"We get that sometimes here,” I go on. “People drop their babies off. I would say it happens roughly every two months?"
His eyes fly from the baby to me. "Are you fucking kidding?"
I can't help a soft laugh at the look on his face. "Yeah, Rayne. It seems like a safe place, and a lot of people are in trouble, or they don't have the resources to care for a new baby. We even became a designated drop off spot last year. In the same way the fire stations are. It’s called a Safe Surrender spot. So they know it's okay to drop their babies off here."
"Do they put your name on them like this every time it happens?"
I laugh again. "They don't. Not normally. I mean, I think it might have happened once or twice."
"Once or twice, someone gave you a baby, and you never mentioned this before now?"
I laugh again. "I guess it is a little unusual."
"Um...a little." He bounces with the baby. "Dude, I think this thing is hungry. Do you see it chewing on its little fist here?"
He steps closer to me, and I do see the baby eating its hand. "We'll have to take it to the nursery,” I tell V. “And get some infant formula. That's the fastest way. Then we can call the right people."
Vance nods and I stroke the baby's soft forehead. "Hey little guy. Or girl. You want to find out?" I ask V.
He shakes his head, looking horror-stricken. "One wrong move, this scream machine will go off again. I think we should feed it first."
I can't help a big grin. "You look nice holding a baby, Vanny. I like it."
"It's making me nervous," he says, looking nervous.
"Don't be nervous. We can find a rocking chair down in the nursery and you'll give the little girl or guy a bottle. That's when babies go to sleep, and they can be sweet to hold and look at."
"How do you know?" Vance asks as I grab my cell phone from my desk.
"From some of the other ones that people dropped off here. I usually go down and see them. Also, from the aid work I’ve done, back when I was younger."
"So you really do that?" There's a notch between his dark brows.
I'm smiling at the baby, so I'm not sure what he means at first. "Oh—do I go see the surrendered babies?" I laugh. "Yeah, I do. Does that seem strange?"
"Sort of. Like someone dropping elves off at the workshop, and big Santa ho-ho-hos on down to see them."
I don't know why, but the way V quirks one dark brow combined with those words is so funny that I start laughing and can't stop till my cheeks ache.
"Big Santa! Is that what I am to you, Rayne? Nothing but a...big Santa?" I'm chuckling again—like Santa, I guess.
V rolls his eyes. "I don't know." He tilts his head, looking down at the baby before casting his gaze back to mine. "What do you think?" It's a murmur. "Do you think this face belongs to a girl or a boy?"
I arch a brow at Mr. Progressive Chelsea Artist. "I think it's a bit too early to say. Maybe by at least a few years." Touche
"Ohh, touché." He smiles, and it's warm and maybe slightly surprised.
"Whoever it is, they are awfully pretty." I open my office door and nod toward it. "Let's go down and get a bottle."
"Do you know how to make one?" he asks quietly as we make our way through the pastor’s suite.
"I think so."
Several people give us curious looks, but no one wants to interrupt us, I guess, because no one asks about the bundle.
"Do these babies like...go into foster homes or what?" Rayne asks as we go down the staff stairs.
"Yeah. I think they do a lot. We've got some foster families here within the church, so the babies we get here sometimes go to them. There's a bunch of us certified to take a baby."
"Us?" He twists his face into a surprised look.
"Yeah, even I am. Big Santa." I waggle my brows, and Vance still looks confused.
"I could take in foster children if I wanted, Rayne babe. I see you have questions." I laugh, and he laughs, too.
"Have you done it before?" he asks, smiling and looking confused all at once.
"I have."
"You have?" he says.
I laugh again. "You're giving me a complex, Vanny."
"It's just..." The baby lets out a small cry, and V starts cooing to her. Or him. I think the baby's features look more feminine, but who can say about a baby?
I spend the last few seconds we're on the stairs grinning as V twists his face up like a clown to amuse the tiny creature in his arms, and then Rayne says, "Oh shit!"
I look down and see the baby's gnawing on his finger.