Miss Fix-It

I was a mess.

I leaned into the car and pressed the little clip to undo the straps. Eli wriggled out of them before I had a chance to move, and with a tight grip on his dinosaur, he grabbed hold of me and hung off my neck.

Awesome.

Now what was I meant to do? I was wearing four-inch heels for a start. For a finish, what did I do?

See, I really needed a cousin or someone to pop a baby out so I had some idea of how to cope with a child.

I was woefully underprepared for this awkward turn of events.

“Okay.” Again, who was I talking to? Me or Eli? We’ll never know. One of life’s greatest mysteries.

I steadied myself on the sloped driveway and used the momentum with which he was trying to escape the car to pick him up. The second we were clear of the car, he curled himself around me. Arms tight around my neck, legs wrapped around my waist as far as his tiny ones would go.

All I could think as I stepped back was that I was glad he’d evenly balanced his weight. And that I had only drunk one glass of wine with dinner.

Thank god for small mercies.

I nudged the car door shut with my elbow, holding tight to Eli, and carefully made my way up the drive to the front door. Another small mercy I realized: the driveway was clearly better made than the windows in this house, because it was perfectly smooth and there was no way I could trip.

After my day, this was a total silver lining.

I’d just stepped inside the house when Brantley came down the stairs.

“Oh, crap. I’m sorry. She was fussing.”

“It’s fine,” I whispered scratchily. “But I can’t breathe.”

He dipped his head with a quiet laugh and came to my side. “Hey, buddy. Come here.”

Eli shook his head and curled right into me.

Aw, shit.

Now what?

“Come on, let me put you up to bed,” Brantley tried again. “Let Kali go home.”

Again, he shook his head, this time burying his face in my neck.

I sighed. “Help me.” Leaning against the bottom of the banister, I kicked a leg up. “Take off my shoes.”

He looked at me funny for a moment before grabbing the heel and pulling it off.

“Oop,” I breathed when I put my foot down and shrunk several inches. “Other one.”

Another kick up, another heel grab, another tug.

Barefoot, I padded up the stairs with Brantley behind me.

“He’s in my room,” he said. “Left, the end door.”

Sweet hell. Now I was going to see his bedroom?

I readjusted my grip on Eli when Brantley passed me and opened the door.

Thank God, this room was a lot closer to the rest of the house, just how I’d hoped it’d been. Boxes were piled everywhere, but there was a clear space where his kingsize bed was next to a small, single bed with Batman bedding.

I walked around the large bed with bedding in shades of gray and black to Eli’s. “Here you go, buddy,” I said softly, laying him on the bed.

He released me, finally, and curled up into a ball on his side, hugging the dinosaur close to his chest. I pulled the cover up over him, and he muttered something unintelligible before a tiny snore escaped him.

I covered my mouth with my hand, stifling a tiny giggle at the adorable sound.

Brantley smiled, leading me out of the room and shutting off the light. I went down the stairs before him, breathing out slowly and running a hand through my hair.

“Thank you,” he said softly, joining me at the bottom of the stairs. “It’s been a long time since someone but me put one of those two to bed.”

I smiled, sliding my feet into my shoes. At least I didn’t wince when the back of the shoe hit my blister… “You’re welcome. I’m not used to kids, so let’s say that was a first for me.”

The smile that stretched across his face was genuine and warm and damn my heart for picking up on that and skipping a beat. “You’re a natural.”

“In everything but my patience, I’m sure.” I grinned. “Ah, crap, I left my purse outside.”

He stepped past me and went outside. When I joined him, he was holding it up, staring at it. “It’s not really my color,” he noted of the scarlet-red clutch. “But it’s definitely yours, I think.”

I laughed and took it from him. “Thank you.” I peeked inside. “Everything is here. Thank god for our almost non-existent crime rate.”

“I doubt anyone will be trolling this neighborhood for purses to steal.”

“I don’t know. Anything’s possible. We did have a suspected murder a few years ago.”

“Was it murder?”

I pulled out my phone. “No. Not even suicide. The guy wasn’t even from here. He just died in his rental apartment.”