She had been wrong to run, wrong to hide Julianna from me, but she wasn’t without cause. Tomorrow, we would talk and find a starting point. I was determined to win her back.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I smiled. “Hey, baby,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep. I was just checking on you.”
Julianna began to fuss behind me, and I put a hand on Tally’s shoulder as she began to rise. “No, I got her. You sleep.” I ran a finger over her cheek. “Let me, Tally. Trust me with her.”
She nodded, and without thinking, I bent and kissed her. Just a brief pressing of our lips, but it felt like so much more. It felt like coming home.
I felt her eyes on me as I went to the crib, lifting Julianna. “Hey, baby girl. Hush,” I crooned. “Let’s go visit and let Mommy sleep, okay?” I rubbed her back the way I’d seen Tally do. “Shh. Daddy has you.”
When I glanced back from the door, Tally was still watching. “Sleep,” I demanded gently. “I got this. When she’s hungry, I’ll come get you.”
Her eyes shutting was my only response.
It was all I needed.
The next day, I looked around in bemusement. “For something so tiny, you sure need a lot of stuff,” I murmured to Julianna. She fretted into her hand, still fussy like the day before.
Tally looked up with a shake of her head. “This is only some of what she needs.”
“Why didn’t you get all of it?”
She didn’t answer, and I knew why. Because she didn’t plan on staying.
“Who is June Albright? How did you get her ID?”
She stopped her unpacking and met my eyes. I kept my voice calm and my expression neutral.
“June is the woman I met on the bus when I first arrived. Her boyfriend is a computer geek, and he has all sorts of gadgets and stuff. He duplicated her driver’s license so I had a piece of ID to travel here. She purchased my ticket.”
“I thought you lost touch with her.”
“I never said that.” She sighed. “I didn’t tell you everything, all right? I kept her and Cathy my secret in case I needed a place to hide again.”
“I guess we both kept secrets,” I stated mildly.
She didn’t respond.
“It’s a nice day. Did you want to go for a walk?” I indicated the piece of equipment sitting against the wall that had come off the plane with her luggage. “I assume that attaches to her baby seat thing?”
A smile tugged her lips. “Her carrier. Yes.”
“Then let’s get some fresh air.”
I watched her strap Julianna in, marveling at the ease with which she opened the stroller, locking the carrier in place, adding a blanket, a hat, and pulling up the carrier top so sun wouldn’t get into Julianna’s eyes. Outside, she let me push the stroller, and we headed to a small park close to the apartment. Julianna cooed and gurgled, her little hands once again finding freedom and flailing. She seemed to be happy outside. More than once, we stopped, and Tally would tuck her hands back inside the blanket, only for Julianna to loosen them again.
“It’s a game now,” Tally observed.
I bent and chuffed Julianna’s chin. “My baby girl is clever.” I looked at Tally. “Takes after her mommy.”
She looked away, but I saw the gloss of tears in her eyes. Without thinking, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. I bent and kissed her forehead, my lips lingering. For a moment, she was stiff, then she relaxed into my side, and we continued the walk that way. One arm around my wife, the other pushing the stroller that held my daughter. Tally held the other side of the handle, and together we kept it straight. It felt right. I felt complete in a way I never had before now.
We sat on a bench, and I walked to the small café and brought back coffee. I handed Tally her cup and sat next to her, peeking in at Julianna. She was asleep, her fist jammed into her mouth the way she liked to do. Her cheeks were pink, her hair sticking out from the hat.
“She looks like you,” I observed. “Do you think she’ll have your freckles?”
Tally was quick to disagree. “Oh no, Julian. She is you all over again. Even that little dimple that only comes out when you smile really hard. She has your eyes too.”
“She is far more delicate-looking than I am,” I protested. “Her face is shaped like yours, and she has your mouth and coloring.” I nudged her with my elbow. “Let’s hope she doesn’t get my beard.”
Tally laughed as an older woman stopped and peeked into the stroller.
“What a lovely child.”
“She looks like her mommy,” I said proudly.
Julianna’s eyes fluttered open, and she yawned, squirming and impatient. The woman laughed. “Oh, no doubting who her father is with those eyes. She is going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up.”