She's My Baby. Adrianne Byrd
Once Ciara returned to her desk, Leila spent the next twenty minutes feeding, burping and obsessing with whether she made the right decision to hire a nanny. It suddenly seemed risky.
“Ms. Owens, your one o’clock appointment is here to see you,” Ciara reported over the speakerphone.
“Send her in.”
The moment the door opened, Emma started crying. No wonder, given the middle-aged Englishwoman’s frosty nature.
“You have an impressive résumé, Ms. Howard.” Leila smiled and tried Garrick’s patting-and-bouncing trick.
“Children are my life,” Ms. Howard said without smiling. “All they need is a strict set of rules and a firm hand.”
Leila shifted and wondered at her meaning.
“Holding the child like that is just spoiling her.” The woman’s thin lips pursed as she shook her head. “It’s not good to reward bad behavior.”
“Excuse me?” Leila shouted above Emma’s wails.
The elderly woman stood from her chair and reached for the baby. “May I see her?”
Emma clutched Leila’s blouse and screamed louder. Did her niece sense something strange about the woman?
You know you have to be very careful whom you leave a child with.
“Uh, no.” Leila turned away from the experienced nanny. “I think that’s enough with the questions for the day.” She yelled above the wails and flashed a tight smile. “I’ll be in contact.”
Ms. Howard drew her hands back and stared down the end of her nose. “Very well.” She gathered her things. “I hope to hear from you.”
As soon as the door closed behind the Englishwoman, Emma stopped crying.
Leila frowned at her sniffling, wide-eyed niece and wondered what the devil had just happened. “You know, I’m starting to think you’re like your mother—high-maintenance.”
Emma batted her long lashes, flashed her dimpled cheeks and released a high giggle.
“Whatever.”
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