(no subject)
Here's a little fic (which turned out to be quite long) that jumped up and grabbed my brain while I was at work. Enjoy! (And thank you to Bridget for the beta!)
Chase had just gotten home from work, and it was late. It had been a long day, and even though he’d made plans with Kim, he was just too exhausted to do anything. He was lucky that she was so nice about it. It had been two months and things were going so well.
He worried quite a bit about telling Jack, and wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. He was sure it would be awkward…and much more than awkward. I just hope he doesn’t kill me, he thought.
Chase had just thrown his keys on a side table and gone into the kitchen to get a beer when there was a knock on the door. He made a little frustrated noise and went to open it.
The tall woman with red-gold hair looked up at him wearily. “Hi, Chase.” There was a baby carrier in one hand, but Chase barely noticed it; he was more preoccupied with the fact that his old girlfriend was standing on the doorstep. He hadn’t seen her in a long time, and as far as he was concerned, it could be much longer.
“Stephanie, what the hell are you doing here?” He was tired, all he wanted was a beer and to conk out in front of the television. He didn’t need more of Stephanie’s crap tonight.
Stephanie’s face contorted from listless desperation to anger in a moment flat. “Bringing you your kid,” she snapped, shoving the baby carrier into his hands.
Shocked into taking the carrier, he looked at the child, who was sleeping very peacefully. He looked back up at Stephanie, then grabbed her arm, pulling her inside and shutting the door, holding the carrier in one hand. “No fucking way. This is bullshit.” He kept his voice down, because the baby was sleeping, and the last thing he needed was a screaming kid.
“Sorry buddy, that last little fling with the broken condom made things more than a little sticky in many ways,” she said sarcastically.
Chase winced. Sometimes, her sense of humor left a lot to be desired. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Stupidity,” she said wearily. “Wanted her to myself. Stupid.”
Chase looked down into the carrier, at the sleeping baby. She had red-gold eyelashes, but he couldn’t see much of her, she was wrapped up even in the Los Angeles warmth. The blanket she was wrapped up in was dirty, and smelled faintly. And not of baby powder.
“What do you want, money?”
He was having a hard time taking his eyes off of her. My nose, she has my nose…
“I need you to take her,” she said bluntly.
Chase’s head snapped up. “What?”
“I need to get out of town. Go into rehab. I need you to take her,” she mumbles.
His eyes narrowed at her. “You drove here drunk, didn’t you? With the baby in the car.”
She threw a bag on the couch. “Her stuff is in there. I gotta go.”
He blocked her way, still holding the carrier. “Wait, you can’t just leave her, you can’t just leave your daughter…”
“Your daughter, Chase. Get used to it.”
“How do I even know she’s mine?”
Stephanie looked up at Chase. “She has your nose,” she sighs.
Chase swallowed hard, meeting Stephanie’s eyes. She’s telling the truth.
He could take her, bring her to Child Protective Services, someone would take her, and she’d be okay….
No, she wouldn’t, he answered himself. You’ve seen what happens to kids in CPS sometimes…
He looked down at her again. She has your nose.
Chase swallowed again. “Where are you going?”
She kept her eyes on his. “Somewhere that isn’t Los Angeles.”
He sighed. “What’s her name?”
Stephanie relaxed visibly. “Angela Dawn Edmunds. Hope you don’t mind that I gave her your last name. At least it’ll make things easier.”
“Easier. Right.” He gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll take her. But damn it, don’t you come around here again until you’re straight and sober. And call me when you get wherever you’re going.”
“Yeah,” she said, not agreeing to anything, really.
He should have expected that. She was never great at commitment.
She picked up her purse. “I got a bus to catch.” She looked for a moment into the baby carrier, her expression sad and desperate and…cold, all at the same time, and for a moment, Chase felt sorry for her.
And then, Stephanie pulled herself away and left as fast as she could. He could hear her running down the hall.
He stood there, holding the baby carrier, in shock.
“What the fuck am I going to do?”
What he did, in the end, was put the carrier down on the couch, get that beer he’d been heading for and uncap it. The baby was still sleeping. He couldn’t quite take his eyes off of her.
The carrier was battered and old, the blankets dingy. He opened the bag and everything was dirty. But there were diapers and thank goodness he’d bought milk, at least there was something she could drink.
Or…aren’t babies supposed to have something different? Oh, well, I’m sure milk will be fine for a little while until I figure out what’s going on…
He found Angela’s birth certificate and an immunization card. She’d gotten some vaccinations but the ones for six months and forward were blank.
