Chapter 4: Friendly Neighbor

Once again, I was alone with the little one. Thankfully, she was silent, but she was looking at me. Her huge eyes seemed to glare right through me. It was . . . unnerving. I tried rocking her to get her to go to sleep, but she'd just blink and open her eyes right back up. I tried smiling, for some insane fucking reason, but her facial expression didn't change, and her eyes didn't move.

"Those were my parents," I told her.

I was talking to a baby . . . What the fuck was wrong with me?

"I think they both like you, which I mean, if you're mine, that's a good thing," I said. "I'm going to be honest here. I have no clue what to do with you. I'm not a . . . kid person. I love my nephew and all, and I'm really happy for my sister, but I just don't . . . do well with babies."

She started to blink more, leaving her eyes closed for longer periods of time. I was seriously praying she was going to sleep.

"I really never planned on having kids, so you're a bit of a fucking shock," I said. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't say that to you — the F word, I mean. It's not like you understand it, though. Still, I should probably try to stop. My dad's already gotten pissed about it."

More slow blinking. Maybe my voice was putting her to sleep. Great. I just had to keep talking.

"I know you don't understand what I'm saying, and I'm okay with that. It's probably for the best you don't know what's happened tonight. I do feel sorry for you, you know? Being given away like that . . . that's pretty shitty."

Her eyes had stayed closed now. Her small lips were separated just slightly. She was asleep! Fuck yeah. I gently stood up and laid her back down in the car seat that Mom had put on the coffee table. She didn't make a sound, and I felt like doing a victory dance. As long as she didn't cry, I was fucking thrilled. She just needed to stay asleep until my parents got back. A sleeping baby wasn't hard to deal with.

I pulled all the documents Kate had left for me out of the diaper bag. She had planned this out and left her information to contact her, so I could make it legal that Little One was mine — if that were the case. She even included a copy of the little one's medical records. That was something I could do to keep me busy. I read through everything carefully. Little One was healthy — even being born a little early. She hadn't had her two month inoculations yet, so that needed to be done. If it turned out that she was mine, I'd need to get her into a pediatrician soon. At least that was one thing I knew how to deal with. Everything else I was fucking screwed about.

After a good twenty minutes of peaceful silence, the little one decided to start screaming again. Son of a bitch. I rocked the car seat, but that wasn't helping. Her face was all scrunched up, and she looked like she was in pain.

"Shh, Little One, it's okay," I said. "Do you want me to hold you?"

I picked her back up from the car seat and laid her against my shoulder. I stood up and walked around, but she still screamed. I had a bad feeling about what was making her cry. It made sense. She had just eaten.

"You're wet, aren't you?" I asked.

More screaming.

Someone started knocking on my door, so I rushed to answer, praying it was my parents. I swung it open and found New Girl. The baby had probably woken up the entire apartment complex.

"I'm sorry, but it's not exactly my fault," I said.

"It's okay," she said. "Um . . . I heard people leave and figured you might need some help. You don't exactly seem like a baby person."

"I'm not. Are you?"

"I used to work at a daycare and babysat on weekends when I was younger."

"Do you know how to change a diaper?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Come in."

I moved over so she could walk in, and then shut the door behind her. She looked around, but didn't move much.

"There are diapers, wipes, and some cream shit in the bag," I said, jerking my head to the pink bag on the couch.

"Okay. Can I have her?" she asked, holding her hands out.

"There's a bathroom right through there." I nodded down the hallway. "Can you wash your hands first?"

"Yeah . . . sorry."

I laid the little one down on the couch and unwrapped the blanket before picking her back up and bouncing a little to try and soothe her. Bouncing was soothing, right?

New Girl came back, took the blanket off the couch, and spread it out on the floor. I stood up and laid Sofia down in front of her. Sitting down, I grabbed the bag off the couch and handed it to New Girl.

"Oh, good," she said. "She has another onesie in here."

She pulled out the diaper, wipes, cream, and pink thing before starting to undress the little one. Little One didn't seem too happy with the procedure. She screamed louder and flailed her arms around.

"It's all right, sweetheart," New Girl said, smiling and rubbing Sofia's tummy. "We're going to get you all cleaned up."

"So you know babies?" I asked.

She nodded. "A little. I haven't been around them in a few years, but like I said, when I was younger, I worked at a daycare and would babysit. I don't think you can forget how to change a diaper."

"I've never had to."

She undid the diaper and started cleaning Sofia up. "It's none of my business, but is she yours?"

"You're right. It is none of your business," I said.

"Sorry," she said, looking away from me.

"But since you're saving my ass, I'll tell you. I don't know. She might be."

"Where did her mom go?"

I shrugged. "Probably back to the airport."

"She just left her here?" she asked, looking appalled.

"Yep."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Um . . . I'm also sorry for inviting her in. I just . . . thought it'd be nice. She just said she was a friend."

I nodded. What the fuck was I supposed to say? "I wish you hadn't because now my life is fucked every which way"? That would have been shitty.

