Two Men and a Baby - Isla Olsen Page 0,18

works ’til midnight on Wednesdays but she’s going to try to get someone to cover the second part of her shift so she can pick him up around nine. But if she can’t he’ll need to stay over.”

“Wow. Okay. When will you know?”

“She’s going to text in the next hour or so. She’s already sent me a whole list of instructions to follow.” He gives a shake of his head. “Anyway, we should probably get inside, out of the cold.”

He moves to push the stroller toward the security door, but I stop him. “Actually, right now I think we should go do some shopping. I’m going to go ahead and make the assumption you don’t have much baby stuff lying around your apartment?”

“That assumption would be correct,” Connor says with a wry grin.

“Come on, there’s a great baby store not too far from here. We can get everything you need there.”

I guesture in the direction of the subway and Connor starts to guide the stroller down the street. It’s then that a thought occurs to me. “Hey, do you know what his name is?”

“Urgh. Yeah, it’s Chase,” he says as if there’s a bad taste in his mouth.

My brows draw together. “What’s wrong with Chase?”

“It’s not a name. She may as well have called him ‘run’ or ‘walk’.”

I chuckle at that. “Chase is a perfectly legit name. And trust me, once you get to know him better it won’t matter what his name is.”

“If you say so.”

Once we get to the giant baby store, I have to bite my lip to stop from grinning at the way Connor stares around completely wide eyed, like a deer caught in headlights.

“Okay,” I say, taking charge and retrieving one of the giant carts from where they’re lined up at the entrance of the store, “the most important thing is going to be something for him to sleep in. The stroller is fine for now, but he can’t stay in it for too long, and especially not overnight.”

Connor nods. “Okay, so we should find him, what, a cradle?”

I can’t help the little chuckle that bubbles out. “We’re in the twenty-first century now, Con. We should be able to get a portable bassinet. That way you can fold it up and just have it out whenever he’s at your place.”

We make our way over to the section of the store where all the larger items are located, and it doesn’t take me long to spot a portable bassinet like the ones we use at work. But ss I shift my gaze between Chase, who’s now asleep in the stroller, and the informaton on the packaging a thought occurs to me.

“Hmm…maybe it’d be better to go straight to a crib. He’s pretty big for his age so I doubt it’ll be long before he grows out of this thing.”

“Are you calling my son fat?” Connor asks indignantly.

I chuckle again. “No, I’m saying he’s got your gigantor genes.”

“I’m six three, I’m not that tall.”

“He says, craning his neck down so I can hear,” I joke.

Connor rolls his eyes. “I want whatever’s right for him now—I don’t care if I have to buy something else later.”

I point to a box with a travel crib. “Well, this one here is appropriate for kids aged zero to three years, so Chase will be fine in that.”

Connor nods and I haul the box off the shelf and place it in our cart.

“What’s next?” Connor asks.

“Diapers—you can never have too many of those.”

“There are some in the bag Laura gave me,” Connor says, gesturing underneath the stroller.

I shake my head. “Trust me, you’ll be wanting more. And what about food? Did she leave enough formula for the whole night? Or has he started on solids already?”

Connor looks at me blankly. “Solids?”

“Solid foods.”

“Umm…”

I let out a soft sigh. “Let me see the diaper bag. And the instructions she sent you.”

Dutifully, Connor reaches under the stroller and tugs out the black diaper bag, handing it to me. Then he pulls his phone from his pocket and opens the text Laura sent him with her instructions.

Rooting through the bag, I find three bottles already measured out with water and a formula canister with all three little compartments filled. “Okay, so we have enough for three bottles,” I tell Connor. I also find a packet of organic sweet potato baby food that says it has two servings.

“Can I have the phone, please? I want to see what she says about feeding.”

Connor hands me the phone and