“You better get the bag,” his mother said. “There are phone numbers in there and clean clothes and you should take the seat too. Just in case. And, oh yes, I think he needs …” She trailed off with a little smile.
“You think?” Jared’s voice was sarcastic.
She smiled even broader as she put the car in reverse. As she pulled away, she called out, “Jared, I love you.”
Alix watched the car until it turned the corner, then looked at Jared comfortably holding the boy. He was cute, with dark blond hair and big blue eyes. “Old girlfriend?” she asked in a tone that she hoped sounded unconcerned. Inside she was screaming. Please don’t let her be an ex-anything and this be Jared’s love child.
“Naw. Her brother and I went to school together. She loves me because this is one fragrant kid. Want the job?”
For a moment, Alix had no idea when he meant. “Oh! You mean he needs changing?”
“And right away.” He slid the heavy bag off his shoulder and handed it to her. Alix took it, but when Jared started to give her the boy, she stepped back.
“Scared?” he asked, teasing.
“Not really. It’s just that I’ve never changed a diaper before. I don’t know how.”
Jared blinked at her a few times. “What are they teaching in that fancy school of yours these days?”
“How to earn a living,” Alix said, smiling.
“But obviously not what to do with what you earn. Come on in and I’ll teach you the great art of nappy changing.”
“If you’re teaching again, this must be Montgomery.”
“That guy? He wears a tux to dinner.”
When they got inside the house, to Alix’s disbelief, the boy didn’t want to have his diaper changed. Didn’t movies and TV have the kid crying if its diaper was soiled even a little bit? But not Tyler.
“Should we put him on the bed?” she asked.
“Dilys would kill us if we got it dirty,” Jared said, holding on to the boy who was now struggling to get down.
“Go! Go!” he yelled as he kicked Jared in the ribs.
“Look in the closet and get out that old blue blanket and spread it over the rug,” Jared said. “And I’m going to need a washcloth—no, two of them—wet with warm water.”
Alix got the blanket and spread it out, then ran to the bathroom to get some wet cloths. All this to change one messy diaper? she wondered.
When she got back to the living room, Jared had Tyler’s shorts off and Alix saw that they weren’t clean. She rummaged in the bag and got out a diaper, then sat on the arm of the couch and watched. Tyler was laughing as Jared held him down with one hand and removed his very dirty diaper with the other.
Alix’s first thought was how could someone so small produce that much? Jared used the diaper and the cloths to clean him but…
“Look,” Alix said. When Tyler rolled over, she saw that it was all the way up his back, almost to his hair.
“Okay, buddy,” Jared said, “let’s get you into the shower.”
“Wouldn’t a tub be better?” Alix asked.
“You want to clean it?”
“No, thanks.”
With Jared holding the half-naked boy at arm’s length, they went to the master bath. Alix was going to get the blanket and shorts up, but Jared called for her.
“Help me undress, would you?” he said as he reached in and turned on the shower. “I can’t let him loose or he’ll spread it all over the house, so I’m going to get in with him.” With his arm securely around Tyler, Jared bent so Alix could pull his shirt off over his head.
When Alix started to help with Jared’s jeans, the child almost escaped, but Jared caught him. Unfortunately, the mess on Tyler was now also down the front of Jared’s bare chest.