"Uh oh," Julie said to herself. "No, no, honey, don't cry, it's okay. They're just silly old notes; it's nothing to cry about."
But the baby didn't seem to agree, as she let go of the bar, fell down on her diapered bottom, shoved her tiny fist halfway into her mouth, and began to cry.
&nbs
p; "No, don't cry," Julie said, quickly looking up at the father, who still hadn't noticed, but surely would if the baby started wailing. "Here, I have another test," Julie said, returning to the bench to grab a piece of paper from her notebook, then rushing back over.
"Ta?" the baby questioned, looking at the blank page suspiciously.
Julie nodded encouragingly and held the paper a little closer to the girl. "Yep, that's a test just like the other one."
Her little hand grabbed it and she carefully examined the blank piece of paper in her hand.
All of a sudden Daddy Dearest's phone call must have ended, because he suddenly realized he’d misplaced his child.
"Anna!" she heard a bit frantically as he looked behind him at where she had been when he got the phone call as if she would still be there.
Julie looked up and the man saw her kneeling down and the baby right there with her, holding up a piece of blank paper to show him.
"Dada, ta!" she told him, holding it up even higher.
Julie saw the look of relief on his face as he rushed over, and she noticed his eyes were brown. A really deep, warm brown, nothing like the child's.
He flicked a gaze at Julie, probably unsure of why she was over there.
"Daddy, ta," Anna explained with a few more indistinguishable little squeals, pointing over at the river.
"What?" he asked. "Oh yes, that's the water," he said, misunderstanding her.
"Ta, ta!" she squealed at him, her big blue eyes comically widened.
Understandably he didn’t have a clue what she was trying to say. "That's nice. Where did you get this paper?" he asked, prying it out of her fist. He looked up at Julie. "Is this yours?"
"It was," Julie said, flicking a glance back at her stuff on the bench.
He followed her gaze and offered a sheepish smile. "I apologize. She has an infatuation lately with taking things that aren't hers," he said, giving Anna a reprimanding look.
Unconcerned, Anna decided to clap her hands.
He unwrinkled the page and offered it back to Julie, his demeanor apologetic. "I believe this belongs to you."
"The one I needed is already sleeping with the fishes, but thanks anyway," she replied, taking the blank paper without looking at it.
"I'm so sorry, was she bothering you? I didn't mean to—I never have her during work hours so I’m not used to… still, I'm sorry."
She wanted to lecture him on his parenting skills, but it was really none of her business. On the other hand, someone could steal her someday, so she felt like she had to say something.
"I'm not all that worried about the notes, she's just such a sweet little girl, I would hate for her to fall and get hurt, or… for someone untrustworthy to lure her away with a piece of paper while you're on the phone."
She expected him to be offended, to tell her to mind her own business, so she was surprised when he sighed instead and said, "I know, that's exactly what I tried to tell her mother, why I need her to—I can't work and watch a one-year-old at the same time.”
Since he at least owned up to his crappy parenting skills, Julie smiled a bit reluctantly. "Perhaps a babysitter would help?"
"We're trying to find a new nanny," he explained, looking down as Anna pulled herself up using his leg and then tugged on Julie's skirt. "No, Anna, don't do that," he said, grabbing her little fist.
"Nana," she said, ignoring her father and going right back to holding onto the hem of Julie's skirt to balance herself, then she smiled up at Julie and started walking again.
"A nanny would probably solve that problem,” Julie agreed.