There was a name of a pediatrician, though, so he figured he’d have to call tomorrow…except that tomorrow was Saturday.
Oh, shit, how am I going to do this? I work, I have a job that requires long hours and physical risk, and…
He looked over at the baby again, and reached out a cautious finger to touch her face. She made a soft little sound and stirred slightly, but didn’t wake. She yawned. She had two teeth, bottom ones.
Chase’s heart broke and a soft, dopey smile grew across his face. Gently, he unbuckled her from the baby carrier and carefully lifted her up. He vaguely remembered something about supporting the baby’s head.
She smelled as if she hadn’t had a bath in a long time, and there was a rash or something around her neck. She had a fuzz of red-gold hair on her head and when he lifted her and held her against his chest, she snuggled close in her sleep and grabbed with her little hand at his t-shirt.
His beer forgotten, he went inside with her, into the bedroom, taking pillows and placing them in a perimeter around where she would sleep. He had nowhere else to put her, though he did have a room in his apartment that he used for storage. He supposed that would have to be cleaned out.
He lay her gently on the bed and she immediately turned over on her side and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Chase lay nearby, leaning on one elbow, just watching her sleep.
Of course, he was tired, and eventually, he fell asleep-only to be awakened at three in the morning by a wailing baby. For a few moments, he panicked, not remembering where he’d put her, barely remembering even that she was here. When he came to his senses, he picked her up, and then the smell hit him.
“Okay, we’ll take care of that in a minute,” he says, carrying the wailing baby out to where the bag is.
There are no baby wipes, so Chase uses whatever he can find (paper towels) and is gentle and careful as he can be, but she has diaper rash, and she screams louder.
Her blue eyes are wide and scared and her fist is in her mouth even as she cries. And she just…won’t stop crying, and it’s breaking Chase’s heart again.
God, I need someone to help me, but who do I call? I’d call my sister, but I don’t want to hear her bullshit…and not Kim.
He sighs, finally, puts Angela on the floor, and runs into the bedroom to call.
A sleepy, grumpy voice answers the phone. “What?”
“Chloe, it’s Chase. I need you to come to my place right now.” He hoped he sounded as desperate as he felt.
“God, Chase, it’s three in the morning. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m so sorry, Chloe, I can’t explain now, just…please come. I really need your help.”
An exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’m on my way,” she said in a mock-cheerful tone, then hung up.
Chase let out a sigh of relief, then went out to Angela again, picking up the struggling, kicking infant. She was pulling on her ears, her face was flushed, and he couldn’t tell if she was just hot or had a fever.
I suck at this, he thought in panic. He filled a bottle with milk, and tried to give it to Angela, but she took a couple of tugs at the bottle and batted it away, crying harder.
And there were no pacifiers anywhere.
By the time there was a knock on the door Chase was at his wits end, trying not to scream at her. He hurried over to open it and pulled Chloe inside.
“Chase, where did that baby come from?”
“Stephanie was here…”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, God…”
“And she’s my daughter, but she’s been crying for over an hour and won’t stop.”
“So where’s Stephanie?”
“She’s not coming back.” Chase swallows. “She’s my daughter,” he repeats.
Chloe just looks at him for a few moments. And then she sighs. “Okay, give her here,” she says, holding her arms out for the baby. “What’s her name?”
“Angela.” He watches Chloe with her and never takes his eyes off his daughter.
“Get me a towel and a washcloth. She stinks,” Chloe says, bringing the weeping child to the kitchen table. “And a bowl full of very warm water, and whatever you use for soap.”
Chase went to get the things that Chloe had requested, thankful to have something to do that didn’t involve failing to comfort his daughter.
Chloe was bouncing Angela gently, but it wasn’t soothing her, and Chase doubles up the towel so Chloe can put her down. She starts to undress her.
“Does she have anything clean? Where are her things?”
Chase goes over and gets the bag, which, he is now noticing, smells…about like Angela does, dirty and of stale cigarette smoke.
Chloe paws through the bag. “God, everything in here smells like shit and smoke and god knows what else…”
Chase rubs his face, sighing, and Chloe looks up, her expression softening. “It’s going to be okay, Chase. Do you have any Mylanta?”
He frowns, “Yeah, but…”
“Just get it. And one of your clean undershirts.”
Chase was puzzled, but again, he was glad to do something and he just hoped it would help.
