At least they were far enough from the main house that his cries wouldn’t disturb Saxon. But she didn’t want him to wake Jamie either.
“Caleb, baby, Mama just has to sit for a moment.” She could feel herself falling apart.
Another cry reached her from the bedroom, and she dropped her head back against the chair. Shit. Jamie was awake. She took a deep breath then let it out slowly. God, how many hours did she have until she had to be up again? She thought about leaving Renard a message that she wouldn’t be in tomorrow. It was so tempting, but she couldn’t let him or, more importantly, Saxon down. She’d been doing her best to get along with Renard this last week. The last thing she wanted was for him to complain to Saxon about her.
She needed this job and she didn’t want Saxon to think he’d made a mistake hiring her. She pulled herself up out of the chair and walked into the boys’ bedroom.
She moved to Jamie’s crib, placing Caleb down on his back in his own. He immediately started screaming. She closed her eyes for a moment. It would be damn nice to have some help, someone to lean on that wouldn’t let her down.
She opened her eyes with a sigh then picked Jamie up. Feeling his diaper, she realized he needed changing. “Sh, Caleb, Mama’s coming back. I just have to change your brother.” His cries reached a high pitch, and she winced, distress filling her. Even though she knew he wasn’t in any danger, she still felt like shit for having to leave him there on his own while she tended to his brother.
She got Jamie changed then laid him back in his bed, where he started to kick his feet and scream.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
She picked Jamie up again, moving to the other crib to grab Caleb.
A knock startled her. She frowned. What the hell? It was nearly one in the morning, who the hell would be at the door?
“Aspen? Aspen, where are you?” the deep voice demanded.
Well, she should have guessed who it was. She let out a breath. “Shit.”
She walked out of the bedroom, towards the living room. Saxon stood there dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt. Her eyebrows rose. This was the most relaxed she’d ever seen him dress. No tailored slacks or pressed shirts that set off the color in his eyes. Somehow, she liked him even more like this.
“I’m sorry, we
didn’t wake you, did we?”
He frowned as he looked her over then turned to study both of the boys. “What’s going on? I could hear the boys crying from outside.”
She winced. “Sorry, I didn’t think the noise would carry to the main house.”
“It’s a still night and I couldn’t sleep so I opened a window. What is going on? Are they ill? Caleb looks flushed.”
“You can tell them apart?”
“Of course.”
There was no “of course” about it. No one could tell them apart except her. Even her mother had problems unless she used the small birth mark on Jamie’s back.
They’d only lived here for a week. How could he possibly know?
“I’ll call the doctor.”
“No, wait, Caleb’s not sick. He’s just teething. That’s why he’s drooling and has flushed cheeks. I’ve given him some acetaminophen and I think it’s kicking in.”
“And Jamie?”
“Caleb’s cries woke him. When he’s teething, he likes to be walked up and down and rocked. I just needed to sit for a moment, and he didn’t like that.”
Understatement of the century.
“Obviously, you needed to sit. You’re clearly exhausted.” He reached over and plucked Caleb from her arms before she could protest. She tensed, waiting for the little boy to throw a fit. When he was ill or in pain he only ever wanted her. But even though he tensed, his face scrunching up, he didn’t cry out. She let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Take Jamie back to bed. I’ll walk with Caleb.”
“Oh, but you need to go to bed. I know you must have to work tomorrow. I can take care of them both—”