Andrea Laurence - The Baby Favour

“What about Luna?”

That was a good question. What about Luna? Scarlet squeezed her eyes shut and resigned herself to her fate. She’d tried, she’d fought, but in the end, fate won out. “We can handle her until you’re feeling better. I’ve made a lot of progress on my next painting.”

Carroll’s eyes grew wide. “No, no. Maybe I could call someone...”

Scarlet would have none of it. “No arguing. Now get to bed right this instant. Is Luna already down for the night?”

“No, ma’am. Mr. Spencer is playing with her on the deck. I asked him to keep her for a minute while I made tea.”

That wasn’t ideal. Scarlet was hoping the baby was already asleep so she could avoid the nursery for as long as possible, but she would do what she had to. “Okay. The two of us can take care of her until you feel better. Now, to bed!”

Scarlet watched as Carroll reluctantly carried her mug with her out of the kitchen toward her room. She steeled herself for what she had to do and went out to the deck to look for Mason and Luna, the two people she’d been trying to avoid.

The deck was empty, as was the pool. Curious, Scarlet walked around to the gate and steps that led to the beach. There, she found Mason and Luna playing in the sand. She stepped down to the beach, kicked off her shoes and walked through the sand to where they were playing.

The summer sun had finally set, but the sky was still bright and people still walked up and down the beach. There was a nice breeze for a summer’s night, reminding Scarlet that she’d spent too much time working and not enough time enjoying the property they’d worked so hard to afford.

“Look, Luna. Your aunt Scarlet has come out to play with us!” Mason picked up the baby and turned her to face the house where Scarlet was walking toward them.

The baby immediately lit up when she saw Scarlet. She grinned wide and dropped her handfuls of sand to reach out for her.

“Someone has missed you,” Mason said.

Scarlet stopped short, biting at her bottom lip. She ached to scoop the baby up into her arms and cradle her to her chest. To smell the top of her head and draw in the endearing scent that reminded her of nights rocking Evan to sleep.

Instead, she crouched down out of arm’s reach. Holding her during Rachel’s funeral had been hard enough. “I doubt that,” she said in a soothing voice she used for babies. “What are we doing out here?”

“We are playing in the sand. I figured she’s about to have a bath anyway, so why not?”

Scarlet nodded. “Well, it appears as though Nanny Carroll has the flu, so I’ve sent her to bed. This dirty little girl is ours to deal with for the next few days.”

Luna reached down to pick up a little red plastic shovel and then dropped it. “Uh-oh!” she declared. So far, she’d mastered mama, dada, no, uh-oh and dog.

“Uh-oh is right,” Mason repeated. “Are we going to be able to handle her on our own?”

“She’s a baby, not a wild animal,” Scarlet said. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“And what about you?” he asked. His dark blue eyes focused on hers, saying far more than his words ever would. “Will you be fine?”

Scarlet bit at her lip and stood up, dusting sand from her hands. “I guess we’ll find out.”

“Have you gone into the nursery yet?” Mason asked as he followed suit and lifted Luna into his arms.

For a moment, Scarlet was struck by the image in front of her. Her tall, strong Mason casually holding a baby in his arms. It was a simple thing—hardly unusual to any passersby—but it was enough to make her heart catch in her throat.

“No,” she replied, turning away. As her gaze fell on the ocean, she spotted the splash of a pod of dolphins not far offshore. “Look!” She pointed out at the sea.

Mason turned and pointed the animals out to Luna. “Look, Luna. There are dolphins. They’re jumping out of the water. Aren’t they silly?”

Luna’s eyes grew wide and her tiny little mouth formed an O of excitement. She started to clap enthusiastically as they watched them leap out of the water.

“They’re dolphins. Can you say dolphin, Luna? Doll-fin.”

“Dafin!” she exclaimed. “Dafin!”

Scarlet smiled, turning away from one of her favorite creatures on earth to look at Mason and Luna. The two of them together watching the sea with excited grins made her chest ache. This was the life she’d lost. The future she’d never have with him because he’d decided what was best for her instead of asking what she wanted.

“I think our job here is done,” Mason said at last with a satisfied smirk. “She loves dolphins. Next, we just need to get her a baby wet suit and a surfboard.”

Scarlet’s smile dimmed a little. She remembered him making the same threats about teaching Evan to surf. The idea had terrified her at the time, although they’d never gotten that far. “I think she needs to master walking more than a few steps without falling down before she starts shooting the curl, don’t you?”

Mason sighed with feigned disappointment. “I suppose. We need to get her in baby swimming lessons, though. She’s already behind all the kids that started with those ‘mommy and me’ classes. She’s going to be doing the backstroke before her second birthday.”

Scarlet just shook her head and headed back to the house with Mason and Luna on her heels. “Don’t tell Jay about all this. He’ll think you’re out to drown his baby.”

“Don’t be silly, Scarlet. If Luna knows the backstroke, there’s no way she’ll drown.”

* * *

Mason awoke with a start. It took a moment for him to get his bearings in the dark, unfamiliar room. Then, from the crick in his back, he remembered that he was on the futon in Scarlet’s studio.

Then the wail of a baby sounded louder and he realized what had woken him up. He was about to fling back the sheets and go downstairs, but he heard footsteps down the hallway and Scarlet’s soothing voice. “I’m coming, Lulu. I’m coming, baby girl.”

Mason held his breath, waiting to see what would happen. The night before, Scarlet had let him give Luna a bath and put her to bed. In exchange, she’d made some dinner for them both while he was doing it. If he was right, she was about to step into the nursery for the first time in a year.

He got up and crept across the floor as quietly as he could, then peered out the door. Luna’s bedroom was near the foot of the stairs. He saw Scarlet stand there for a moment, just outside the threshold. Then she took a deep breath and stepped inside. After a few seconds, the crying stopped and he could make out the calming mumbles Scarlet said to soothe her.

A few minutes later, Scarlet came out of the bedroom with Luna in her arms. He watched them go into the living room, where Scarlet sat in her favorite chair to rock Luna back to sleep. He remembered her doing the same with Evan. It had worked like a charm every time.

After about ten minutes, he moved quietly down the stairs. “Is everything okay?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

Scarlet nodded and continued to rock. Luna was snuggled in her arms, already sleeping. “We just needed a new diaper and someone to love on us a little bit.”

Mason settled onto the couch beside her. He watched the way Scarlet looked down at the sleeping baby and immediately understood why she’d chosen to be so closed off the last few days. It was to keep from falling in love with the sweet bundle in her arms. She looked at Luna the same way she’d looked at Evan, as though the sun rose and set on that tiny baby.

He’d thought at first that she just didn’t want to be around her. Scarlet had made it very clear after they lost Evan that she didn’t want to try adoption again. She couldn’t risk falling for another baby only to lose it. He understood that. He didn’t really think of Luna that way, but he supposed in Scarlet’s eyes it was the same. It wasn’t her child, so she wasn’t going to get attached. Scarlet wanted her very own baby; he knew that. Perhaps spending this time with Luna would light the fires in her to settle down with someone else and start a family.