And he was very glad he’d just done laundry and that his undershirts were clean and smelled of fabric softener.
When he came back, Angela was still screaming, and Chloe was washing her gently, careful not to get any soap in her eyes and being as gentle as possible.
“She’s got rashes all over, poor kid. Nose is full of snot, too.” She looks over as Chase lays out the undershirt. “Is that all Stephanie gave you for her?”
“Yeah,” he says, watching her with the baby. “Is she…is she gonna be okay?”
Chloe shrugs. “I’m sure she’ll be ok, poor kid was just dirty and hot and itchy.” Chloe wraps the edges of the towel around Angela’s small body and takes the washcloth, pouring some Mylanta on it. “This is gonna work to cool that diaper rash for now,” she says, applying it, “but you’re gonna need stuff like fresh diapers and ointment and powder and stuff. And I’d throw that shit that Stephanie gave you away and buy new clothes for her.”
Angela, finally getting some relief from the diaper rash, began to stop her crying, looking up at the two strangers. Her blue eyes were still half full of tears, but she looked around curiously.
Chase eyed Chloe a little. “How do you know so much about babies?”
She snorted. “I read.” She picked Angela up and gave her to Chase. “You should get to know your daughter.”
Chloe picked up the bag and emptied it while Chase carried Angela over to the couch and sat down with her. She looked at him with such big blue eyes… “Hey, Angela. I’m sorry we haven’t met till now…What a surprise you are,” he said softly. “I’m your Daddy. And you're going to be okay.” Angela chewed on the edge of the undershirt she’d managed to get to her mouth and just looked at him. Her eyes looked innocent and ancient at the same time-how is that possible?
Behind him, Chloe let out a huff of exasperation. “Nothing in here is in good shape. Have you tried to give her anything to eat?”
“I tried milk, but she didn’t want it.”
Chloe came and sat on the chair across from where Chase and Angela were sitting. “I’ll go shopping for you. You can pay me back later. And I know you’re going to need help. Have you called your sister yet?”
“No, I just…I got her from Stephanie, and she was sleeping, so I brought her inside and fell asleep beside her.”
“In the morning, you should really call her. And what about Kim?”
“God, I’m not going to tell her yet. I’m barely coming to grips with it myself.” He didn’t want to lose Kim; she was the best thing to come into his life in a very long time.
“Okay. I need to make a list. I’m only going to get the bare basics right now, but she’s going to need a nursery. And you really, really need to get help with babysitters fast.” She takes out her Palm Pilot and begins tapping and writing out a list.
“I know, Chloe. Everything happened so fast. And she was drunk.” Chase shook his head. “She drove over here drunk and dropped her in my hands.” Almost literally.
Chloe leaned back in her chair and sighed. “And you didn’t have any clue that she even existed.” She looks closely at the little girl. “But she does have your nose, doesn’t she?”
Chase smiled. “Yeah, she does. She’s beautiful.” He stroked a hand over Angela’s mostly bald head and Angela babbled at him solemnly.
Chloe put her Palm Pilot in her pocketbook. Chase thought he heard her sniff. “Okay. I’m going to go out for some things. I’ll be back in a little while.”
Chloe went out again without another word, and Chase was left alone with his daughter. Now that she’d calmed a little, she was getting sleepy, and she rubbed at her eyes fitfully.
“Hey…put your head down on me. You can go to sleep.” He held her close and Angela cuddled in, grabbing his t-shirt again. He sat and watched her little eyelids open and close slowly until finally they shut and she was asleep, her body warm and heavy in Chase’s arms.
Now that she was clean and not wrapped up, he could see the angry rash on her neck. Later, he would learn that was from being put to bed with a bottle, from the milk trickling down around her neck and drying there, irritating the sensitive skin.
Hours later, she would begin crying and tugging at her ears again, and he would find out when he went to the emergency room that she had a raging double ear infection, combined with a sinus infection.
And on Saturday night, after making excuses of a ‘family emergency’ to Kim, Angela slept in a nice, clean crib in her own room, courtesy of her sister and Chloe, antibiotics running through her system and ibuprofen keeping down her fever. There was ointment on the rashes to clear them up. She hadn’t liked that at first, but after her itching and pain stopped, she’d calmed and drank her formula (she didn’t seem to know what to do with solid food yet) and fell quickly back to sleep.
Chase stood in the doorway of what was once his storage room, now cleaned up and filled with nursery furniture in white wicker, and he could swear that Angela was smiling as she slept.
