Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 57
They drove in silence for the next few minutes.
"You need to hire a nanny for Ella, preferably a live-in. You can't leave Carmen by herself to deal with the baby once you get back to work," Esme said, breaking the silence.
"I was planning on it. I just couldn't get anything done with her parents in the house. Carmen doesn't want one; she thinks she can handle it herself. But I know she can't, Mom. She can hardly bring herself to pick up Ella. I know she's trying and at least making an appearance that she can. But I think it's all a show to placate her mother.
"I'll do what needs to be done to convince her. I just wish I had a little more time. I have just a week before I go back to work." Edward laid out his worries to his mother, relieved to finally have someone to unburden his soul to.
"I can help. I can start making calls for you. You can interview the candidates at my hotel if you don't want to start a fight with Carmen in front of her mom. Once you pick the right person, you can break the news to Carmen. I don't think her parents are planning to stay past this week. Elvira was saying something about Hector's 'mayoral duties'. A week doesn't really give us enough time to screen a lot of people, but I could cash in a few favors and ask friends for recommendations. With some luck we could have it all lined up nicely with your work. What do you think?" Esme offered.
"Geez, that would really mean a lot, Mom. I don't want to tie you up, I know you have commitments back home..."
"Nonsense! What can be more important than my son and granddaughter? Besides, your dad's flying in the day after tomorrow. What? You didn't think he was going to skip meeting Ella, did you?" Esme refuted Edward's objections, relieving Edward's worries to a great extent.
He wished he had reached out to his parents a long time ago instead of shying away from them in fear that they would wag their "told-you-so" finger at him. He felt ashamed for underestimating their compassion.
He promised never again to be so foolish and doubt their love for him.
His pledge would last less than a year. Of course, he didn't know it at the time.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.