phone by the nightstand. Immediately he was reaching out for her and whining.
Dani turned to them after picking up her phone with a frown. Baby O continued to whimper, practically calling out for her. Orlando’s and Dani’s eyes met for a moment before she broke the eye contact, glancing down at her phone. “I put it on silent. It was supposed to be just until I could get him to sleep.” She winced, looking up again as she reached for the baby with a smile. “He probably needs to be changed.”
The moment he was in her arms he buried his little face in her neck, and she kissed the top of his head. “Holy shit,” Orlando said unable to take his eyes of her again. “Felicia wasn’t kidding.”
Glancing up at Orlando for just a second, Dani glanced away quickly then started toward the door, and Orlando followed. “I saved him from the big bad TV today, Orlando. I’m his temporary new hero.”
Chapter 12
Danica
With her heart speeding up, Danica prayed the baby would tone down the neediness for her at least a little. She’d researched and anticipated the real possibility of him remembering her. It was something she’d hoped for and looked forward to, but now it made her nervous. There was no way Orlando would make the connection, would he? Obviously, he knew about Angie’s overdose, right? She pushed back the feelings of guilt, because it made her heart ache to think the little angel was likely feeling the very anxiety she was, of being separated again. But she wouldn’t worry about that now. She was with him now and that’s all that mattered. What she should be worried about and concentrate on instead, was dealing with him making it so obvious this wasn’t just an instant connection. She was someone he remembered—and clearly missed. Orlando was still going on about how incredible it was that the baby had taken to her so quickly as they walked into the nursery. Danica scrambled to think of ways to veer the subject onto something else. Inevitably, the baby would continue to show how taken he was by her. No need to continue to harp on it and get the wheels in Orlando’s head spinning. Reminding herself the chance way she ended up here had been just perfect, she tried not to worry too much. Nine had offered her the job at the shop and Orlando had practically begged her to watch the baby. No way could he figure out she’d planned to weasel her way in there. At least there was no way Orlando might suspect she had. As far as he knew, this was all his doing.
“How young can a kid develop a crush on someone?” Danica glanced up at Orlando, who stared at the baby all snuggled up at her chest then turned to meet her eyes before his eyes moved down to her lips. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he has a major one already.”
Danica glanced down at Oreo, remembering their love fest the moment Felicia was out of sight. Orlando didn’t know the half of it. The baby glanced up at her and reached for her nose. Taking his little hand, Danica kissed it, and he smiled big. “Daddy’s a big silly, isn’t he?” Not wanting to add any merit to Orlando’s comment, that’s all she’d say about it. She glanced around the changing table. “I noticed earlier when I changed him that he had a few little red bumps in the crevices of his legs.”
She put the baby down on the changing table, and he was immediately kicking and making silly noises. Thankfully, Orlando didn’t comment again on what a great mood the baby was in. Instead, he explained about how he’d recently changed the brand of diapers he used because he’d heard good things about the new brand.
“I think his skin was used to the other ones.”
Danica nodded in agreement, as they discussed diaper and baby wipe brands and the kinds of things to look out for. After changing him, the conversation moved onto his teething, then his eating solids, and a few minutes later they were in the kitchen. “First and foremost, babies, like adults, need structure. You have to start building good habits and making sure you don’t start bad ones.” She frowned, shaking her head, but smiled the moment she kissed Oreo’s head. “Me falling asleep with him on the bed is one of those things that will absolutely lead