In twenty-four hours, his whole life had changed forever.
Chase had just gotten home from work, and it was late. It had been a long day, and even though he’d made plans with Kim, he was just too exhausted to do anything. He was lucky that she was so nice about it. It had been two months and things were going so well.
He worried quite a bit about telling Jack, and wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. He was sure it would be awkward…and much more than awkward. I just hope he doesn’t kill me, he thought.
Chase had just thrown his keys on a side table and gone into the kitchen to get a beer when there was a knock on the door. He made a little frustrated noise and went to open it.
The tall woman with red-gold hair looked up at him wearily. “Hi, Chase.” There was a baby carrier in one hand, but Chase barely noticed it; he was more preoccupied with the fact that his old girlfriend was standing on the doorstep. He hadn’t seen her in a long time, and as far as he was concerned, it could be much longer.
“Stephanie, what the hell are you doing here?” He was tired, all he wanted was a beer and to conk out in front of the television. He didn’t need more of Stephanie’s crap tonight.
Stephanie’s face contorted from listless desperation to anger in a moment flat. “Bringing you your kid,” she snapped, shoving the baby carrier into his hands.
Shocked into taking the carrier, he looked at the child, who was sleeping very peacefully. He looked back up at Stephanie, then grabbed her arm, pulling her inside and shutting the door, holding the carrier in one hand. “No fucking way. This is bullshit.” He kept his voice down, because the baby was sleeping, and the last thing he needed was a screaming kid.
“Sorry buddy, that last little fling with the broken condom made things more than a little sticky in many ways,” she said sarcastically.
Chase winced. Sometimes, her sense of humor left a lot to be desired. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Stupidity,” she said wearily. “Wanted her to myself. Stupid.”
Chase looked down into the carrier, at the sleeping baby. She had red-gold eyelashes, but he couldn’t see much of her, she was wrapped up even in the Los Angeles warmth. The blanket she was wrapped up in was dirty, and smelled faintly. And not of baby powder.
“What do you want, money?”
He was having a hard time taking his eyes off of her. My nose, she has my nose…
“I need you to take her,” she said bluntly.
Chase’s head snapped up. “What?”
“I need to get out of town. Go into rehab. I need you to take her,” she mumbles.
His eyes narrowed at her. “You drove here drunk, didn’t you? With the baby in the car.”
She threw a bag on the couch. “Her stuff is in there. I gotta go.”
He blocked her way, still holding the carrier. “Wait, you can’t just leave her, you can’t just leave your daughter…”
“Your daughter, Chase. Get used to it.”
“How do I even know she’s mine?”
Stephanie looked up at Chase. “She has your nose,” she sighs.
Chase swallowed hard, meeting Stephanie’s eyes. She’s telling the truth.
He could take her, bring her to Child Protective Services, someone would take her, and she’d be okay….
No, she wouldn’t, he answered himself. You’ve seen what happens to kids in CPS sometimes…
He looked down at her again. She has your nose.
Chase swallowed again. “Where are you going?”
She kept her eyes on his. “Somewhere that isn’t Los Angeles.”
He sighed. “What’s her name?”
Stephanie relaxed visibly. “Angela Dawn Edmunds. Hope you don’t mind that I gave her your last name. At least it’ll make things easier.”
“Easier. Right.” He gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll take her. But damn it, don’t you come around here again until you’re straight and sober. And call me when you get wherever you’re going.”
“Yeah,” she said, not agreeing to anything, really.
He should have expected that. She was never great at commitment.
She picked up her purse. “I got a bus to catch.” She looked for a moment into the baby carrier, her expression sad and desperate and…cold, all at the same time, and for a moment, Chase felt sorry for her.
And then, Stephanie pulled herself away and left as fast as she could. He could hear her running down the hall.
He stood there, holding the baby carrier, in shock.
“What the fuck am I going to do?”
What he did, in the end, was put the carrier down on the couch, get that beer he’d been heading for and uncap it. The baby was still sleeping. He couldn’t quite take his eyes off of her.
The carrier was battered and old, the blankets dingy. He opened the bag and everything was dirty. But there were diapers and thank goodness he’d bought milk, at least there was something she could drink.
Or…aren’t babies supposed to have something different? Oh, well, I’m sure milk will be fine for a little while until I figure out what’s going on…
He found Angela’s birth certificate and an immunization card. She’d gotten some vaccinations but the ones for six months and forward were blank.
