and that’ll give me time to figure out what I want to do next. I know there are a lot of really good daycares out there, but a part of me keeps throwing up all the horror stories, even knowing those are the exceptions, not the rule.”
“Yeah,” Jaime agreed. “Mamá didn’t work until we were all old enough to start school. When my younger brother and sister surprised us several years later, one of my aunts watched them while she was at work. You have some time to figure it out. Let’s get this stuff home and set up so Sophie can come home tomorrow.”
Chapter 4
“ Let ’ s get all this inside and unpacked,” Jaime said when they got back to the condo they shared. “We’ll see what time it is, and maybe you can even bring Sophie home tonight.”
Srikkanth felt his heart leap and his stomach fall at the thought. “I think I’d better wait until tomorrow,” he told Jaime. “It’s already four, and we don’t have anything ready, and by the time I get to the hospital, it’ll be late and—”
“Relax, Sri; it’s your choice,” Jaime interrupted. “Let’s get everything inside and unpacked and then you can decide. And if you’d rather wait until tomorrow, that’s fine.”
“I still have to set up my leave too,” Srikkanth reminded him. “I should actually do that first, even before we set up the nursery, so I can catch the human resources people before they leave for the day.”
“Good thought,” Jaime agreed. “You don’t want to have to mess with that hassle once you’ve brought Sophie home. You’ll want to focus entirely on her for awhile. Do you want me to carry stuff in while you’re taking care of that? I can even put her clothes in the laundry. I have some things that need to be washed too.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Srikkanth verified. “I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Jaime promised. “I have to do a load anyway, and the blankets and sleepers won’t take up that much space. Although maybe I should wash the cover for the bassinet too. What do you think?”
“Yes, probably,” Srikkanth mused. “Are you sure that’s not too much trouble?”
“Go make your phone call,” Jaime insisted. “I’ll do laundry.”
“Thank you,” Srikkanth said as he headed upstairs to his room to argue with human resources. He knew it wouldn’t be an easy explanation, but he didn’t expect the conversation to take a full hour of explaining and reiterating and insisting. The company had to give him the time off—he remembered that from when the law passed—but apparently they didn’t have to make it easy.
Finally, they agreed to fax the paperwork to the hospital so it could be filled out. He would have to either continue working until it was processed, however, or take vacation days until the paperwork went through.
“Fine,” Srikkanth snapped. “If that’s the case, then get it set up to use my vacation. I simply want to bring my daughter home from the hospital.”
He resisted slamming the phone down as he hung up, reminding himself it wasn’t the woman’s fault Jill had died, leaving him in this unplanned situation. If he’d known ahead of time, if they’d been a couple and he’d had months to plan, he would have completed all the paperwork ahead of time, but none of this had been planned.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and summoned the image of Sophie sleeping in his arms as she’d done that morning. That alone settled his nerves. Taking a second deep breath, he opened them again and went down to see if Jaime wanted to help him make sense of setting up the playpen. He had a feeling he’d need it.
An hour later, baby bed assembled, Srikkanth leaned against the side of his mattress from his place on the floor and grinned at Jaime. “We make a pretty good team.”
“We do,” Jaime agreed, returning the smile.
“Yeah,” Jaime agreed. “Mamá didn’t work until we were all old enough to start school. When my younger brother and sister surprised us several years later, one of my aunts watched them while she was at work. You have some time to figure it out. Let’s get this stuff home and set up so Sophie can come home tomorrow.”
Chapter 4
“ Let ’ s get all this inside and unpacked,” Jaime said when they got back to the condo they shared. “We’ll see what time it is, and maybe you can even bring Sophie home tonight.”
Srikkanth felt his heart leap and his stomach fall at the thought. “I think I’d better wait until tomorrow,” he told Jaime. “It’s already four, and we don’t have anything ready, and by the time I get to the hospital, it’ll be late and—”
“Relax, Sri; it’s your choice,” Jaime interrupted. “Let’s get everything inside and unpacked and then you can decide. And if you’d rather wait until tomorrow, that’s fine.”
“I still have to set up my leave too,” Srikkanth reminded him. “I should actually do that first, even before we set up the nursery, so I can catch the human resources people before they leave for the day.”
“Good thought,” Jaime agreed. “You don’t want to have to mess with that hassle once you’ve brought Sophie home. You’ll want to focus entirely on her for awhile. Do you want me to carry stuff in while you’re taking care of that? I can even put her clothes in the laundry. I have some things that need to be washed too.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Srikkanth verified. “I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Jaime promised. “I have to do a load anyway, and the blankets and sleepers won’t take up that much space. Although maybe I should wash the cover for the bassinet too. What do you think?”
“Yes, probably,” Srikkanth mused. “Are you sure that’s not too much trouble?”
“Go make your phone call,” Jaime insisted. “I’ll do laundry.”
“Thank you,” Srikkanth said as he headed upstairs to his room to argue with human resources. He knew it wouldn’t be an easy explanation, but he didn’t expect the conversation to take a full hour of explaining and reiterating and insisting. The company had to give him the time off—he remembered that from when the law passed—but apparently they didn’t have to make it easy.
Finally, they agreed to fax the paperwork to the hospital so it could be filled out. He would have to either continue working until it was processed, however, or take vacation days until the paperwork went through.
“Fine,” Srikkanth snapped. “If that’s the case, then get it set up to use my vacation. I simply want to bring my daughter home from the hospital.”
He resisted slamming the phone down as he hung up, reminding himself it wasn’t the woman’s fault Jill had died, leaving him in this unplanned situation. If he’d known ahead of time, if they’d been a couple and he’d had months to plan, he would have completed all the paperwork ahead of time, but none of this had been planned.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and summoned the image of Sophie sleeping in his arms as she’d done that morning. That alone settled his nerves. Taking a second deep breath, he opened them again and went down to see if Jaime wanted to help him make sense of setting up the playpen. He had a feeling he’d need it.
An hour later, baby bed assembled, Srikkanth leaned against the side of his mattress from his place on the floor and grinned at Jaime. “We make a pretty good team.”
“We do,” Jaime agreed, returning the smile.
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