Chapter Nineteen

Izzy worked at typing up a report for Deanna, while keeping an eye on Archie playing at her feet. Multitasking was a seriously underrated skill, and from now on she’d be putting that front and center on her résumés—multitasking genius.

Movement at the area entrance caught her attention, and she knew it to be Nolan before she even looked up. She always managed to sense him, as though their connection ran deeper than the kid they shared. She soaked him in, enjoying the view, especially as he’d popped open the top two buttons on his green shirt, showing off his neck. Then his disheveled hair came into focus, and the worry creases around his eyes. The closer they got to the meeting, the more frazzled he appeared, the spilled coffee this morning the tip of the iceberg, she feared. She knew the meeting was important to him, but each nervous twitch of his jaw reminded her she hadn’t realized how much until now.

He stopped by her desk, fingers tapping the surface three times before signing. “Can I bother you?”

She bit her cheek, because she really liked being bothered by him, in many different ways. Perhaps he needed a little relaxation, and she knew a few things that caused him to lose control. But not the place or the time, and not at work with Archie at her feet. She kept her cool and signed, “What’s up?”

“Can you check the sound on the video again? I know most of the board is Deaf, but for those who do have hearing I want to make sure the full effect is felt.”

She smiled. She’d already listened to it a dozen times, getting the sound to line up just right, but the slight shake to his hands was not typical of Nolan. “Sure. But…” She pointed down, and he came around her desk to where Archie played. The minute Nolan came into view, Archie looked up, clapped as though his father appearing was a magic act, and began crawling over.

Apparently Izzy wasn’t the only one getting attached.

“Hard to listen and watch him,” she signed. “I’ll have to wait until he naps.”

“No. I need your help. If anyone has a problem with it they can talk to me and not Deanna.” Nolan scooped up the baby. Then he turned and walked away, tossing Archie into the air, his peals of laughter echoing around the corner.

Izzy sat for a moment, watching even though they were out of sight. The interaction played on a loop in her head. A simple, domestic moment. After less than a week, Nolan didn’t even flinch. He was hands-on and involved with his son’s life, even if work didn’t want him to be.

Izzy sent up a silent prayer that it would continue and they would find some way around the office protocols. For Archie’s sake. And hers, but Archie came first.

“That is the cutest thing. He’s really taken to your baby,” Lisa said.

Izzy smiled and nodded, afraid to speak. She’d nearly forgotten about Lisa’s presence and feared too much showed in her interactions with Nolan.

“I love how you’ve taught Archie ASL. Was it just baby sign stuff?”

Izzy’s smile faltered. Why would she teach baby sign when she could give her child two full languages? “Actually Archie’s father is Deaf, so it made perfect sense.”

Izzy clamped her mouth shut. Shit. Why had she said that? Why hadn’t she mentioned her Deaf brother-in-law, which was reason enough, beyond the benefits of dual languages?

Lisa leaned forward. “Really? He’s Deaf? Do I know him?” Her lips curved, more sly than friendly, as though a warning simmered below the surface.

Izzy lowered her eyebrows, no longer able to keep her cool. Lisa had probably met a dozen Deaf adults and suddenly thought she knew everyone? “I really need to get back to work. Excuse me.” Izzy stood and made a beeline for the front desk, eager to get away from talkative Lisa.

At the front desk Shanice clicked on the computer, not on a call. Izzy tapped the desk and proceeded to speak in both languages. “Odd question, but do we have any headphones here? I need to listen to the video again and don’t want to bother the other interns.” Or be bothered by them.

Shanice nodded. “Yup. Hang on, I’ll go grab ’em.” She disappeared below her desk, rummaging around in drawers, before reemerging with a thick older model headset. “This is what we’ve got.”

Izzy accepted it. “Thanks, I’ll make it work.”

Shanice looked around Izzy. “Where’s that adorable little boy?”

“With his—” Izzy stopped herself short before she continued. What was with her today? “With Nolan. Just so I can check the sound.” Crap, who had been the one complaining? Izzy hated to think it had been Shanice, but she had to be more careful.

“He’s really a sweet guy.”

Yeah, he was sweet. And sexy and stepping up even though he could have brushed Izzy and Archie off.

Shanice leaned forward. “What was that?” Her voice dropped low. “It really is a shame about the no-dating policy; you two would be cute together.”

Danger. Danger. Abort mission! Izzy’s cheeks warmed and she prayed the warmth didn’t translate to a pink tinge. “I’m just grateful he’s allowed me to work while my usual childcare was away.”

Shanice laughed. “No, that’s not it at all. But there’s nothing wrong with a harmless crush. I would totally crush on someone who liked my kid the way he likes yours, even if it was just a fun fantasy.”

Shanice had hit a little too close to reality. Yes, she did have a crush on Nolan, more than a crush, if she were honest. She took the interaction as a warning to do better about her self-control; no one could know the truth.

“Is there a reason for the policy? I expect that from bigger agencies than this.” She might be revealing too much of her stack of cards, but curiosity got the better of her and she had to know.

Shanice glanced around and continued speaking in a hushed voice, no signs. “I heard that ten years ago, before my time, there were two staff members who started dating. They had a nasty breakup and proceeded to sabotage each other’s jobs, which directly affected our services and negatively impacted several clients. Both were fired and the board added the no-dating policy to ensure they never had a similar issue again.”

Izzy felt the blood drain from her face but forced the smile to stay as she made her way back to her desk. A shiver ran down her spine; with that kind of rationale for creating the policy, she couldn’t think of a single scenario that would be okay with Nolan and her seeing each other, never mind having a kid together.