There was a name of a pediatrician, though, so he figured he’d have to call tomorrow…except that tomorrow was Saturday.
Oh, shit, how am I going to do this? I work, I have a job that requires long hours and physical risk, and…
He looked over at the baby again, and reached out a cautious finger to touch her face. She made a soft little sound and stirred slightly, but didn’t wake. She yawned. She had two teeth, bottom ones.
Chase’s heart broke and a soft, dopey smile grew across his face. Gently, he unbuckled her from the baby carrier and carefully lifted her up. He vaguely remembered something about supporting the baby’s head.
She smelled as if she hadn’t had a bath in a long time, and there was a rash or something around her neck. She had a fuzz of red-gold hair on her head and when he lifted her and held her against his chest, she snuggled close in her sleep and grabbed with her little hand at his t-shirt.
His beer forgotten, he went inside with her, into the bedroom, taking pillows and placing them in a perimeter around where she would sleep. He had nowhere else to put her, though he did have a room in his apartment that he used for storage. He supposed that would have to be cleaned out.
He lay her gently on the bed and she immediately turned over on her side and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Chase lay nearby, leaning on one elbow, just watching her sleep.
Of course, he was tired, and eventually, he fell asleep-only to be awakened at three in the morning by a wailing baby. For a few moments, he panicked, not remembering where he’d put her, barely remembering even that she was here. When he came to his senses, he picked her up, and then the smell hit him.
“Okay, we’ll take care of that in a minute,” he says, carrying the wailing baby out to where the bag is.
There are no baby wipes, so Chase uses whatever he can find (paper towels) and is gentle and careful as he can be, but she has diaper rash, and she screams louder.
Her blue eyes are wide and scared and her fist is in her mouth even as she cries. And she just…won’t stop crying, and it’s breaking Chase’s heart again.
God, I need someone to help me, but who do I call? I’d call my sister, but I don’t want to hear her bullshit…and not Kim.
He sighs, finally, puts Angela on the floor, and runs into the bedroom to call.
A sleepy, grumpy voice answers the phone. “What?”
“Chloe, it’s Chase. I need you to come to my place right now.” He hoped he sounded as desperate as he felt.
“God, Chase, it’s three in the morning. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m so sorry, Chloe, I can’t explain now, just…please come. I really need your help.”
An exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’m on my way,” she said in a mock-cheerful tone, then hung up.
Chase let out a sigh of relief, then went out to Angela again, picking up the struggling, kicking infant. She was pulling on her ears, her face was flushed, and he couldn’t tell if she was just hot or had a fever.
I suck at this, he thought in panic. He filled a bottle with milk, and tried to give it to Angela, but she took a couple of tugs at the bottle and batted it away, crying harder.
And there were no pacifiers anywhere.
By the time there was a knock on the door Chase was at his wits end, trying not to scream at her. He hurried over to open it and pulled Chloe inside.
“Chase, where did that baby come from?”
“Stephanie was here…”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, God…”
“And she’s my daughter, but she’s been crying for over an hour and won’t stop.”
“So where’s Stephanie?”
“She’s not coming back.” Chase swallows. “She’s my daughter,” he repeats.
Chloe just looks at him for a few moments. And then she sighs. “Okay, give her here,” she says, holding her arms out for the baby. “What’s her name?”
“Angela.” He watches Chloe with her and never takes his eyes off his daughter.
“Get me a towel and a washcloth. She stinks,” Chloe says, bringing the weeping child to the kitchen table. “And a bowl full of very warm water, and whatever you use for soap.”
Chase went to get the things that Chloe had requested, thankful to have something to do that didn’t involve failing to comfort his daughter.
Chloe was bouncing Angela gently, but it wasn’t soothing her, and Chase doubles up the towel so Chloe can put her down. She starts to undress her.
“Does she have anything clean? Where are her things?”
Chase goes over and gets the bag, which, he is now noticing, smells…about like Angela does, dirty and of stale cigarette smoke.
Chloe paws through the bag. “God, everything in here smells like shit and smoke and god knows what else…”
Chase rubs his face, sighing, and Chloe looks up, her expression softening. “It’s going to be okay, Chase. Do you have any Mylanta?”
He frowns, “Yeah, but…”
“Just get it. And one of your clean undershirts.”
Chase was puzzled, but again, he was glad to do something and he just hoped it would help.
And he was very glad he’d just done laundry and that his undershirts were clean and smelled of fabric softener.
