“Hey, Martin,” she greets me, and I can already tell from the tone of her voice that she’s distracted. “Sorry to call you up like this out of nowhere, I hope I’m not interrupting anything?—”
“You’re good,” I reply, turning away from my desk and rising to my feet. “What’s going on? Everything alright with the twins?”
“Uh, more or less,” she replies. I can hear their cooing just behind her, and I can’t help but smile, hearing them like that.
“More or less?”
“There’s something I need to take care of,” she explains hurriedly. “And Sofia was going to keep an eye on the twins for me, but she got called away at the last second—shit, Martin, I’m really sorry to have to do this, but do you think you could look after them tonight?”
“Look after them?”
I guess the surprise must be obvious in my voice, because she trips over herself to explain.
“I know how it sounds,” she replies. “And I know—I know you have a life of your own, and it’s not fair to expect you to drop everything to come play babysitter for me, but I?—”
“Lila, I’m their father,” I remind her. “It’s not babysitting. It’s just parenting.”
She pauses for a moment, seemingly taken aback by my sureness.
“So…so you’ll do it?”
“Of course I will,” I assure her, as I double-check my schedule for the rest of the day to make sure I’m in the clear. “I need to finish up work, but I should be done by six. If you text me the address, I’ll come straight down when I’m done.”
A moment of silence fills the line—for a second, I think she must not have heard me. But when she speaks again, her voice is laced with such deep gratitude that it almost makes me sad to think of how many people must have let her down for this to mean so much to her.
“Thank you, Martin,” she murmurs. “I—I promise I’ll be more organized next time.”
“Not a problem,” I reply. “You need me to pick anything up on the way down there?”
“No, I think we’re all good…”
“I’ll be over in a couple of hours,” I promise her. “See you soon, Lila.”
“See you soon.”
And with that, she hangs up the phone. As I sit back in my seat, I realize that I’m grinning. A chance to see the twins again. A chance to see Lila again. I know this might not be what I had expected to do this evening, but as long as it keeps me out of the grip of that cavernously empty apartment for a night—hell, I’ll take it.
13
LILA
“Uh,I think the formula should be in the cupboard above the fridge, if you need it,” I tell Martin as I stuff a few things into my bag. “I pumped before you came, so there should be plenty of that to get through the evening, but if not?—”
“Lila.”
Martin stops me dead in my tracks as I rush to and fro, trying to make sure everything is taken care of before I leave the house. I look up to where he’s standing with Matty in his arms, Ross doing tummy time on the floor below.
“I work with kids every day,” he reminds me gently. “I know what I’m doing. Just go—you’ve got nothing to worry about, alright?”
I close my eyes and let out a long breath. I know he’s right, of course. But it’s the first time that the twins have been left alone with anyone who isn’t Sofia or me, and I’m still getting used to the thought of handing them over to someone else. Even their father.
“Right,” I reply, checking the time. “Sorry, I have to go, I need to catch my bus…”
“I could call you a?—”
“I want to do this on my own,” I tell him, a little more sharply than I intend. Rubbing a hand over my face, I sigh. “I’m sorry,” I apologize. “Just…a lot on my mind lately.”
“No need to apologize,” he replies, nodding to the door. “I’ve got this. Go—get whatever you need to do done.”