Through the worries, the initial words settled in, about how Nolan had taken to Archie. She was glad, oh so glad, that he had. But he had reasons to. And now everyone thought extra of him because he simply did what he should as Archie’s father.

A sad reality of life as a parent. Even with all the forward steps to gender equality and dual parenting many still assumed a woman would take care of the kids. So Archie would always be her job, but wasn’t it nice when a father babysat.

Izzy hadn’t grown up that way. Her father was hands-on as much as her mother was. If she had a say, she’d choose the same dynamic for her children. But society still viewed things askew, making her question if the same sentiments would be shared if the truth of Archie’s paternity were known.

She also wondered if her feelings for Nolan would have been as easily pegged without the permanent connection between them.

She could discuss it with Gaby later, all the ins and outs of motherhood versus fatherhood and the layers in between. For now, she had to focus on her job, which included keeping her distance from Nolan.

The office area was empty, Lisa nowhere to be found. Izzy headed straight for her desk, plugging in the headphones before sitting down, to ensure a certain nosy intern wouldn’t bother her when she returned. She accessed the video and double-clicked on the icon. The program opened, but the image remained frozen. She clicked play several times, and nothing changed.

Ugh, old temperamental computers of the nonprofit life.

She closed the program down and tried again, Nolan’s image still frozen onscreen. She’d played this on her computer before, so she knew it had worked. What could have changed in a day? And to make things worse, she’d be in charge of setting the visuals for the meeting, so she needed to be sure it worked on her computer.

Izzy closed it down again, needing to test out a different video. But she had none on her computer. She tapped the keyboard as she remembered the video she had made the night before—and stored on her cloud. She quickly downloaded it to her work computer and accessed the file. No audio, since Nolan didn’t need it, and Izzy wasn’t a huge fan of pairing images to music. The stress of finding the right sounds to capture the mood was too much for her slap-it-together-and-call-it-done style.

The images began, but she had them in order and really didn’t need to see her pregnant self on screen. She switched to shuffle, and after two images of Archie scrolled across, she knew this video worked. She minimized that and opened Nolan’s presentation video again, relieved to find it working.

The headphones did the trick and she watched it twice, checking for sound and any other glitches they might have missed. And, perhaps, to steal the moment to observe Nolan without him present.

…

Nolan sat at his desk, Archie on his lap, blank document open as Archie penned his life memoir, which mostly consisted of the letter G. Nolan had closed down all his important programs and scrolled through his presentation on his phone. He had the video completed and polished and checked by Izzy, organized listings on his future ideas, and stats on the social media accounts.

All in all, he felt confident, even if he couldn’t review as he preferred.

Archie continued banging, and every few pages Nolan caught an actual unintended word. Then the typing stopped and Archie faced the door just as Nolan caught a hand flick the lights.

Archie clapped.

Deanna entered, face softening at the sight of the baby. “Oh look at you, so happy!” She faced Nolan. “I’ve been telling my partner how even with two kids this little one is giving me baby fever.”

Nolan bounced Archie on his knee, unsure how to respond. After the complaint, the timing couldn’t be worse for her to be here when he had Archie.

“You ready for the presentation tonight?”

Throwing up sounded like a good idea, but he smiled instead and held a thumbs-up. “We should be good to go.”

“Wonderful, we’re all excited to see your new ideas.” Her eyes drifted to Archie, who had resumed his typing, then checked the door. “Have you heard anything about his father?”

Nolan stopped bouncing, his hand tightening around Archie’s waist. “What?”

“Izzy’s life is her business, and I will always support a single mother, but I heard a rumor that the father is Deaf.”

Nolan swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself not to grip the baby any tighter. “Ohh?” he asked, at a complete loss because anything he signed would be lying.

Deanna lifted a shoulder. “The gossip came from the interns. Figured if anyone knew if they were just up to trouble it might be you. You and Izzy are getting close.”

Had Izzy said something? How would anyone guess that Archie’s father was Deaf? Nolan glanced at the kid, who turned to him, wide smile, drool sliding down his cheek. Nolan wiped it away.

When he glanced up Deanna was watching him carefully. He signed, “He’s a good kid.”

“Baby fever is contagious, be careful. Are you sure you know nothing?”

No, he wasn’t. Because not only did he know the truth, he was the truth. “According to Izzy, all the appropriate people are involved in Archie’s life.” Maybe that line would have worked if Archie hadn’t grabbed onto Nolan’s hand upon seeing his sign name, all but claiming they belonged together.

A fact, the glimmer in Deanna’s eyes claimed, she caught. “I see you’ve made an impression on him as well. Let me know if you need any help for tonight.” Then she left, closing the door behind her.

Nolan leaned back, hands in his hair. Archie crawled up his chest, tiny hands on Nolan’s chin. The baby face in front him was all smiles, happy as could be. “I need to claim you as my own, and stop all this nonsense and nosy business into your mother’s life.” Archie bounced on his feet as if in agreement. “Soon.” And then, because he felt it, because his kid was right there, on his chest, happy to see him… “I-love-you.”

Archie grasped onto his hand and chomped down on his pointer finger. Hard. Nolan jerked his hand back, shaking out the sting. “I guess you don’t feel the same.”

Archie shoved a hand in his mouth and Nolan figured he could blame this on the kid’s teeth coming in, and got up in search of a pacifier or teething toy. He’d deal with his paternity another day and find some way to do right by both Archie and Izzy.