When he came back, Angela was still screaming, and Chloe was washing her gently, careful not to get any soap in her eyes and being as gentle as possible.
“She’s got rashes all over, poor kid. Nose is full of snot, too.” She looks over as Chase lays out the undershirt. “Is that all Stephanie gave you for her?”
“Yeah,” he says, watching her with the baby. “Is she…is she gonna be okay?”
Chloe shrugs. “I’m sure she’ll be ok, poor kid was just dirty and hot and itchy.” Chloe wraps the edges of the towel around Angela’s small body and takes the washcloth, pouring some Mylanta on it. “This is gonna work to cool that diaper rash for now,” she says, applying it, “but you’re gonna need stuff like fresh diapers and ointment and powder and stuff. And I’d throw that shit that Stephanie gave you away and buy new clothes for her.”
Angela, finally getting some relief from the diaper rash, began to stop her crying, looking up at the two strangers. Her blue eyes were still half full of tears, but she looked around curiously.
Chase eyed Chloe a little. “How do you know so much about babies?”
She snorted. “I read.” She picked Angela up and gave her to Chase. “You should get to know your daughter.”
Chloe picked up the bag and emptied it while Chase carried Angela over to the couch and sat down with her. She looked at him with such big blue eyes… “Hey, Angela. I’m sorry we haven’t met till now…What a surprise you are,” he said softly. “I’m your Daddy. And you're going to be okay.” Angela chewed on the edge of the undershirt she’d managed to get to her mouth and just looked at him. Her eyes looked innocent and ancient at the same time-how is that possible?
Behind him, Chloe let out a huff of exasperation. “Nothing in here is in good shape. Have you tried to give her anything to eat?”
“I tried milk, but she didn’t want it.”
Chloe came and sat on the chair across from where Chase and Angela were sitting. “I’ll go shopping for you. You can pay me back later. And I know you’re going to need help. Have you called your sister yet?”
“No, I just…I got her from Stephanie, and she was sleeping, so I brought her inside and fell asleep beside her.”
“In the morning, you should really call her. And what about Kim?”
“God, I’m not going to tell her yet. I’m barely coming to grips with it myself.” He didn’t want to lose Kim; she was the best thing to come into his life in a very long time.
“Okay. I need to make a list. I’m only going to get the bare basics right now, but she’s going to need a nursery. And you really, really need to get help with babysitters fast.” She takes out her Palm Pilot and begins tapping and writing out a list.
“I know, Chloe. Everything happened so fast. And she was drunk.” Chase shook his head. “She drove over here drunk and dropped her in my hands.” Almost literally.
Chloe leaned back in her chair and sighed. “And you didn’t have any clue that she even existed.” She looks closely at the little girl. “But she does have your nose, doesn’t she?”
Chase smiled. “Yeah, she does. She’s beautiful.” He stroked a hand over Angela’s mostly bald head and Angela babbled at him solemnly.
Chloe put her Palm Pilot in her pocketbook. Chase thought he heard her sniff. “Okay. I’m going to go out for some things. I’ll be back in a little while.”
Chloe went out again without another word, and Chase was left alone with his daughter. Now that she’d calmed a little, she was getting sleepy, and she rubbed at her eyes fitfully.
“Hey…put your head down on me. You can go to sleep.” He held her close and Angela cuddled in, grabbing his t-shirt again. He sat and watched her little eyelids open and close slowly until finally they shut and she was asleep, her body warm and heavy in Chase’s arms.
Now that she was clean and not wrapped up, he could see the angry rash on her neck. Later, he would learn that was from being put to bed with a bottle, from the milk trickling down around her neck and drying there, irritating the sensitive skin.
Hours later, she would begin crying and tugging at her ears again, and he would find out when he went to the emergency room that she had a raging double ear infection, combined with a sinus infection.
And on Saturday night, after making excuses of a ‘family emergency’ to Kim, Angela slept in a nice, clean crib in her own room, courtesy of her sister and Chloe, antibiotics running through her system and ibuprofen keeping down her fever. There was ointment on the rashes to clear them up. She hadn’t liked that at first, but after her itching and pain stopped, she’d calmed and drank her formula (she didn’t seem to know what to do with solid food yet) and fell quickly back to sleep.
Chase stood in the doorway of what was once his storage room, now cleaned up and filled with nursery furniture in white wicker, and he could swear that Angela was smiling as she slept.
In twenty-four hours, his whole life had changed forever.