She laid her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry. I carry a spare diaper and some wipes in my purse.”
The doctor and nurse left them alone in the exam room so they could change the diaper. As she went through the familiar motions, her mind raced.
Logically, she knew kids swallowed things all the time. Usually, they just passed right through. But that didn’t keep her from worrying.
What if she needed surgery? Oh, God. An anesthetic. She was so young for surgery. What if…
Then she looked down. Actually looked at what she was doing.
“Dex, you thought she swallowed a ring, right?”
“Yes.”
“A solitaire. Not too big. Half carat maybe?”
“Yeah.”
Lucy chuckled as relief flooded over her. She stepped back so Dex could look at the open diaper. There, right on top, was the ring. Dirty and definitely in need of cleaning, but intact.
“She didn’t swallow it, Dex. She stuck it down her diaper.”
It was the obvious conclusion since there was no way it could have passed so quickly.
Dex scowled as he stared at the incontrovertible evidence before him. “She had to have swallowed it. I looked everywhere.”
“I guess—” Giggles welled up inside of her and she paused, sagging against the exam table, feeling weak and giddy. “I guess you didn’t think to look there.”
Dex seemed more irritated than relieved. Somehow his annoyance only made her giggle more.
He didn’t see the humor in the situation. “Why would she do that?”
“She’s a baby. They stick things down their diapers. It happens.” Suppressing the last of her giggles, she continued. “Besides, in her defense, that diaper was on very loose.”
This earned her a glare. “You finish changing the diaper. I’ll go tell the doctor.”
Dex all but stomped from the room, his frustration palpable.
Which somehow just made the whole situation funnier to Lucy.
She chuckled as she used a wipe to fish out the ring. A few more wipes and Isabella was clean and tucked into a fresh diaper.
For a long moment, she stared at the ring dangling on its delicate platinum chain. When he’d mentioned losing a ring, she’d wondered—absently and beneath her fear—what he’d been doing carrying around a diamond solitaire. After all, diamond rings were the classic engagement ring.
The thought had flashed through her mind—however briefly—that he might be thinking of asking her to marry him. After all, that would be the ultimate easy way out. Why hire a nanny when you can marry one instead?
Thank goodness he hadn’t done that. She saw now that had never been his intention. The ring had been attached to the necklace by a single link of chain, and the necklace itself was exactly the length for a girl. This wasn’t a ring meant to be worn by an adult, but around a child’s neck.
Funny how relieved she was that he hadn’t planned the blundering mistake of asking her to marry him purely for his own convenience. She didn’t think she could have borne it if he had.
After folding the rather dirty ring into the baby wipe, she tucked it carefully into the inner pocket of her purse and returned her attention to Isabella.
“Don’t you worry about Mr. Grumpy there,” she cooed as she leaned over Isabella to fasten on the new diaper. Lucy couldn’t resist blowing a raspberry on the sweet, chubby belly. Isabella giggled in delight. “You just gave him a scare, you little bugger. That’s the only reason he’s so grumpy.”
Slowly, Lucy straightened. Staring straight ahead, she mused aloud, “You really did give him a scare.”
Dex had been terrified. Really, truly freaked out.
In fact, he’d been more upset than she had. Now, true, he didn’t have as much experience with kids. He hadn’t yet lived through the dozens of little traumas babies put their parents through. The scares and anxieties.
Not that she was actually Isabella’s mother. She was just the aunt. Nevertheless, she felt all of the worries as deeply as any mother could.
She just hadn’t expected him to feel them, too.
Earlier that day, if someone had asked her how Dex would respond in this situation, she never would have imagined his palpable fear and genuine distress.
Mindlessly, she put the wipes back into her purse. She picked up Isabella before crossing to the sink and washing her hands. But her mind was racing.
She’d been so sure that Dex wouldn’t be a good father. So sure, he was cold and unemotional. Exactly the kind of father she didn’t want for Isabella.
Everything she’d done had been predicated on that assumption. All the lies she’d told. All the deception. All because she’d been so sure—so sure!—Dex didn’t really care about Isabella.
But what if she’d been wrong?
Dex drove back to the house alone, having put Isabella and her car seat back into Lucy’s car and into Lucy’s care. Where she belonged.His hands clenched the steering wheel with a grip almost as firm as the one tension had over his body. Recrimination after recrimination pounded through his head.
