to bad habits if it keeps happening. He gets used to that, and you’ll never get him to sleep alone in his crib again.”
She noticed Orlando smirking strangely, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she went on because, even if he thought this was amusing, it wasn’t a good way to start by breaking some of the cardinal rules. She went over the kinds of foods he should be introducing first, as she prepared his cereal, among other feeding do’s and don’ts.
“You wanna try and feed him in the same place as much as possible. Get him used to it so he knows when he’s sitting in the highchair, say in the dining room, it’s mealtime. Versus when you sit him in it like you said you did yesterday to just snack while you tidied up. And you want to do it around the same time every time for each meal. It just builds a routine, and routines are important for babies. Makes it easier to get them used to naps and bedtime.”
She started to pick up the highchair to move it to the dining room, but Orlando took it from her and carried it into the other room for her. They sat down across from each other at the dining room table with the baby at the head of the table. “This is a good place for him to get used to eating. This way, once he’s out of the highchair, you can put a booster on one of these chairs and keep the routine going right here.”
Orlando smiled that odd way he had earlier, and this time Danica waited for him to say something. He shook his head. “No, that just reminded me of something. When I lived with Nine and Beast in a house we rented, only thing we ever used the table in the dining room for was to work on car parts or play cards. Never to eat a meal.”
That made Danica smile. Of course, three bachelors wouldn’t be having formal meals in the dining room. She wondered if he and Felicia used this one but didn’t ask. She continued with her baby lessons, speaking occasionally in a coddling voice when the baby would turn and reach out for her. The whole time Orlando spoon-fed Oreo, they discussed all things baby-related until the baby was done and got a little more demanding when reaching out for her to pick him up out of the highchair. Danica cleaned his face and hands to keep him from reaching out to her so anxiously, then picked him up before the flaying arms could start up again. Afraid Orlando might start up again on how incredible it was that Oreo was so drawn to her so quickly, Danica used one of the conversation changers she’d since mentally lined up. “So, what was the unexpected errand you had to run this morning, if you don’t mind me asking? Everything okay?”
Orlando seemed fixated on the sight before him, making Danica gulp with anxiety. His son was now latched onto her hip and leaning his head on her shoulder, sighing blissfully, completely unaware of the unease his obvious contentment gave her. Orlando’s eyes went slowly from Oreo to Danica. His somewhat still awestruck expression morphed into a bit of a frown as if her question suddenly sunk in. “My other partner, Beast, you may’ve heard of him.” Danica nodded, stopping short of saying, ‘of course I know of Beast!’ The man was famous and scheduled to fight against the current heavyweight champ in a the next year. She’d keep to herself all the extensive research she’d since done on the shop and their owners before deciding if giving the baby up to his father was the best way to go. Not that she’d heard anything bad about Orlando, she just hadn’t heard enough.
“His younger brother Byron,” Orlando went on explaining. “He got in a little trouble last night.”
They moved into the front room where they sat on the carpet with the baby and a few of his toys. Orlando began telling her about the call he got that morning from Byron. Danica listened intently as they both took turns handing the baby different color balls for him to place into his ball drop toy.
They’d both stop occasionally to engage with the baby, but Orlando went on with his story. “He’s a good kid. But he’s going through some shit right now with his mom and her boyfriend. Long story short, he’s been trying