“Oh, no.I don’t do babies.They scare me.I’m always afraid I’ll drop them.”
“I’ll take him,” Salzy said, holding out his arms, a big smile on his face.“I love kids.”
Christine handed little Charles over to Salzy.She did watch closely, however that he held the baby’s head correctly.“I see you’ve done this before.”
“Yeah,” Salzy said, rocking the small child in his arms.“I got a lot of practice from my eldest brother’s kids.”He looked up.“He started way too early.Now he’s got five.”
“Five!”Christine exclaimed.“I can’t ever imagine having that many kids.I think I’m more the one-and-done type.”
“Yeah, there is a set of twins in there.”Salzy pushed the lightweight blanket away from Charles’s face.“He is a very handsome baby.”
“Thank you.”She looked at her watch again.“I guess I should get my butt in gear and get a move on.”She hugged Joesph again, kissed his cheek.“I’m so glad you’re going to be here.”
“Me too.”Joesph hugged and kissed her back.
“Jamie, I can’t thank you enough for all this.”Christine pulled him into a tight hug.“I think this is going to be perfect for me.”
“I’m glad it’s all working out,” Jamie replied, returning the hug.“Have you got your GPS set up for the house?”
“I do.I programmed it in before I left Atlanta.”
“Here ya go, little fella,” Salzy said as he gave the baby back to his mother.“I’ll see you around.”
Christine looked closer at Salzy.“You do have a way about you...it’s...calming.I get good vibes from you.”
“I’m the good vibe guy.”Salzy smiled, then kissed the baby’s little head.
Chritine chuckled.She nodded at Jamie.“Well?”
“Well, what?”Jamie asked, puzzled.
She tilted her head towards Salzy.“Anything I need to know?”
Joesph busted out laughing, especially at the look on Salzy’s face.“Oh,no, mydear.PoorSalzy is straight.Jamie has...well...another beau you might say.”
“Oh, really?”Christine focused solely on Jamie.“I could tell something was up, I just...couldn’t quite put my finger on it.Now it makes sense.”
“Are you some kind of mystic or fortune teller?”Salzy asked, looking excited.
“No, not really.”Christine looked back at Salzy.“I just get these...feelings about people.”She put her forefinger to her temple.“I can kinda see...things.I’ve never been able to explain it, really.I just can tell.”
“That’s handy.”Salzy smiled.
“It certainly has in the past.”Christine laughed.“Okay, I’m going now.You guys going to be here for a while?”
“I’ll be hereallday, darling.When you’re done, come and tell meallabout it,” Joesph said as he held the screen door open for her.“We can have some tea.”
“I’ll be here until about five thirty or so,” Jamie said.
“This one,” Joesph said, tilting his head towards Jamie, “has a date!”
Salzy snickered.Jamie slugged his upper arm, but only hard enough to knock Salzy off balance.
“Ow.”Salzy frowned at Jamie and then slugged him back.
“Ow.”Jamie turned to face Salzy.“I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“Paybacks can be a bitch,” Salzy huffed.