Of all the stupid mistakes. What kind of an idiot gives a baby a ring to play with? What kind of an idiot doesn’t think to check the diaper once he’d lost it?
If he had checked Isabella’s diaper, then at least he wouldn’t have had to call Lucy. At least she wouldn’t have known about his stupidity. But he probably would have told her anyway. No, she needed to know about his incompetence.
Of course, his mistake, minor as it was, was nothing in comparison to the many, much bigger mistakes he’d made tonight. The truth was, they were lucky. They’d gotten off easy. No help from him.
It all came down to this. He didn’t know jack about being a father. And knew even less about caring for an infant.
He pulled into the driveway to find Lucy had arrived before he had. She was bent over, removing an already sleeping Isabella from her car seat.
Izzie opened her eyes blearily, then fisted a hand around Lucy’s shirt, nuzzled her neck and drifted peacefully back to sleep. A few minutes later, when Lucy laid her down in the crib that had been set up in her room, Izzie didn’t even stir.
Watching Lucy bend over Izzie’s crib, he felt his chest compress with relief and mingled fear. Tonight, he’d come so close to losing her. To losing them both.
He sure as hell didn’t blame Lucy for the distant, cold look in her eyes when she straightened and found him standing in the doorway.
As she shut her bedroom door behind her, she whispered, “I suppose we need to talk about this.” She shoved her hands into her back pockets as she headed down the stairs. “And you’re certainly not the type to put things off, are you?”
“And here I thought you’d be eager to rake me over the coals. After all, you’ve been proven right.”
She didn’t answer until they’d reached the living room and he got the impression that she’d been searching for the right words.
“Yes. I suppose you would think that.” She sank down to the sofa, propped her elbows on her knees and looked up at him, regret lining her every feature. “I expected you to fail tonight. I was counting on it.”
“And I never doubted I wouldn’t,” he admitted, not bothering to hide his chagrin. Since his fear was still palpable, he crossed to the bar, poured himself a brandy. After glancing at her, he poured a second. If her nerves were half as rattled as his, she needed it. “I’m not used to failure.”
She took a tiny sip of her brandy and swallowed her grimace. “No. I don’t suppose you are. But what happened tonight wasn’t your failure. It wasn’t your mistake. It was mine.”
“Lucy—”
“No, let me finish.” She stood, setting the brandy snifter on the coffee table. “I didn’t have a business meeting. That was just an excuse to leave you alone with Isabella.” Guilt echoed in her voice. “I knew you couldn’t handle it. I knew you weren’t prepared. This is all my fault.”
She sounded so dejected, he wanted to pull her into his arms. Instead, he smiled ruefully. “You wanted me to see how difficult it was. You thought I’d realize how hard it was and I’d give up. That I’d let you take Isabella.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You knew what I was up to?”
“You didn’t really think you could out-strategize me, did you?”
“Yes, I suppose I did.” She laughed ruefully. “And here I thought I was being so clever.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were right. I don’t have what it takes.”
Once again, surprise flickered across her face. “But you do.”
Now it was his turn to laugh bitterly. “Right. I nearly killed her.”
“No, you didn’t. She was never in any danger. And even if she had swallowed the necklace and ring, much worse things could have happened. She could have swallowed bathroom cleaner, someone’s medication, drugs. Anything. Kids put stuff in their mouths. It’s why you have to be so cautious.”
With each item she ticked off on her fingers, he felt his stomach roil. He didn’t even know where Mavis kept the bathroom cleaner. But surely they had some. As for medications or drugs, he knew neither he nor Derek took illegal drugs or even prescription drugs regularly. But who knew what over-the-counter medicines they had lying around.
He vaguely remembered Tim from marketing talking about hiring a professional to baby-proof his house. At the time Dex had laughed his ass off. First thing in the morning, Dex was getting this guy’s name from Tim. He needed professional help.
Lucy, however, didn’t seem nearly as worried as she should be. She just continued chatting away.
“The important thing is, when you thought she’d swallowed the ring, you didn’t panic.”
He tossed back the rest of his drink. “Excuse me, but I’m afraid I did.”
She crossed to stand beside him. “You were scared. Terrified maybe.” She ran her hand up and down his bicep in a way that was surprisingly soothing. “Any parent would be scared under those circumstances. I know I was. But still you did the right thing. You took her straight to the hospital.”