"For what it's worth, I don't see how anyone could part with this little girl. She's so cute," she said, putting the new onesie on the little one. "I probably should have showed you how to do that."

"I watched closely."

"Has she eaten recently?"

"Yeah, my mom gave her a bottle. She and my dad ran to get a portable crib and things babies need."

"That's good," she said, picking the kid up and laying her against her shoulder as she stood up.

"Thank you," I said. "You didn't have to help."

"That's what neighbors are for. If you need any help again, I'm just across the hall."

"That's . . . nice of you."

She smiled, swaying the now calm little one. It seemed Little One liked her, too. So why did she hate me?

"I guess you want to be left alone now, huh?" she asked.

"Do you know an easy way to get her to go to sleep?"

She laughed softly. "You can't exactly make them go to sleep, Edward. But rocking helps. Here, take her."

She passed me Sofia, and the little one instantly started crying again. See? Hated me. "I don't think she likes me much."

"You're just unfamiliar. She doesn't know you."

"She doesn't know you or my parents either."

She shrugged. "She's just in an unfamiliar place. She'll get used to you."

"Yeah, well, thanks again." I smiled.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Bye."

She basically sprinted out of my apartment. What the fuck was up with that? When she was changing the little one's diaper, she was fine, but then she got awkward. Still, it was pretty fucking nice of her to help me. I guess I kind of owed her one after that.

. . . . .

"You stop crying for other people," I told Sofia as I moved around the apartment, trying to soothe her back to sleep. My parents had been gone for almost two hours. "I swear I'm not a bad guy. I'm trying to be soothing and shit."

Her crying was driving me insane. What. The. Hell. I was about to start pulling my hair out. If I was her father, wouldn't she like me? Not this kid.

"I wish you could tell me what you wanted," I sighed. "What kinds of things do babies want? You're fed and changed. Let's look through this diaper bag and try to find something."

I laid her back down in the car seat and I dug through the pockets of the all great and useful diaper bag. Swear to God, it seemed endless of the shit that was stuffed in here. I found little toy things and dangled them in front of her. Nothing. Then I found a pacifier. Fuck yes. I took it into the kitchen to rinse it off before coming back and putting it to her face.

"Do you want this?" I asked, moving it over her lips.

Her screaming stopped, but not the tears. I put it in her mouth, and she started sucking on it. The tears stopped as she sucked contentedly. Score! I wasn't completely clueless, I guess. She just wanted to suck on something.

I sat back on the couch and ran my hands through my hair. The clock said it was almost one in the morning, and I was starting to feel it. I wanted my parents to hurry the fuck up. I'd put her to sleep, and then get some sleep of my own. Tomorrow we'd do the paternity test, and soon after that I'd know if this would be permanent.

It was probably really fucking wrong of me to not want the little one to be mine, but she'd ruin my life. Just one evening with her, and I was about to stick my head in a fucking oven. I couldn't do this. I couldn't have a kid. She'd be fucked up beyond belief if I tried to raise her.

When my parents did finally get back, my eyes bulged. Apparently, a few huge boxes and a shit ton of bags were just "necessities". There was a swing, a bouncer, the portable crib, bags of clothes, diapers, bottles, and more formula. My apartment looked like a fucking zoo of shit when they were done.

"These are necessities?" I asked.

"Well, not the swing and bouncer, but she'll like those," Mom said, smiling. "Is she asleep?"

She went around to the other side of the coffee table to look at the little one. She oohed and aahed at the baby.

"Did she give you any issues?" she asked.

"Holy shit, yes," I sighed.

"You need to start watching your language with a baby around," she said. "Now what happened?"

"She was wet."

"You changed her diaper?" She smiled. "All on your own?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, right. My new neighbor came over and helped. She heard the non-stop screaming."

"That was nice of her. Well, this little sweetie looks peaceful now," she said, kissing the little one's forehead.

"About time."

"Go help your father set up the crib in your room. I'll watch her."

"It needs to be in my room? I have a spare bedroom."

She rolled her eyes. "It's going in your room. I didn't find a baby monitor I liked, so you need to be near her until we actually go shopping."

Once the crib was set up, the little one decided to wake up again and cry. Mom just said she was hungry, so she took me into the kitchen and showed me how to make the bottle.

"She took four ounces last time, so we'll try that again," Mom said. "She'll need to eat every few hours. It's been three hours since last time and that's about normal."

"Every three hours?" I asked. "When do I sleep?"

"When she does." She smiled. "You'll get used to it."

"Great," I sighed as she handed me the bottle to test.

It seemed fine to me, but she checked it again. Apparently, I was right. I wasn't a total fail at knowing a good bottle temperature. Go me. We went back into the living room, and I sat down on the couch. Mom passed me the baby and told me to feed her. It was . . . an experience.

All I knew was that I was still fucking clueless and this kid and I were both screwed unless I figured some shit out. I already felt like I needed to kiss my life goodbye. The chances she was my kid were good. In fact, I was pretty sure she was.