Toys clattering.
Lullabies being played low from a Bluetooth speaker.
“Oh, thank God,” Xander heard to his right.
He glanced that way to find Ms. Carla, one ofFuture Seeds’caregivers, bouncing a wailing baby in her arms while patting his back.
“He won’t stop fussing,” Ms. Carla explained, closing the space between them. “Teething. His mother said he’s been fussy since the night before. We gave him ibuprofen but now he’s just restless.”
Xander quickly peeled off his bomber jacket, tossing it onto a nearby chair. He rubbed his hands together briskly to warm them up, rid them of the winter air he’d just stepped out of.
“Do what you do,” Ms. Carla said, handing the crying baby off to him. “I’m gonna go fix his crib so I can put him down for a nap.”
“My child just walked in here and you already putting him to work,” Michelle, Xander’s mother, joked from behind the counter.
“Aw, it’s aight,” Xander said to his mother, lowering his attention to the baby boy. “What you crying for, anyway?” He pressed the baby to his chest and patted his pamper in a soft rhythm. “You gon’ be able to eat solid foods once all them teeth come in. Quit trippin’.”
The crying continued, but then… within seconds, it gradually got quieter until all that remained were soft whimpers and far less noise.
“Mr. Baby Whisperer does it again,” Ms. Carla joked, smiling while folding her arms over her chest. “I’mma run upstairs, get his crib ready, and will be back for him.”
“Take your time,” Xander said low, continuing to rock the baby who had now allowed his heavy eyes to close.
“Hmph,” Michelle huffed, then laughed, leaning an arm on the counter. “You sure I don’t got no grandbabies running around this city somewhere? You too good with this, I swear.”
He glanced at her and scoffed.
Michelle jerked her head back, then lowered her attention to her wristwatch. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
“Didn’t plan to be,” he confirmed low, lifting the baby—now asleep—to his shoulder. Xander bounced the baby slowly as he approached his mother behind the counter. “When Ms. Carla comes back to get him, I gotta talk to you.”
Michelle squinted her eyes, analyzing her son.
Xander knew that look. His mother had worn it his entire life, whenever she was trying to get to the bottom of something before he even said a word.
“Well, all right.” She gestured upstairs toward her office. “I’ll be up there when you’re ready.”
Xander nodded as he turned, continuing to bounce the sleeping baby.
His mind wandered to moments ago at Rylee’s brownstone.
Walking into that bathroom.
Seeing that pregnancy test.
He thought he was seeing things at first. Probably wouldn’t have even known how to read it if the box wasn’t right there, displaying what a positive pregnancy test should look like.
He sucked his teeth when his heart ached at the words she spoke to him.
“This decision is mine to make.”
He bit at his bottom lip, lost cadence in the bouncing of the baby, but quickly regained it when the boy started to stir.
It was kind of ironic… him being able to calm other people’s children with ease… but unable to find any calm in his own life in that moment.
As expected, Ms. Carla returned and skillfully retrieved the sleeping child. Xander and Ms. Carla made their way upstairs together, whispering conversation so they wouldn’t wake the baby until they split off in different directions.
This daycare was like Xander’s second home.
