so much different when the baby was one you adored. Unintentionally, the baby had turned her mood around completely. Her insides were all aflutter now, and she couldn’t get enough of that sweet laugh. And then it happened. When it was all over and the baby’s amusement with the bouncing ball began to wane, Danica swooped him up into her arms. She’d been dying to the whole time but didn’t want to interrupt that beautiful laughter. She kissed his chubby face all over as he giggled again, only this time not as heartedly. Still, his little hands cupped her cheeks as he squealed in delight. “My God—” she caught herself as she happened to glance up and saw the way Orlando was staring at her. The words I love you so much nearly slipped out, but she pressed her lips together just in time. “He’s so cute,” she said instead, still holding him to her but forcing her enamored heart to calm the hell down. How stupid could she be? Both Orlando and Felicia had already made note of the instant and incredible connection the baby had to her. There’s no way Orlando hadn’t noticed that, as excited as he’d been about being witness to this milestone in his baby’s life, she’d been there just as equally thrilled about it as he’d been. Clearing her throat, Danica held the baby against her now pounding chest. “I’ve seen videos of babies laughing like him, but it’s different when . . . you witness it firsthand.” She glanced down and kissed the baby’s head because she couldn’t take the way Orlando’s piercing eyes bore into hers.
“Yeah, it’s different when he’s yours,” Orlando said.
Squeezing her eyes shut before looking up at Orlando, she prayed she hadn’t blown it and scrambled to come up with a proper response to that. “I’ll bet.” She smiled. “He’s just so adorable that it’s hard not to wanna squeeze him.”
“Especially given the way he’s responded to you. Do all babies respond to you like this?”
With a gulp, Danica thanked the heavens she’d prepared for this. With the anticipation of the baby possibly remembering her and the probability that this very question might be asked, she was ready for this. At least she hoped this came out as she’d practiced, and she didn’t blow it like all the other lies she’d planned and had gone by the wayside when she’d blurted out the truth instead. “I don’t work with babies that often.” And there it was. First sentence blurted out was the absolute truth, but she quickly explained why. “Since most of the kids me and my sister work with aren’t usually diagnosed with any behavioral issues until they’re a little older.” She explained that typically the babies she worked with were the ones who had disabilities they were diagnosed with at birth, like those with Down Syndrome, the hearing impaired, and even preemies whose parents were worried they were too far behind in normal development. Swallowing hard, she prepared for the all-out lie, until she was caught in those piercing eyes that seemed glued to her every word. “But, yeah, I don’t recall any other time when a baby bonded with me this quickly.” What was wrong with her? She cleared her throat, looking down at the baby because she couldn’t even look at Orlando as the wrong words continued to spew out. “Of course, all babies are different. I tend to get attached really fast. My sister says, and studies do show, that babies, even infants, pick up on things like that and they react accordingly.”
She left it at that because she was beginning to talk too fast, something she did only when she was really nervous or being insincere. She only hoped the explanation was enough. Babies really did demonstrate and reciprocate strong feelings of affection from very early on. Though none she’d ever watched had come even close to Oreo’s response to her. In fact, the few times she had watched a baby, it took hours to get them to warm up to her since they were dealing with separation anxiety from their parents. Crinkling her nose before Orlando even had a chance to respond to that, she’d never thought she’d be so grateful for the sudden need of a diaper change. One peek into the back of Oreo’s little pants and sure enough. “Time for a new diaper.”
She laughed at the face Orlando made. Her opening the back of the baby’s diaper had released