give a shit what anyone else thought. If the guys picked up on why it annoyed him, so be it. He owed no one but Dani any explanations, and she’d easily accepted any explanation he gave her—if she even questioned it—which most times she hadn’t. This week they introduced a new food to the baby’s solids. To Orlando’s surprise, it wasn’t banana or applesauce as he would’ve thought. “A lot of parents go for the easiest first, which is the sweet stuff,” she’d explained as she mashed the avocado, she brought with her. “Which is fine. But it makes introducing the not-so-sweet stuff harder. If we get him used to stuff like this and green beans and less fun stuff first, then getting back to them after introducing him to the bananas and such won’t be that big a challenge.”
He’d learned at least one new very important thing about his baby and how to care for him each day she’d been with him so far. Including how to deal with him each time he woke after she’d left, and he was clearly missing her. At least Orlando was sure that was the case. Dani insisted it was just the baby being fussy for other reasons and that Orlando was still a little insecure about his daddy skills. “Babies sense that kind of stuff, Orlando. If you’re nervous, it makes him nervous. I’m not always sure something I try is gonna work, but I speak and behave in a way that looks like I’m very confident about what I’m doing. Gives him a sense of ease and comfort, and he’s not even aware why.” As usual, she’d talked him down every time. She’d explained it’s the difference between crying out, “Oh my God!” when you witness toddlers take a tumble and calmly helping them up, inspecting them quickly and then saying in a very soothing tone, “You’re fine. Even if they do end up needing a Band-Aid or, worse, stitches, your instant assurance that they’ll be fine is all they need to stay calm.”
Orlando could kiss Nine for being okay with Dani only putting two days in at the shop and half the morning on Fridays. “You need her more than we do here,” Nine had insisted. “As long as she comes in on Friday morning and fixes anything we managed to make a mess of in the two days she was gone, she can be out of here as soon as she’s done.”
At first, Felicia had insisted she could still do Friday mornings so he wouldn’t have to go into the shop late after he and Dani tag-teamed. But just three weeks into this, Orlando couldn’t get enough of being around Dani. He wanted to be there whenever she arrived, so he’d insisted Felicia take her entire day off, assuring her the shop would be fine if he arrived a little late on Fridays.
Orlando knew what a crush was, and at first, he’d been convinced that’s all this was. Oreo being so besotted with her only added to it. Who wouldn’t be charmed by someone who made their kid this happy, right? Even the scares she’d given him that first week and her lack of cooking skills had turned out to make her even more endearing. It’s why he knew better now. This was no crush. But it was also why he had to try his hardest to tread lightly. This was a very delicate situation and he did not want to blow it, if he did or said anything that might make her feel uncomfortable. Orlando was just beyond grateful he hadn’t been forced to listen to another one of her hair-raising conversations with her boyfriend.
It was the third Friday that Dani would be taking over watching the baby. Orlando had been happily preparing his son’s morning cereal in the kitchen as they rocked out to Cri Cri playing on his phone before she got there. His phone ringing interrupted their music. Frowning when he saw who it was, he almost sent it to voicemail. Since the day Felicia had showed up at the shop unannounced, Orlando had all but ignored her ever since Dani had come into the picture, but he thought better of it. Felicia had been there for him when he’d really needed her, so he felt guilted into answering.
Not just that, but he needed to get things straight with her sooner rather than later. Now that he’d gotten a taste of what it was like