Crossroads (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series) - DD Prince Page 0,31
the stroller against the wall and adjusted the seat so the still sleeping baby could recline and fixed an unconvincing smile on her face, saying, “Thank you. I’m just…beat.”
“Go ahead,” I said. “Grab a nap. I’ll sit here for a bit.”
“I need it bad. I can’t remember the last time I got more than an hour or two. If he wakes up, there’s bottles in the fridge. Wake me up if you have to go, but really, if you could hang a few hours it’d mean the world.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said softly, looking around at the apartment. “I’ll tidy up for you a bit while he sleeps.”
She gave me a look of thanks, putting her hand to her chest as if what I’d said had touched her heart, then went to her bedroom, closing the door behind herself.
The shabby couch was covered in clothes. There was an old television on a TV tray in the corner, so I nabbed the remote from the arm of the couch and set my bag there. When I turned it on, noise assaulted my ears with a kids’ TV show and I frantically pressed buttons to turn it down. The baby boy stirred but didn’t wake. I decided to tackle the dirty dishes first.
When those were done, I swept the floor with a broom but found no dustpan so used an old newspaper to gather up all the dirt on the floor. I also scooped up all the dirty clothes into a pile that I tossed into the bathtub to get out of the way. The bathroom was pretty dirty, too, though. The apartment had likely been painted white sometime probably a decade ago and the place had clearly been chain-smoked in. There were no drapes and the space had zero charm.
Whether this was Luke’s baby, Ride’s baby (I doubted it) or someone else was the baby daddy, this little boy didn’t deserve to live in a dirty and dingy place like this. I tried not to be an overly judgmental person as a rule, I was raised with a live and let live philosophy. Dad provided for us, but there had definitely been some lean times, too, particularly when he was away, and Mom would burn through whatever money he’d left her. And when Mom neglected us when Dad was away, there were others in our lives who made sure we were okay. If it weren’t for women like Delia, Connie, and Sheila from the club I don’t know what I would’ve done for a positive female role model. So, I couldn’t help but feel anger rise in me at Melanie. Having no money was one thing, but he was dirty, the place was dirty, the little stroller he was in was filthy. This wasn’t a day or two of mess. This was bad. Melanie clearly couldn’t handle her responsibilities. One look at this place and a social worker would take that baby from her.
I stewed on those thoughts as I cleaned and cleaned until I caught sight of his little feet up in the air kicking up a bit of a fuss. He tried to sit up, but he was belted into the stroller.
I dried my hands and went over to him. He immediately started wailing.
“Shh, it’s okay Trevor. I’m Jojo. Here. I’ll pick you up and get you out of there. You want a bottle?”
I lifted him up into my arms. His fingers immediately went into his mouth and then he was screeching, seeming like he was in pain. He was for sure teething. I worked in a daycare center the summer after I finished high school and had my fair share of experience with babies. It got me the job as a nanny before Dad summoned me home. I put my wrist to his forehead. He felt feverish, too.
I wondered if Melanie had any infant Tylenol. I saw all sorts of rubbish on top of the fridge, including an empty adult Tylenol bottle but no sign of anything for Trevor. I opened her fridge for a bottle and there wasn’t much in it. There were three baby bottles filled with milk and half a jar of baby food peaches other than a pizza box and a few jars of condiments. I opened her freezer to see if there were any teething rings in there and found nothing but an empty ice cube tray and something pink and gooey in a wrapper; a melted popsicle, likely.