Page 74 of Dad Next Door
“Nothing bad, we’re okay,” he said quickly. “Remember I told you about my colleague who’s pregnant?”
“Yeah.” I sat back in my seat, my flight or fight response settling at his reassurance. “Is she okay?”
“She called a few hours ago and asked if I could cover her shift today. She had complications with her last pregnancy and isn’t feeling well. We’re still short-staffed because they haven’t replaced Eric yet, and they farmed Stephanie out to one of their other clinics this weekend, so I’m the only one left who can cover for her. But I don’t have anyone to watch Leo. Lydia is away with her girlfriends, and my parents and my brother’s family are out of town at my nephew’s hockey tournament. I need to leave in thirty minutes, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Breathe, Tris,” I soothed. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t know if it will be. Getting called in is normal, but someone’s always been around to watch Leo for me. I can’t leave him at home, but I can’t just tell Amber to get her ass to work if she’s sick. Especially if it could risk her baby. I can’t even bring him with me because it’s against company policy, and I can’t risk my job. Not until I have another one lined up.”
“Tris, take a deep breath for me.”
He did, but it was shaky and overexaggerated.
“Now let it out.”
The sound of wind moving over the phone speaker told me he’d obeyed.
“Good, now one more. Better?”
“Yeah,” he said tiredly. “I’ve been trying to figure this out for hours, and I panicked. I shouldn’t have bothered you, but I thought—never mind.”
Guessing where the conversation was headed, I decided to throw him a bone.
“I can watch him for you.”
“Really? Are you sure? I didn’t want to ask because you probably have stuff you need to do, and asking you to babysit my kid would mess up your weekend.”
“I don’t have anything important happening today. It’s no problem.”
“Thank you.” He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. He’s a fun kid. You said you need to leave in half an hour?”
“Yeah, and even then, I’ll be cutting it close.”
“I can be there in ten minutes. I just need to shut down my studio.”
“Studio? Shit. You are busy. I’m sorry?—”
“I’m not busy,” I assured him. “I can film content anytime. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Will that give you enough time?”
“Yeah. That’s good. Thanks.”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll see you in ten.”
Nine minutes later, I knocked on Tristan’s door. A medley of animal sounds rose as the door flew open.
“Hi, Quinn!” Leo waved excitedly. “Yikes.” He grabbed at Freddie’s collar as the giant dog ran up beside him and jumped at me. “Freddie, down.”
Taking a big step back, I turned so my shoulder was facing Freddie. The move seemed to confuse him, the same as my parents’ dog when she was going through a jumping stage, and he landed with all four feet on the porch, looking bewildered.
“Sit,” Leo said firmly.
Freddie sat, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he looked between me and Leo.
“Down,” Leo commanded.
Freddie lay on the porch with a soft whine. He knew what he’d done.