Chapter 30
I woke up to the sound of distant knocking. I open my eyes tiredly, surveying my surroundings. Julius was beside me fast asleep.
The knocking continues and I grumble before getting out of bed. I throw on my robe before tiredly shuffling out of the bedroom and toward the front door.
"I'm coming!" I call out as the knocking continues.
I open the door and my mother stands there with baby Isaiah in one arm and a diaper bag in the other. "Why didn't you answer any of my calls?" She asks frantically as she puts Isaiah down and hands me the bag.
I quirk my eyebrow at her, "What are you doing?" I ask as the child waddles past me into the apartment. "Your father said he talked to you last night. About watching Isaiah for the day? I had an emergency meeting come up and I have to head up to Staten Island."
I shake my head as she places the car seat in the living room, "Dad never talked to me? How long will you be gone? I've never taken care of a baby!"
"I'll be back by tonight. Just make sure to feed him, change his diaper, stuff like that. He's set for his next nap in about another hour." She hands me a baby bottle, "His formula and everything else is in the bag. Text me with questions I have to run. Love you!" She calls out as she scurries away.
I'm left there in shock as my mother disappears into the elevator down the hall. I turn around back into the apartment and look down at Isaiah, who was already sucking on the tv remote innocently.
"No don't do that!" I scold as I take it away from him. He begins to pout and quickly begins crying. My eyes widen as I rush to pick him up. "Don't cry! Please!"
He ignores my requests as I attempt to rock him back and forth to calm him. I rush over to the baby bag, looking for what else he could play with, and find a pacifier. I place it in his mouth and he takes it out immediately to continue his wailing.
I grab the tv remote and wipe it off before giving it back to the baby. I let out a sigh of relief as he finally stops crying and focuses on the tv remote. Carrying Isaiah on my hip I head toward the bedroom where Julius continued to sleep soundly.
Thoughts of last night immediately flash through my head. And the last words I heard before falling asleep echoed through my mind.
I love you.
Hearing the words terrified me, and I'm pretty sure he didn't mean for me to hear it. So I was going to keep it that way and pretend like I never heard him say it. I wasn't ready for that, not yet.
"Go wake up Julius." I say as I place Isaiah on the bed where he proceeds to crawl toward Julius. "Bah bah." Isaiah cooed as he hits Julius with the remote.
I gasp as Julius groans and looks up at the child. His eyes widen as he gets up immediately before looking toward me. "I swear I used a condom!" He exclaims frantically as he looks at Isaiah who was mindlessly hitting the remote against the bed.
I laugh at the frantic half-naked man before me. "This is Isaiah."
"I would've preferred to name him Julius jr. But I guess Isaiah works too." I shove him gently, "This is my cousin's kid. The one my mom is supposed to be watching? She dumped him on me because she had an emergency meeting."
Julius let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I'm not ready to be a father yet." He looks down at Isaiah, "Hey buddy." He coos before picking him up.
Isaiah looks at Julius with hesitancy and confusion, before turning his gaze toward me and crying. Julius' eyes widen as he quickly hands the baby back to me, "He wants you."
I nervously take Isaiah back in my arms and try to calm him down. "It's okay, it's okay." I say in a calming voice. "My mom said he should fall asleep in about an hour."
"Great, smooth sailing from there then right?"
I shrug, "I hope so."
I head out to the living room with Isaiah and take a seat on the couch. "You're not crying anymore. That's a relief." I say more to myself as he stares back at me. He smiles as his little hand reaches for me, pulling on a loose strand of my hair.
I pick up the tv remote and turn it on to some kids' channel, hoping to distract him. It works as he stares up at the tv in silence as he sat beside me on the couch. "Perfect." I mumble.
Julius enters the living room just as I stand up from the couch. "Can you watch him while I go brush my teeth?" He nods as he nears the couch and I begin to walk toward the hall.
Isaiah notices and begins crying at my departure. "No no, she will be back." Julius cooed as he picks up the fussy baby. I chuckle before speed walking to the bathroom to quickly freshen up.
When I returned Isaiah has stopped crying and was drinking from a bottle while sitting on Julius's lap. It was an adorable sight as the two watched tv together.
"So you were able to tame him?" I ask in surprise as I walk into the living room. Julius nods, "I figured that's why he was so eager to put the remote in his mouth. He was hungry."
"Well so am I, what's for breakfast?" I ask as I take a seat beside him.
"You're lucky I adore you." He says as he stands up from his seat, placing Isaiah on my lap. I smirk as he heads toward the kitchen to make something for us to eat.
Isaiah and I relaxed on the couch until his bottle finally ran out. "Isn't there something you do to babies after they eat?" I ask.
"You gotta make him burp." Julius calls back.
I quirk my brow, "Burp?"
