Shopping for a CEO's Baby (Shopping for a Billionaire Series Book 16), стр. 26
“Sounds gross.”
“Try it.”
I pop a piece of blueberry yogurt in my mouth.
And instantly realize how wrong I am.
“Gimme more,” I mutter around the chewing. “These are fantastic! We have to get some.” I look at the label.
YoYo Baby Belly Snax.
I look at the ingredients. Pure yogurt, natural sugars, no colorings, no preservatives.
“Even Vince would approve of these,” I say to Amanda, who gives me a smug grin.
“MO!” Ellie shouts. I half expect her to toss a beer stein to the ground and call for her hammer next. If they remake “Thor” in twenty-five years, they can cast my niece.
“We’ll get some next time we're at the store,” I tell Amanda before popping another one on my tongue.
“You're going to the gym carrying a pouch of baby snacks? I'll pay good money to watch that unfold.”
I grab another handful from the pouch and toss the whole thing in my mouth. “Mmmm.”
Ellie watches me, mouth open, a yogurt drop attached to her lower lip.
“Careful,” Amanda says, beginning to search the cabinets. “Let's hope that's not the last pouch. These are the only thing that calms her down.”
I sprinkle ten more on Ellie's tray.
She turns into a shark with fresh lamb thrown in the water.
“I feel you, kid,” I mutter as I eye the pouch, then look at Amanda on her search, hoping for more.
“Pay dirt!” Amanda calls back. “Four more pouches.”
Awesome. One for Ellie and three for me to devour after she’s asleep. Shannon and Declan can pay us in yogurt dots.
Amanda eyes me eating more. “I can't believe you're eating baby food.”
“What? It's good.”
“I know. It's just...” Her laughter warms me. Full and strong, happy and hopeful.
I shrug, then tip the end of the foil pouch to my mouth, tapping the dust in.
“Wata,” Ellie says, turning to look at the water filter on the fridge.
Amanda finds a sippy cup, fills it with water, and plunks it on the tray. Ellie begins gulping, eyes on me the entire time.
I look at the clock. It's 5:49 p.m.
Dec and Shannon are home at midnight.
We've totally got this.
Bzzzz
Amanda's phone. She picks it up and reads. “Our food's coming.”
“Food?”
“I ordered takeout.”
My stomach growls. “Excellent. So, what do we do with her?”
“Do?”
“We have nearly six hours.”
“She goes to bed at seven, Andrew. We eat dinner, then she gets a bath, then we read to her and sing a lullaby and put her to bed.”
“That's it? That's the whole night?”
Amanda picks up a piece of paper with Shannon's handwriting on it. “Yes? That's what this says. Shannon fed Ellie at five.”
“Well, that's boring.”
“Boring? Of course it is. We're watching a toddler. It's not like we're taking her to a Bruins game or going on a harbor cruise.”
“We could, though.”
“That's not the plan.”
Ding!
The apartment buzzer sounds. Amanda waddles to the door, talks to someone on the intercom, and pushes a button.
“Food's here.”
“What did you order?”
“Cheeto smoothies.” She smirks, eyes big and sparkling with mirth.
“I hope you made sure they're blended extra fine.”
“You're never going to let me off the hook for that, are you?”
“Do you have any idea how much work it took to make that smoothie?”
“Do you have any idea how much pain my bladder was in, Andrew?”
Ellie's watching us. “MOOVIE!” she squeals.
Amanda opens a cupboard, finds a glass, and pours herself some water. “I got Thai. Pad Thai and spring rolls.”
“Are they orange enough?”
“Ha ha.”
“Ha ha.” Ellie's a perfect mimic for Amanda's sarcastic tone.
We all burst out laughing, Ellie clapping for added amusement.
“Let's eat at the dining table,” I say, pulling Ellie's high chair up to the place she clearly sits at, as there's no chair in that spot. Just then, the door buzzes and Amanda handles the food delivery, the scent of peanuts and fish sauce soon filling the air.
Plates come out, containers get spread on the table, and within a few minutes, we're feasting.
Bzzz
Amanda groans as my phone goes off. “I thought you were on Do Not Disturb.”
“I run a corporation, Amanda. I can't do it forever.”
“But this isn't forever. It's just until midnight.”
“Midnight? I thought Ellie went to bed at seven.”
“BED!” Ellie screams, taking part in the conversation, then puts a Cheerio in her mouth. Amanda has poured some on her tray.
“She does. But sometimes she gets up. And I thought we could watch movies together.”
“You did?”
Instant regret floods me, because even I cringe at my tone. Damn. I had no idea Amanda had this all planned out.
“I did,” she says tightly. “If you didn't come here to be a true babysitter, Andrew, why don't you just go home and work and I'll take care of Ellie.”
“That's not what I want.”
Bzzz
“I know you want to answer it.”
I pick up the phone, stand up, walk over to the refrigerator, and put the phone in the butter compartment on the door.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Putting it where we won't hear it.”
“Do Not Disturb mode isn't good enough?”
“I want it out of sight.”
Her shoulders drop, corners of her mouth turning up. “Thank you.”
“I should have done it sooner.”
Now her body melts, tension gone.
Sure, I'm desperate to do what I need to do. Decisions come from the top down at Anterdec, and even an hour out of touch can make a huge difference. I just spent all that time at the gym ignoring my phone, and my behavior is catching up with me. The unknown of texts and emails and decisions I should be weeding through grows as time passes and I don't check in.
But a slow dawning is happening as I take a bite of my noodles and watch Ellie carefully picking up her Cheerios, one at a time.
This is life.
It's boring because it's life. Dinner with your wife and kids should be boring. Watching a toddler for a few hours should be mundane. Chilling on the sofa while the kids are asleep should be a waste of time.
Productivity isn't the measure of a good life.
I might not know what is, but answering texts and emails sure as hell isn't