Sidney sat on the sectional sofa with baby Greer tucked into her side. He held tight to the little blue teddy bear as he watched a children’s show on the TV.
Her mind was racing, racing, racing with thoughts, each one more disconcerting than the last. And interspersed with those she kept coming back to the sorrow in Greer’s eyes when he’d looked up at her and said, “Mommy Daddy hurt.”
Every time she thought about it her heart broke a little more.
She couldn’t imagine what he must be going through. So young. Much too young to fully grasp the magnitude of what was happening in his life. Yet somehow old enough to understand that something major was wrong.
What must that feel like for a child his age? Was he scared? Was he grieving? Did he understand that she and Ike were trying to help him?
Ding dong.
The doorbell suddenly cut through her troubled thoughts.
Sidney looked down at Greer. “You stay here, okay? Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
She stood and hurried to the door.
When she swung it open, her best friend and sister-in-law, Bree Taylor, was standing on the other side with several shopping bags in one hand, and baby Isla in a bucket seat tucked into the crook of her other arm. Beside her a tall, thin box rested against the front doorjamb.
“The calvary has arrived,” Bree announced, sounding winded.
Sidney reached out and took the bucket seat from her, motioning with her head for Bree to follow. Bree pulled the awkward box inside with her.
Sidney carried Isla into the living room.
“Oh, my God, Bree. How do you ever lug everything plus Isla around all the time?” Her arm hurt just from carrying the seat that short distance.
“You do what you’ve gotta do.” Bree’s tone was matter-of-fact. “You’ll see.”
Sidney set the bucket seat down on the oversized ottoman in front of the sectional. Then she bent over and kissed Isla on the cheek. The baby grinned at her.
Bree’s gaze landed on Greer, who was watching everything with wide, curious, blue-green eyes.
“Oh, my goodness,” Bree breathed out. “Look at you!”
Bree moved toward the little boy, but Greer shrank and whimpered, moving toward Sidney.
Sidney picked him up. “It’s okay, baby Greer. This is my friend, Bree. And that is her little girl, Isla. They’re here to help us, okay?”
Greer laid his head on Sidney’s shoulder, effectively hiding from it all.
Sidney met Bree’s gaze and they shared a silent moment. Then Bree took a seat and began opening bags.
Sidney sat down beside her, settling Greer on her lap.
“Okay, so I bought two packs of pull ups, just to be safe. And according to the size you gave me from the hospital stuff, I grabbed three outfits. Pants and tops are totally mix and match, so you have options, you know?”
Sidney nodded, looking over everything.
“I also grabbed some baby wash.” Bree held up the purple bottle. “Isla absolutely loves this kind. A bath before bed with this is soothing and helps her fall right to sleep. And I’ve heard other moms say the same about their little ones. This stuff is great. You can also wash his hair with this.”
“Thank you so much.” The relief in Sidney’s voice was so evident, even to her.
“Got the matching lotion,” Bree held up the bottle before moving on. “And some socks, and a couple of PJ sets. Oh, and I saw this so I grabbed it.”
She held up a packaged set with a brightly colored, plastic bowl, spoon, and sippy cup, and Sidney stared at it in awe.
“It wasn’t on my radar,” Bree continued. “But I saw it and thought, at his age, he’s probably learning how to use these things, so…” She let that sentence dangle and shrugged a shoulder. Then she reached out, taking one of Greer’s golden-brown curls in her fingers.
“He is so stinking cute, Sid.”
“I know,” Sidney glanced down at the child in her arms. “What’s in the big box?”
“Oh, I almost forgot! That is bed rails for toddlers. Supposedly really easy to set up, and you can use them with any bed to help prevent falling hazards. I got the queen size to fit the bed in your guest room. Not ideal, but it’ll do in a pinch.”
She looked at Sidney with an I-hope-some-of-this-helps expression, and Sidney suddenly found herself fighting back tears.
“Thank you so much, Bree. I would be completely lost without you right now.”
Bree waved a dismissive hand.
“No really. And I’m so sorry to mess up your day with this.”
“Oh, stop it, Sid. You didn’t mess up anything. Isla and I had nothing at all to do today. Did we, girlfriend?” She turned to her baby girl and smiled. Isla’s answering toothy grin was adorable. “Maybe some laundry. And figuring out if I want to know the sex of Baby Taylor 2.0 here,” she said, patting her small baby bump.
Sidney smiled and then shook her head, wrapping her arms tighter around Greer. “I just feel so overwhelmed. And so stupid.”
An almost suffocating lump of shame and embarrassment rose in Sidney’s throat.
“Stupid?” Bree sounded alarmed. “Whatever for?”
Sidney shot an astonished look her way. Did she really have to ask that question?
“For feeling this unprepared!”