"Yes, pat his back until he burps."
I look down at Isaiah, before turning him around and patting his back softly. "Nothings happening." I tell Julius after a few minutes.
He walks into the living room with a plate of pancakes and eggs. He hands it to me before taking Isaiah and resting him on his shoulder. "Like this." He says as he takes a seat and behind gently patting Isaiah's back while he rested.
"How do you know how to do all this baby stuff?" I ask as I take a bite of my food.
"I remember watching them take care of Penny when she was a baby. I was like 7 though but I spent a lot of time with them."
I hear a small burp come from Isaiah and I smile. "Well, you'll make a great parent one day." Isaiah's eyes begin to close as he starts drifting off to sleep on Julius's chest.
"Do you want kids Stella?" Julius asks randomly.
"What?" I ask in shock.
"Not necessarily with me, just in general. Have you ever pictured yourself having kids?"
I was silent for a moment, not at all sure of my answer. "I don't know. I'm not completely against the idea, but I also don't know if I'm for it either." I look at him, "Do you?"
He nods, "I've always wanted kids. Lots of them. Mainly boys, maybe like one girl."
I chuckle, "Why all boys?"
He shrugs, "I just imagine it being fun. I didn't have siblings so seeing all my boys together would just be a nice sight."
I smile at him, "That's sweet."
His phone vibrates in his pajama pocket as Isaiah sleeps on his chest. "I'm going to put him in bed. I'll be right back."
I nod as he gets up with the baby and heads toward the bedroom.
I remove my breakfast plate and decide to tidy up the kitchen while he's away. I wash the dishes and clean the countertops before going through the items in the diaper bag.
It contained a couple of baby bottles, a container of powdered formula, baby snacks, diapers, wipes, and things of that nature. As I'm going through the bag Julius comes out again, only this time fully dressed in work attire.
I quirk my brow, "You're going out?" I ask.
He nods, his eyes not meeting mine. "Yeah I got a call and I need to meet with someone. It's urgent."
"Oh okay, well what time will you be back?" I ask.
He shrugs as he grabs his keys, "I don't know. I'll see you soon." He kisses my forehead before walking out the front door quickly. The front door shutting causes a loud slam, resulting in Isaiah's wailing in the other room.
I groan out before walking toward the bedroom tiredly. It was only noon and I was already exhausted.
-
Drained. Yes drained was a good word to use to describe exactly how I felt right now.
This baby was driving me crazy.
He refused to go back to sleep after he woke up. He was crawling around aimlessly and never sat still. He cried anytime I tried to discipline him. And he kept screaming! Why is a screaming? He wasn't screaming before! It was like I was babysitting Jack-Jack from the Incredibles.
I wanted nothing more for this child to sleep. But he refused to calm down, he was so hyperactive. It was now 3 pm and I was reaching my limit. I had tried to feed him hoping it would make him sleepy, but that resulted in him spitting up on me.
Nobody showed me how to change a diaper. I tried to watch a YouTube video but that doesn't work out so well either.
Julius wasn't back yet and my mother wasn't returning till evening. But I needed help and I needed it now.
I pulled out my phone as Isaiah crawled around the floor, picking up things and trying to put them in his mouth. I caught him before he could swallow and coin and he began to cry.
"Sheila are you busy? I need your help!" I sigh as Isaiah's cries could be heard in the background.
"Are you with a baby?" She asks.
"Yes and if you're not busy I'd appreciate some help. Or just advice, whatever you can offer. He won't go to sleep!"
She chuckles, "I'll be right over."
Thankfully she arrives 10 minutes later, relieving me of my babysitting duties. I crash onto the couch as she takes over, rocking Isaiah to sleep with ease.
"How can everyone do that but me?" I ask in a hushed tone.
She chuckles and shrugs before walking to the bedroom and laying him on the bed. She returns with a smile on her face. "He's so cute."
"Yeah, when he's not vomiting on you." I say as I show her my stained satin robe.
"Where did Julius go?" She asks as she takes a seat on the couch.
I shrug, "He got a call and left. Leaving me to do this alone. Can you believe my mother dumped a baby on me last minute?"
"I mean are you really surprised?"
I chuckle, "I guess not. Especially since she said my dad was supposed to tell me beforehand." I sigh, "Now that I have time I should shower and get out of these clothes. Thank you so much for the help."
She smiles, "Don't thank me, that's what friends are for."
I return the smile before getting up from the couch and heading to my bathroom. I felt so gross and wanted to desperately get out of these clothes.
After a quick shower, I was out and dressed in some comfortable summer loungewear, dolphin shorts and a comfy t-shirt. When I returned to the living room Isaiah's mess had been tidied up and Sheila was cleaning off a table.
"You didn't have to clean up Sheila." I say.
