“She’s a girl. I’m not going to jail.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You won’t go to jail for changing her diaper. You might go to jail for not changing her diaper.”
“Come on, Auntie Sammie,” he winks charmingly, “You got this.”
“Leo is going to lose his manhood if he ever calls me Sammie again,” I tell Liv and she giggles. Then, suddenly, it’s as if she realizes what she’s sitting in, her pretty face crumbles and she starts to cry.
“Shit, we need to change her.”
“I’m calling Meg.” Leo pulls his phone out and dials Meg’s number.
“Why?”
“She’s a nurse. She deals with crap all the time. Hey, I’m at Sam’s. There’s an emergency, and I need you to come here asap. Uh huh. No, no ambulance, just need your help. Okay thanks.” He hangs up and stuffs the phone back in his pocket. “She’ll be right here.”
“You totally just lied to her.”
“She’ll be here in ten.”
It’s the longest damn ten minutes of my life.
Finally, the doorbell rings. The only reason I hear it is because Liv has taken a moment to take a breath, thus giving us zero point three seconds of silence.
“Thank God,” Leo pulls her into the apartment and she scowls when she sees the baby in my arms.
“What’s wrong with her?” She asks.
“She has a shitty diaper,” Leo tells her.
“So change her.”
“Leo’s afraid he’ll be considered a pedophile and I don’t know how.”
Meg takes the baby from my arms and stares back and forth at us, her face incredulous. “Are you fucking kidding me? You said it was an emergency. I worked all night last night, and you woke me up for this?”
“Don’t you smell that? It is an emergency.”
“Jesus, you two are worthless.” Meg finds the diaper and wipes, lays the baby on the floor on her blanket, and gets to work. “This is nothing. At least she didn’t blow out the diaper.”
“What does that mean?” I’m not sure that I really want to know.
“When the poop goes up their back, into their hair, all over the place. Now that’s gross.”
“Isn’t the point of a diaper to catch the poop?” Leo plants his hands on his hips, frowning at Meg. “I mean, if they don’t do their job, what’s the point?”
Meg laughs and snaps the baby’s jumper back in place, all clean and happy. “There, all done.”
Liv smiles and leans her head on Meg’s shoulder when Meg lifts her off the floor.
“This is our secret,” I tell her. “Luke will never let me live it down if he finds out that I couldn’t change her diaper.”
“It’s fine.” Meg waves me off and hands me the baby. “Have you fed her?”
And, as if on cue, Liv burps, spitting up whatever she had for lunch.
“I’m so not having kids,” I mutter.
“Good call,” Leo agrees and offers me his fist for a fist bump.
***
~Leo~
“Thanks again for coming to help.” I lean on Meg’s Range Rover and offer her a grin.
“You got me here under false pretenses.” She glares at me and then laughs, shaking her head. “You both looked ridiculous.”
“Yeah, maybe no kids for me.”
“You’d do great.” She shrugs and grins, her dimple showing. “Looks like things are going better.”
I just nod and step back from the car, pushing my hand through my hair. “Yeah, things are better.”
“Good. I’m going back to bed.”
“Okay, get some sleep.”
She grins wider, and I have the feeling she’s about to say something that I really don’t want to know.
“Will’s home. I’m going back to bed, but not to sleep.”
“Stop saying shit like that, Meg. I mean it.” She laughs and pulls away from the curb, waving as she merges into traffic.
And now that I have visions of my sister shagging Will Montgomery, I want to poke out my mind’s eye with something sharp and hot.
I turn back toward the building just as Luke and Natalie return and park. As I approach them, Luke’s gaze is on me, not friendly, and I feel the bro talk coming on.
“Hey baby, you go on up and get Livie. Tell Sam I’ll call her later.”
“Okay. See you later, Leo.” She waves and walks into Samantha’s building. Luke watches her until the glass door closes behind her.
“How is she?” I ask him.
“She’s great, baby’s great, now let’s get down to it. What the fuck, man?” He crosses his arms over his chest and scowls at me. I glance around us, watchful of anyone with a camera or phone pointed this way. The last thing we need are photos posted on the internet of Leo Nash and Luke Williams having it out on a street in Seattle.
“Look, Sam’s great…”
“I know, I’m her motherfucking brother.”
“What’s your problem?” This is more than brother overprotection. “You know I’m a good guy.”
“You’re a celebrity. Sam has been hurt by this industry enough.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That’s her story to tell.” He shakes his head in frustration and paces away. “Your lifestyle isn’t for her.”