Hazel screwed up her tiny face and unleashed another ear-splitting cry, her little limbs flailing against the blanket.
Oh, fuck.
Panic shot through me, fast and electric. I had no clue what to do.
I fumbled for my phone, my fingers clumsy, my breath coming too fast. There was only one person I could call right now.
I hit the name before I could overthink it. My best friend and trainer answered on the second ring.
“Oi, if you’re calling to bitch about jet lag, I swear to?—”
“There’s a baby in my living room.”
A beat of silence.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Liam wasn’t often lost for words, but when he was, I usually caused it.
Material rustled on the other end, like he was sitting up, followed by a sharp inhale. “Right. Either I misheard you, or you’ve finally lost your last functioning brain cell. Say that again.”
I stared at Hazel, her tiny fists flailing in the air as she unleashed another full-throated scream. My stomach clenched.
“There’s. A. Baby. In my living room.”
Silence.
“Is it your baby?”
I ran a hand through my hair, gripping the strands at the back of my head. “Allegedly.”
A strangled noise, halfway between a cough and a laugh. “Allegedly?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Hazel’s cries drilled into my skull, each one slicing through my already fragile grasp on the situation. “Liam, I swear to God?—”
“You absolute menace, you can barely take care of yourself. Who the hell let you have a baby?”
That was the million-pound question, wasn’t it?
Hazel screamed louder, her tiny face going an alarming shade of red. I stared at her, frozen. “She’s… she won’t stop… how do I make her stop?”
Liam cursed under his breath. “Did you try picking her up?”
“Of course not. She’s fragile.”
“So’s your car, but that doesn’t stop you from slamming it into a wall at 200mph.”
“She’s not a fucking car, Liam.”
“Brilliant observation. I’ll be there in ten. Pick her up, you idiot.”
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, then at Hazel, who was now crying so hard her tiny body trembled. My hands hovered over her, hesitant. I wasn’t afraid of much. I hurtled around corners at speeds that should’ve been illegal, stared down rival drivers who’d rather see me crash than win. But this? This felt like standing on the edge of a cliff with no parachute.
I sucked in a breath, braced myself, and slid my hands under her, lifting her out of the car seat. She barely weighed anything.
The moment she settled against my chest, her wails faltered, then softened into hiccupping sniffles. My whole body locked up.