“Well, you were unprepared,” Bree countered. “But that’s not your fault, sweetie. And it’s certainly nothing to feel stupid over. Sid, this situation was sprung on you in the middle of the night. Of course you’d be overwhelmed. I would’ve been overwhelmed too. Anyone would.”
Sidney couldn’t stop the eye roll. “You? You’re superwoman.”
The tears she couldn’t fight anymore silently slipped out, rolling down her cheeks.
“Yeah, I’m superwoman now, eleven months into this mom gig. But I definitely didn’t start out that way. And I had nine months of training. You had zero minutes of training for this second job you’ve just taken on.” Bree gave her a pointed look. “Let those words sink in a minute, girlfriend. Zero minutes of training for your new second full-time job!”
Sidney wiped her face and thought about that. A wave of validation washed over her like the water kissing a sandy shore, taking that lump of unease from her throat with it. She took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yeah,” Bree nodded back. “So give yourself a break, okay? You knew enough to reach out for help. And I’m always happy to give it.”
Sidney smiled at her. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Anytime, sister-in-love.”
It was something Ike and Adam’s sister, Emily, had started calling them a few months back. Now the three of them said it to each other all the time.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Sidney asked, wiping her face once more.
“Nope. You sit there with the kids. I’ll get us something to drink. Would you like something soothing, or do you need the caffeine rush?”
“Definitely the caffeine.” Sidney’s shoulders fell and she slumped back into the sofa with Greer still in her arms.
Bree patted her leg, then stood and went into Sidney’s kitchen.
She came back ten minutes later with a cup of coffee for Sidney and a glass of lemonade for herself. Then they sat and talked about Greer, and babies, and all the ways life changes after one comes into your life.
* * *
In Gavin’s office, Isaac picked up his cellphone and called Sidney. She answered immediately, almost like she’d been waiting for the call.
“Hi, baby.”
He could hear the fatigue in her voice with just those two little words, and the guilt threatened to flood his system.
“Hey, darlin’. How are things going with our tiny house guest?”
Sidney sighed, and it was a long, deep, cleansing one. The kind of sigh a person takes when the fatigue is not only physical, but mental as well. “Well, let’s just say it’s been an adventure.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yep. I’ve discovered that he’s learning to use the potty. So far, he’s been pretty good about letting me know when he has to go. And he’s a really good eater too.”
“Well those are all good things, aren’t they?”
“They are,” Sidney replied, stifling a yawn. “We had breakfast, and I bathed him. And then I had a small freakout moment when I realized that I had absolutely nothing to dress him in.”
“Oh.” That realization brought him up short. “Right. We didn’t think about that, did we?”
“No, we did not. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I called in the calvary.”
Isaac felt his eyebrows jump up. “Translation… you called Bree, I’m guessing?”
“I did. And an hour later she was at the door with bags of supplies and a ton of encouragement that I desperately needed.”
It was Isaac’s turn to let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with all that alone, Sid.”
“It’s okay, Ike. You’re working to find who killed his parents, and that’s important. Oh! And I discovered that not only does Greer talk, but he’s also quite smart.”
“Yeah? How so?”
“After breakfast this morning, he said, and I quote… ‘mommy daddy hurt.’ And I thought my heart might explode.”
Sidney’s voice broke and Isaac could hear the tears she was trying to keep quiet. Protectiveness whirled in his gut like a tornado, and he wanted to reach through the phone and comfort her.
Comfort them both.
“Oh, man. That poor little guy.”
“I know.” She sniffed, and he heard her pull herself together. “I was trying to get him down for a nap when you called.”
“Well, I won’t keep you then. But listen… we’ve been able to locate his next of kin.”
“Oh, you have?”
“Grandparents on both sides will be coming in to ID the Buckleys’ bodies. I’ve called Ms. Hunter and given their info to her so that she can contact them about taking Greer in. And I just wanted to give you a heads up that someone may be coming by to visit with or take physical custody of Greer later today.”
There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment Isaac wondered if she’d hung up or fallen asleep on him.
“Sidney?”
“Yes. I heard you. I… um… I’ll make sure Greer is presentable and ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
“Okay. I’ll keep you posted. And if anyone does request to see him today, I’ll try my best to come home so that you don’t have to deal with that all alone too.”
“I would appreciate that, baby, but please stop feeling guilty, okay? Just concentrate on finding whoever made this little guy an orphan.”
“Well it’s not actually my case, darlin’. But I promise that I am overseeing it very closely, and I will help Palmer and Driscoll in any way I can. We’ll get whoever did this.”
“I know you will.”
“All right. I love you.”
“I love you back.”
Isaac disconnected the call and thought about Greer and the strange connection they obviously shared. Then he placed another call.
“Isaac!”
“Hey, Grandad. You got a free minute this afternoon?”