“Why didn’t you wake me?”
She shrugged. “You played and traveled yesterday. I figured you needed to sleep.”
“I did. Thanks. I’ll take overnight duty tonight.”
“That would be great. I feel like I haven’t slept in weeks.”
Benny started to whine and I reached out to stroke his cheek with one finger. “Can’t we give him baby Tylenol or something?”
She chewed her lip. “I didn’t want to until I had a chance to talk to the pediatrician.”
“I know for sure they did it with Annalise because I used to laugh at the faces she made when Lauren stuck that thing in her mouth to squeeze it in there.”
“Do you know if we have any?”
“Top shelf in the cabinet in the master bath.”
She looked surprised I would know such a thing, but handed Benny to me and headed upstairs. Benny settled against my chest, sniffling a little. Hopefully, the Tylenol would help him relax and we could get some time to make breakfast. He still didn’t sleep more than six or seven hours at a time, so I’d been trying to keep him up until about eleven or midnight. That way, we’d be able to sleep until around six, which was when Annalise usually woke up, but I didn’t know what Hadley had been doing while I was gone.
“Have you been keeping him up a little later?” I asked her. “It really helps when—”
Hadley fixed me with one of those stares that probably made most men’s balls shrivel up and recede so far north they’re never seen again, but then she filled up the little squeezy thing you used to squirt medicine into the baby’s mouth.
“His bedtime is seven,” she said primly, handing me the medicine dropper.
I gave her a look of exasperation. “Fine. Then you get up for the day with him at two in the freakin’ morning every day.”
“What?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes.
Benny took that moment to turn his head in distaste as I tried to give him the medicine and sticky pink liquid dripped down my arm.
“Can you hold his head?” I asked. “If he doesn’t take this, no one is sleeping again until he’s done teething.”
We finally got the proper amount into his mouth and I did my best to wipe up the medicine that had escaped.
“If you keep him up later, he’ll sleep later. He sleeps about seven hours at a time, tops, so if you put him to bed at seven, he’ll be up at two.”
“But Lauren said he was a great sleeper,” she said, suddenly looking away.
“Maybe he’s reacting to the new routine, new people, new everything,” I said gently. “Let’s just try it my way and see what happens, okay?”
“I haven’t slept since you’ve been gone so whatever works,” she muttered.
“We might need to consider hiring help,” I said after a moment.
“Help?” She looked horrified.
“We both work. Benny needs full-time care and Annalise is only in school three times a week for four hours. Lauren was a stay-at-home mom, so you can’t expect to do everything she did.”
She glared at me, and I figured she was gearing up for a good ass-reaming just as Annalise came skipping into the room. “Uncle Wes!” She threw her arms around my legs as if she hadn’t seen me in years instead of four days.
“Hey, Princess Peas.” I settled Benny in his high chair, hoping he’d chill long enough for us to eat.
“You lost last night,” she announced, as if I didn’t know.
I nodded. “You can’t win them all, kiddo.” I rummaged around in the cupboard until I found the box of Froot Loops Annalise and I had been eating the first couple of days I’d been here on my own.
“Froot Woops!” She wiggled her whole body in excitement. “I love Froot Woops!”
“Froot Loops,” Hadley corrected her. “And you are not eating that junk for breakfast.”
Annalise’s face fell. “But Uncle Wes said so.”
Hadley turned to give me a death glare and I arched my brows at her, almost daring her to be the bad guy. She was pretty adorable when she was mad, though, so it was fun to piss her off. Well, if I was honest, she was always adorable, but the minute she opened her mouth I forgot all about her upturned nose, full red lips or mile-long eyelashes. Even without makeup and with faint bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, she was truly gorgeous.
Too bad she hated my fucking guts.
That was okay, though. This was about the kids and she had another think coming if she thought I was walking away. I was in this for the long haul and she could stick around and help or I’d figure it out on my own. There was zero chance I would let Ben and Lauren down, no matter what Miss Prissy-Pants thought of me.
“We should talk,” she said after a moment, handing Benny a bottle.
“I figured we’d make breakfast and then I’d take Annalise to school. When I get back, we can sit down and have some adult conversation.”
“Fine.” She turned her back to me as I poured two bowls of cereal for Annalise and me.
* * *
I had a feeling Hadley would be in a hell of a mood by the time I got back after dropping off Annalise, but she was sitting on the couch sipping a cup of coffee and watching Benny in his swing. The Tylenol must have worked because he was gurgling happily, a teething ring in his mouth.
“He seems much happier,” I said.
“Definitely.”
I sank onto the chair across from her and met her gaze over the rim of her cup.
“So, uh, how many days are you home?” she asked.
“I leave on a road trip Tuesday morning, so the next five days gives us some time to figure out what we’re going to do.”
“Well, there’s no doubt what we’re going to do,” she said dismissively. “Obviously, you can’t take care of the kids with your schedule, so I’m going to.”
“That’s why I suggested we hire a nanny,” I said patiently.
She squinted a little. “I hate to use the money Ben and Lauren left us for that kind of thing, but you might be right. Once we sell the house, I’ll be able to—”
“Sell the house? What the hell are you talking about? Why would we do that?”
“Because I’ll need the money to buy something in New York.”
“We can’t move to New York.” I frowned at her when she rolled her eyes at me.
“We can’t, but I can. I plan to move back eventually. Once I’ve gotten the hang of this parenting thing and—”
“Okay, slow your fucking roll.” I held up a hand.
“Watch your language.”
“He’s not going to repeat it, geez.” I looked at her questioningly. “When did we decide that you’re going to be the one raising the kids?”
She laughed, though it was pretty humorless. “I think that’s a given, Wes. How are you going to take care of them with your travel schedule and practice, and everything else that goes into being a professional athlete?”
“You’re here.”
“My job is in New York, so even though I’m working remotely for now, eventually I have to get back to my life. And going forward, that’s going to include Benny and Annalise. You and I will settle everything here and probably by summer, the kids and I will move back to New York City.”