She nods, looking just as awkward as I feel, and adjustsher hold to put a few inches between her chest and Liam’s body. I take a deep breath and pick Liam up under his arms, and as I do, the backs of my fingers brush against Melissa’s breast.
“I’m sorry,” I stammer, pulling away as though the touch burned my hands. Liam’s eyes flutter open, but when I turn him into my chest he sighs and goes back to sleep. “Melissa, I didn’t mean to?—”
“I know you didn’t,” she says briskly. “I’ve got a backpack with spare clothes for him. It’s in Claire’s room, I’ll grab it.”
She hurries away and returns with the backpack a moment later. “I’ve already put him in a diaper for the night, and there’s another one in the bag. He’s toilet trained, so he only wears them at night now.”
“Thanks,” I say, adjusting Liam in my arms so I can hook the bag over my shoulder. “Anything my mom should be aware of? Medical issues, allergies . . .”
“None that we know of. But give your mom my number, she can call me anytime. If Liam wakes up lonely and wants to talk, even if it’s the middle of the night.”
“Of course.”
Melissa holds out a car key. “He’ll need a carseat, so it’s probably easiest if you just take my car. I mean, unless you have a carseat? I didn’t mean to assume?—”
She’s wondering if I have kids of my own. “No, I don’t have a carseat.”
“Oh. Okay.” She holds the key out again, and her hands “It’s a navy blue Camry. I think it’s on the third floor of the visitor’s lot, but it might be the fourth.” She looks at me dubiously. “Liam’s pretty heavy, you could wake him up so he can walk?—”
I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. “I got him.”
“Okay.” There’s still a worry line between her eyebrows. “If you have trouble with the carseat?—”
“I’ll figure it out.”
By the time I find her car, which is actually on the fifth floor of the parking lot, I’m sweating. The carseat straps seem too tight to fit around Liam, and I’m on the verge of calling Melissa for help when I find the button to loosen them. Liam stirs but doesn’t wake up, and I manage to get him buckled in.
I call my mother from the parking lot to let her know I’m bringing Liam, and as I expected, she’s happy to watch him.
I don’t think I’ve ever driven with a toddler in the car, and I’m incredibly cautious on the way to my parents’ place. Fortunately, there’s hardly any traffic, and no one seems bothered that I barely get up to the speed limit.
By some miracle, I get Liam out of the carseat and into the house without waking him up. Mom meets us in the entrance hall and smiles at the sight of me with a kid against my chest.
“What a darling,” she whispers. “Take him up to the guest bedroom. You said his name is Liam?”
“Yeah.” I carry Liam up the stairs to the guest bedroom, with my mother following behind. The mattress has already been moved off the bed and onto the floor, and I lay him gently in the middle of it.
“You think he’ll be okay there?” I whisper to my mom.
She nods. “After you called, I went through the room and hid the knives and drugs.”
It takes me a moment to realize she’s joking. “You don’t think he needs a crib?” I ask.
My anxiety seems to amuse my mother. “With the mattress on the floor, he can hardly fall out of bed. And ifhe’s anything like you were at age three, he’d be able to climb out of a crib.”
“Right. Okay.” I stare down at Liam and wonder what he’ll think when he wakes up in an unfamiliar room.
“He’ll be fine, Luke,” she reassures me. “I sleep light, so I’ll hear him if he wakes up.”
We tiptoe out of the room, close the door, and head back down the stairs. “How’s Melissa’s daughter?” my mother asks.
“She had a bad allergic reaction, but she’s going to be fine. She’s in the ICU for observation, so the pediatrician’s taken over for now.”
“You going back there tonight?”
My mother knows me well. “Yeah.”
When I get back to the hospital, I head straight to the ICU and stop outside Claire’s room. Through the glass door, I can see that Claire’s asleep, and the bedside monitor shows normal heart rate and oxygen levels. Melissa’s curled up in a chair next to Claire’s bed, and her eyes are closed too.