She looks up at me, "It's no big deal."
"Can I at least offer you a drink?" I look into the fridge, "We have cranberry juice, Mountain Dew, or water."
She smiles, "Waters fine." I toss her a cool bottle of water as she takes a seat on the barstool. "So, how was last night?"
I smile shyly, "It was really nice. He gave me this necklace." I show her the gold bar around my neck as she admires it. My eyes widen as I remember, "And he told me he loved me while he thought I was asleep."
She gasps, "Really? That's so exciting!"
I shake my head, "No it's not! That's terrifying."
"Why? He's crazy about you and you feel the same about him."
"Because I don't think I'm ready for that Sheila. I don't want to complicate what we already have. I mean we just started officially dating!"
She nods in understanding, "You just need some time. And no rush either, it's not like he meant for you to hear him."
I smile lightly, "I hope so."
We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the couch before Isaiah started crying again. I go into the bedroom to pick him up and begin trying to calm him down.
Sheila enters the bedroom and hands me a ready-made baby bottle as I rock him back and forth. "Thank you for staying with me all afternoon. Unlike Julius, I mean it's Sunday. What meeting could he be having?" I ask.
She shrugs, "The same one your mom is?"
"My mom is having an emergency planning meeting for her annual charity ball. I guess I'll just ask Julius when he gets back."
"Ask me what?" A voice says from the hall.
I turn around to see Julius standing in the hall, suitcase in hand. Sheila awkwardly looks away from him, "I should be going now. I'll call you Stella."
I wave her goodbye as she rushes past him and enters the room. "So what's up?" He asks me.
I shake my head, "I was just wondering what meeting you had to go to. It is Sunday after all."
"I said I had to meet with someone, not a formal business meeting."
"Then why are you all dressed?" I ask curiously.
He looks down at Isaiah, "Look who's finally awake."Julius says with a smile as he reaches over to carry the baby. He begins playing with him, as he lays him on the bed and tickles him.
Isaiah's laughter fills the room, creating a distraction from my question. I place a hand on my hip, "Why are you all dressed?" I ask again.
He shrugs, ignoring my gaze. "I wanted to look nice. Is that a crime?"
I quirk my brow as he continues to play with Isaiah. "So who did you go meet?" I ask.
He sighs as he stands upright and looks directly at me. He kisses me softly on the forehead before speaking, "Baby I don't want to lie to you. But I can't tell you yet. Just know I had to fix something."
I furrow my brow in confusion, "Why can't you tell me now?"
He shakes his head, "Do you trust me?"
"Julius I-"
"Simple question, do you trust me?"
I sigh, looking down. "Yes but-"
"Then I'll tell you when the time is right." With that he walks out of the room, leaving me utterly confused.
-
My mom arrived around 7 pm, finally taking Isaiah off of my hands.
"I'm sorry your father didn't notify you before. I got the notice late last night. But it looks like you took great care of the little guy." My mom compliments.
"Thanks but I had a lot of help."
She smiles, "One of these days we'll have a little a Julius or Stella jr. running around. Isn't that right Julius?" She calls out to him as he sits on the couch.
He chuckles, "We're working on it Mrs. Harris."
"Please, it's Lisa."
I mentally roll my eyes, "Okay mom, I'll see you later."
"Yes, Julius's big day! I'll see you guys at the ceremony." She says as she heads toward the exit. I wave her off as she leaves with baby Isaiah, before shutting the door.
I let out a sigh now that I could finally truly relax. Julius sat on the couch, looking as relaxed as ever with a cool drink beside him as he watched tv.
I was still pissed off about his secret meeting. And the fact that he left me for it. Why did he have to wait to tell me? I absolutely hated not knowing.
He pats the seat on the couch beside me, "Wanna join? They're showing your favorite show."
I look at the tv, Law & Order SVU. I shake my head, "No thanks." Before walking past him to my bedroom.
I can hear him sigh before the sound of footsteps begins to follow me. He enters my bedroom with a small smile on his face. "I'm sorry I left you today." He said as he hands me a small pink flower. "I picked it on my way."
I shake my head, rejecting his offering and he sighs. "Look I know what you're mad about. But aren't you happy I'm telling you rather than lying to you about it? I know how you feel about lying but I really can't tell you about this yet."
I look up at him, "Then when can you tell me?"
"When it's all cleared up. I will tell you, okay?"
I roll my eyes, "Sure you will."
"Stella. I'm being honest. Trust me."
Letting out a sigh a nod, "Okay, I trust you."
Or at least I could try to.
————
I know I said the next update would be Wednesday but I ended up writing two chapters in one day yesterday so surprise!
Hope you all have a great weekend and doing forget to vote and leave comments! <3
- AuggiePooh_