Thin Walls

Chapter 3

The wailing of the toddler wouldn't stop, but I'd tried everything. Ashley had dropped off her little daughter, stressing about work and a sick nanny. I didn't like children one bit, but I couldn't refuse. So, now my free afternoon was ruined by a child screaming bloody murder.

I barely heard the doorbell ring, but it was just loud enough to reach over the sound of Alexandra. A soft groan left my mouth as I got up from my chair and opened the door.

"Emma?"

"What is that fucking noise?"

"A child."

"Make it stop. Now."

I shook my head. "I would, but Ashley told me not to interfere with the kid. She said the girl always struggled with going to bed, it's not my fault," I defended myself, but Emma didn't care and pushed me aside. She let herself in and walked straight to the source of the crying. "She'll tire herself eventually, you just have to be patient."

Emma ignored me, but I couldn't really blame her. I was getting sick of the baby, too, but Ashley had told something like this probably would happen. She just hadn't told me how to fix it. I'm not the perfect person to take care of children.

"Why isn't Robin home? Couldn't he take care of her?" Emma asked as she opened my bedroom door where Alexandra was sitting up straight, in my bed. She immediately stopped crying and looked at us with big eyes.

"Hi, cutie," Emma said with a whole change of tone. "You don't want to sleep, do you?"

Alexandra started sobbing again and within a second she was bawling. "Momma!!" she yelled, and Emma carefully tilted her off the bed and rocked her slowly in her arms.

"Momma's coming back soon, I promise," Emma said and walked towards the window. She opened the curtains and I was amazed at the way she handled this, because the girl got quieter. "What do you see outside?" she asked, clearly trying to distract the girl and I was surprised to see that it worked. Kids weren't very intelligent.

"Tree," the girl said and pointed her chubby little finger at a tree outside. "Car," she went on as her head moved along with a passing car. "Dog!!" she exclaimed happily and clapped her hands together, excitedly.

Emma held the girl tightly and looked at the toddler. "If you go to sleep now, momma will be back when you're awake. That's good, right?"

Alexandra squinted her little eyes and nodded. Emma gently placed her in the bed again and tucked her in. "Now, go back to sleep and dream of nice things, okay?" She smiled widely and the girl giggled softly as she closed her eyes.

I followed Emma outside the room and closed the door softly. "You're good with children," I said, once I was sure I couldn't wake or distract Alexandra.

"No, I'm not. You're just really bad with children."

I wanted to feel offended, but the woman was right. I was awful with children and I didn't think I'd ever understand the way their little brains worked.

"How did you know that she was only staying for the afternoon? You said that her mother would be back when she was awake, I mean, for all you knew Ashley wouldn't return for three more weeks."

Emma laughed wholeheartedly as she followed me to the kitchen. "I've seen Alexandra once when Ashley entered my store, not knowing what kind of shop it was. Trust me, someone like Ashley would never let someone like you take care of their children for more than a few hours."

"You're really honest all the time, aren't you?" She shrugged and I chuckled softly. "Do you want to stay for a bit? I'd enjoy the company. Robin's still at work." I was already making tea and I hoped she'd stay.