Sidney turned off the oven and sighed.
How was it possible that taking care of such a little boy could be so exhausting? She’d never been so tired in her life as she had been these past two days, and she hadn’t even left the house.
But she also had never felt so needed or so filled with purpose. Not even once she got the job at the shelter and started helping other abused women to get away from their abusers.
Is this what motherhood felt like? Extreme purpose?
She was contemplating that question when she heard the front door open.
Meow.
Alfred Hitchcock ran to the door to greet his favorite friend.
“Well hello there to you too, Mr. Hitchcock. How was your day today? Did you spend any quality time with our houseguest?”
Sidney understood the question.
She’d told Isaac how surprised she was to find the cat cuddled up to little Greer yesterday afternoon. The two seemed to be fast friends.
Sidney came into the living room just in time to see Isaac carry in what looked like a folded high chair. Greer got up from the floor where he’d been sitting and toddled over to her, attempting to avoid the small commotion. Sidney picked him up.
Isaac carried in a car seat and a small bag and set them both on the couch.
“Baby, what is all of this?” Sidney looked around at everything, and Ike walked over and kissed her lips.
“Well, I got word from the CSU today that they were done with the Buckley house, so when I left work, I went by there and collected a few things. The all-important high chair,” he pointed over to it. “And the car seat, which I got from the back of one of the vehicles in the garage. And I found these in the middle of the floor in BG’s room, so I thought they might be something he played with a lot.”
He pulled a set of soft, colorful blocks from the bag and held one out to Greer. The boy took it and smiled. Ike tossed the others to the floor. Then he pulled out a couple of stuffed dinosaurs and a picture book of dinosaurs.
“These were all lying on the bed. And by the way, his room had a lot of these stuffed dinosaurs in there and a dinosaur blanket, so I think he might be into those.”
Sidney took one of the dinosaurs and looked down at Greer. “Do you like dinosaurs, Baby Greer?”
The boy looked at her and then nodded.
“Yeah? Can you tell me what a dinosaur says?”
Greer seemed to think about that for a second.
“Rawr.” His little voice was unsure.
“Rawr!” Sidney roared loudly and tickled him.
Greer giggled and hid his face.
Ike chuckled. “Oh, I also found these on the dresser. Thought they might come in handy.”
He pulled out a tiny pair of tennis shoes that made Sidney want to squeal like Heather. But she held it in and reached for them.
“They’re so cute.”
“I’ll set up the high chair at the table. Something smells awfully good.”
“Dinner is ready whenever you are.”
“Just give me a few minutes.”
He set up the high chair and then went to put away his gun and get out of his work clothes. When he returned, Sidney had dinner on the table and Greer settled into his high chair.
“Wow.” Isaac sat down in his usual spot and Greer was positioned between them. “You made dinner.”
Sidney grinned. She understood his surprise. She was shocked she’d been able to pull it off herself.
“Chicken and rice casserole. Taking Bree’s advice, I discovered the time to get things done is while he’s sleeping. So during his nap today I threw the casserole together and put it in the fridge until time to bake it. Then I made the salad. After a quick fifteen-minute nap of my own, of course.” She put a few goldfish crackers onto the tray of BG’s highchair. “I think I might finally be getting the hang of this thing.”
Ike smiled at her and filled his plate with some of the casserole and a couple of warm dinner rolls. Sidney could feel his gaze on her as she put some of the cooled casserole into BG’s bowl and handed the child the spoon.
They all ate in silence for a few minutes, and Sidney thought about how to broach the subject she knew they needed to discuss.
“Ike?”
“Mmm hmm,” he mumbled around a mouthful.
“We need to talk about…” She paused and tried to decide what to say. “Well, about what happens next. With Greer, I mean.”
Isaac stared into her eyes in a way that made Sidney’s tummy quiver with nerves. What would he think of her stance on their situation?
He set his fork down, his intense grey gaze still boring into hers. “I’m actually glad you brought this up because I wanted to talk about it too.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Sid… first, let me just say that I have never had a vision of the future haunt me for an entire year the way this one did.”
“I know that, baby.”
“I feel like that vision came to me so early because it was meant to be significant, you know? Like it was meant to stick with me for a good long while for a reason.” His words were rushed, like he had to get them out in a hurry or they wouldn’t make sense.
Sidney nodded. “And you think that reason is because Greer was meant to come into our lives.”
It was more of a statement than a question, but Isaac was shaking his head.
“No, I don’t want to say that. I mean, that implies that his parents were meant to die, and I don’t want to believe that. As a cop, I can’t believe that. But maybe it’s more like…” Ike paused, and Sidney thought maybe he was searching for the best way to describe what he was feeling. “I don’t know. Like maybe you and I were meant to come into his life at just the right time.”
That notion made Sidney smile. “The same way you were meant to come into my life exactly when I needed you.”
He smiled at her, his deep dimples connecting with her heart. Then he reached out and took her hand. “You were meant just for me, Sid. You know how truly I believe that.”
“Then maybe we were meant for him?” Her gaze flitted over to Greer, who was concentrating on putting a goldfish onto the spoon on top of his rice, and completely oblivious that they were discussing his future.
“Maybe so,” Ike answered. “I talked to Grandad about him.”
Sidney’s gaze snapped back to him. “You did? When?”
“I went to see him yesterday at lunchtime. He explained that I’m the one who created this empathic, psychic connection with Greer. He said that I somehow reached out to him on a metaphysical level or something and made a connection. Similar to what happened when I first spoke with you on the phone.”
“With me? During our wrong number calls?”
Isaac nodded.
“I remember always talking about the weird connection we felt when we first got together.” Sidney couldn’t help but smile again, and she could hear the whisper of astonishment in her own voice. “I felt so drawn to you back then. I still do.”
Still holding her hand, Isaac gave it a light squeeze. “I told Grandad once how I could almost feel your voice rumbling around inside my chest after that very first conversation we had. He said that was me forming a psychic connection with you.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Greer apparently found that funny. He giggled at them, still stuffing tiny bites of chicken and rice into his mouth.
“Was that funny?” Sidney asked him.
“You like that, little man?” Isaac kissed Sidney’s hand once more, this time making a loud smacking noise.
They were rewarded with an even louder laugh.
The hand kissing went on for a few more seconds, until Greer was laughing out loud with food on his chin.
That laughter sounded like music to Sidney, and she found herself wiping a few tears. It was the first genuinely lighthearted moment they’d seen Greer experience.
Sidney looked into Isaac’s eyes. “So then, we’re on the same page here? If Irene Willis is serious about not being able to take Greer in, and there’s no one else—”
“Then we want him to stay with us,” Ike nodded. “Yes. I’m game if you are.”
Their gazes met and held for a long moment, as if they wanted to make absolutely certain that they were both serious about the step they were considering taking.
“I’ll call Ms. Hunter in the morning. See what we have to do to get Greer placed with us permanently.”
“Are we really doing this?” A tremor of terror-laced excitement rippled through her belly, and she smiled at him.
“I think we are, darlin’. We’re growing up.”
Sidney laughed, but she knew it was part nervousness. “Are we ready for that?”
“Ready or not. Here it comes.”
“And what is it exactly?”
“Parenthood?”
Isaac didn’t seem too sure of that response, and Sidney couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t sure either. But was anyone ever sure about taking the leap into parenthood?