Her Dad’s Best Friend

Part 1

Chapter 1

First Day

Elia

Outside of the nursery, the phone rings. Danny, the baby that literally fell asleep thirty seconds ago, opens his blue eyes and begins to scream.

I didn't know that he was such a fussy baby before I took this job. When he's well-rested, he's the best baby in the world. He's a hell-demon when he's tired and he never wants to go to sleep, even if his eyes keep drifting shut. I guess his screams didn't carry over to my house, which is next door.

"Danny, sweetheart, time to sleep."

The volume of his screams just gets louder. I can hear his dad on the phone, possibly with mine. They're business partners. Jeff has been working from home most of the time lately, because he's had a terrible time keeping nannies for his son.

And Day 1 of being his temporary nanny, I can see why. I love Danny and have since the moment I saw his tiny little baby face and smelled his intoxicating baby scent, but he has colic and refuses to sleep, which means that his little lungs get a big workout very frequently.

I can hear a door closing and wince. My dad will definitely be calling back and telling me to take better care of Danny. I was a model baby and didn't have colic, so I'll have to explain what's going on. Things would be much easier if Danny's mother hadn't died in childbirth. Alongside grieving for his wife, Jeff has had to adjust to caring for a baby. Danny doesn't cry as much when his dad is taking care of him. He only has one parent and seems to be firmly attached to Jeff. Jeff loves his kid, it's true, but he also has a business to run.

"Come here, sweetheart," I say as his face gets even redder. I hold him over my right shoulder. He nuzzles his face into my shoulder as his screams fade into hard hiccups that shake his whole body. "I know you want your daddy, but he's busy right now." I walk in a slow circle around the nursery. After the two-dozenth time, I feel Danny's tiny body relax. He isn't making much noise now. I cautiously turn my head to see that his little eyes are closed.

"Time to go down again, little one," I say. I start to remove him from my shoulder, but his eyes burst open and his mouth opens like he's about to start screaming again.

"Okay, okay," I say, and his eyes close. I'm starting to get tired, though. There's no bed in here besides Danny's crib, and it's not going to work for me. I think about walking downstairs to the couch, but it makes me nervous to walk downstairs with a sleepy and fussy baby in my arms.

I can think of an easy solution. Jeff won't come upstairs for a while, so I go and sneak into the master bedroom. It smells like him, like pine and musk. He has another crib in here so that he can take care of Danny at night. It's literally adjacent to his bed.

"I guess your daddy doesn't get much action these days, huh? His whole life is centered around you, munchkin." I settle Danny into his crib, keeping a light hand on his soft tummy. He doesn't seem to be upset, although his mouth opens in a gigantic yawn.

"There you go, little guy." Maybe the fact that the whole room smells like his father is helping. I yawn. I think yawns are contagious. As I watch Danny's eyes shut, I can feel mine slipping downwards. I can close my eyes for just a few minutes. Nobody will know.

"Your father will murder me." I wake up to the sound of Jeff's voice. Despite the words, his tone is light.

"What?" I murmur, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Where am I?"

"My bed," Jeff says, laughing a little. "Danny isn't awake yet, so speak softly." I look at the screaming hell-demon, who looks like a perfect angel.

"He wants his father," I say.

Jeff touches one soft cheek. "I know."

"You seem stressed out," I say. I think that losing his wife aged him five years.

"I got some bad news today," he says. "When I created my living trust, my wife and I agreed that all of our property would go to each other in the event of our deaths and to our not-yet-born son if we were both dead." "What's the bad news?"

"The way that we set it up was slightly ambiguous. I didn't actually use her name. We didn't catch it until after she died. Half of my assets belong to my wife."

"You don't have one...so your business shares just belong to you, right?"

"You'd think so, but Danny's grandparents, my in-laws, are claiming that Danny owns half of my half of the company and want to be custodians of it."

"But that would mess everything up," I say.

"Yup," Jeff says. "But I'll work it out. You can go home now, Elia."

I roll out of bed. I'm sure that I'm a crumpled mess. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," he says, pushing his son's hair off of his tiny forehead. I can see the deep sadness etched there in an unguarded moment. I wish I could help, but what can I do?

I walk home and can smell that my dad already has dinner ready. It's eggplant lasagna with a huge amount of cheese on top. My dad has it in the warmer and is cutting slices now. He gives us both generous portions.

"Welcome home, honey."

"Thanks, Dad." I go to grab utensils out of the drawer and set the table. Soon as we're sitting down and saying grace before digging in.

"You need to take better care of Danny," my dad says without any preamble. He has on his commander voice.

"Whatever, Dad." I poke at my lasagna. I'm not sure if I even like eggplant.

"I mean it

, honey," he says, slicing another bite off of his helping of lasagna. "You need to take good care of that baby. Jeff is overwhelmed with the new potential lawsuit. His in-laws are offering to settle for a ridiculous amount of shares. It would jeopardize the business."

"I know, Dad. He already told me." I stand up, my half-eaten lasagna in my hands. "I'm not hungry anymore."

My dad lets me walk away this time. I go downstairs to my exercise bike and turn on my favorite album for biking, Britney Spears' Blackout.

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