised my brows.

“For what?”

His lips turned up into a smile. “For everything you’ve done for him. You saved him. You’ve loved him when he didn’t have anyone. I watched you through the window of the NICU for a bit today… You’re amazing with him.”

The elevator doors opened and we both stepped out into the parking garage. I shook my head as I began digging through my bag for my keys.

“I don’t usually get attached to the kids on my caseload for this reason.” I closed my fist around my keys and sighed. “If I’m only temporary in their lives, it’s a good thing. I kind of forgot my rule with your son.” I stopped at my car and forced a smile to my face. “I’ll meet you at your place?”

I barely had the words out before my phone was ringing. I glanced at the caller ID and gave Jared an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. One second.” I swiped my screen and brought it to my ear. “This is Stephanie.”

“Stephanie, this is Sam in dispatch. We have a report of domestic incident involving a twelve-year-old boy. He and his mom are currently at St. Helen’s Hospital in Chandler. Can you respond?”

Chandler was at least thirty minutes away if traffic cooperated and there was no telling how long I’d actually be there once I arrived. I knew right away that I wouldn’t have time to get the home visit done with Jared before Chris went home the next day.

“I’m on my way. Can you email me all of the information, please?” Same confirmed and I hung up my phone before shaking my head apologetically. “I’m going to have to cancel on you, City Roast.”

I waited for Jared to get upset but he just smiled. “I understand. Someone needs to save the world, might as well be you.”

“I’m hardly saving the world,” I replied with a chuckle. “I’m not going to be able to get your home inspection done before tomorrow, though. Did you get a car seat?”

He nodded and gestured me towards his car where he opened the back door. I bent down and leaned inside so I could inspect the installation of the car seat base, nodding my head in satisfaction as I did.

“It’s perfect.” I pulled out of the car and Jared’s eyes darted to my face from where they’d been on my ass. He gave me an embarrassed smile and cleared his throat.

“Thanks to YouTube. I went to the store with that list you gave me the other night. The people of Target hate me because I kept them there after closing but I ended up getting everything you wrote down. I already have the bassinet and rocking chair set up and I’ll do everything else this afternoon.”

I sighed and folded my arms over my chest. “I wish all of my parents cared a quarter as much as you do.” I glanced back at the car and shook my head. “Can I do the visit later this week?”

“Of course. I have nowhere to go for the next two months.” He paused and gave me a serious look. “You can come by just to see him, you know. Anytime you want.”

I stared at him for a moment as all sorts of emotions ran through me. I was a weird mix of sad, happy, grateful, and something else that I couldn’t place.

“Thanks, Jared. Really. That means a lot to me.” My phone chimed with the email from dispatch and I held it up. “I have to go, though. You’re going to do great. I promise. Call me anytime.”

He nodded and held his hand up in a wave. “Thank you, Stephanie.”

“Of course. I’ll talk to you soon.” I grinned at him before turning to rush back to my car.

I drove to Chandler and spent almost five hours at the hospital with the battered mother and son. When they both refused to admit that the father was the one who’d hurt the son, the police promised to look into it and I opened a file on the family so we could make multiple home visits in the future.

I was on my way back home when my phone rang and I pushed a button on the steering wheel to answer it.

“Hey, Lyss.”

“Are you working tonight?” Alyssa asked by way of greeting and I smiled.

“I’m off call in exactly one hour. Why? What’s up?”

She let out a small cheer. “Good. Get your ass home. I had a shit day. I have the new Baywatch movie that has Zac Efron and The Rock. We’re going to watch those hunky boys while we eat popcorn and gorge on this new wine I bought. I won’t let you say no.”

“Well, I guess I have no choice, then.” I smiled as I maneuvered my car onto the freeway. “Give me thirty minutes and I’ll stop to grab chocolate on my way.”

“And that is why we are best friends,” Alyssa said with a laugh. “See you soon.”