"Other than going to the gym tonight, how was your day?" Zac asked the one question he said more times to Fatima than all the women he dated combined.
He could tell she was smiling. "Best day in a long time." "That requires an explanation. Hold on while I get the baby situated first." He reached for his little sidekick. Sitting her in his lap, she leaned back against him to watch television with him... although he knew she had no clue what was happening on the large flat screen mounted on the wall in front of them. When he returned to the phone now able to give his undivided attention, Fatima gave him a full accounting on why today was so special. "And here I was about to see if I could hire you to be the new nanny," he said, moving to lie down in the middle of his bed. The television mounted on the wall was on, but the volume low. "Another one quit?" Zac hesitated to tell her that she had to be fired. "Melissa didn't work out." "Melissa?" "Don't make me relive that nightmare just yet. It's too soon." "I'm nervous Zac."
"About the nanny situation? The agency said they had another one lined up. No worries." "About starting my company over." "Why are you nervous? They have a lot of trust and confidence in you already. That's probably the hardest thing to earn." "I just don't know if I have it in me to start over again. Styles by Fatima might have been the thing that made me into a entrepreneurship, but I don't know if my success was a fluke." "You must want me to hang up the phone." "Why would you hang up?" "Is this the same woman that walked up to some random guy and introduced herself as the Baby Whisperer?" "Baby Whisperer?" She laughed and he didn't want to interrupt her, loving the sound of it. "By the way, how's my girl? You didn't send me any pictures of her today." He stilled. What's going to happen when the baby goes back home? Fatima spoke up breaking the silence. "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm a weirdo, but every time Pat's face comes through on my phone it just makes my day." "She helped me make a mess in the kitchen tonight, but she loved the pureed carrots I made her. Hold on." He reached for his tablet and focused the screen on the baby. They both were in the picture. He didn't bother cropping out the clutter around them. She wanted to see Paris, who fell asleep chewing on the remote when he snapped it. "There. She's all clean and ready for bed. We're just watching a game." "Homemade baby food?" "Have you seen what they put in those jars? Besides they taste disgusting." "You tasted her food?" "I was curious... and when I smelled it, I wanted to make sure it hadn't gone bad. Baby food is just disgusting." "To you." "To anyone. It didn't take much. I tossed some carrots in the Vitamix. No different than making a smoothie." She giggled. "I don't know why my cooking skills amuse you so much."
"No, it's not that. I just got the picture you sent. Oh my, she is knocked out. What did you put in those carrots?" "The site I found said just add some of the water I cooked them in." She laughed again. "Look at you two. You're matching." He found a pair of basketball shorts for her in the infant boys section and couldn't resist adding them to the pile of clothes he gave to the sales associate at the store. She was thrilled to help him shop for a little girl, pulling out every frilly pink dress she could get her hands on. He didn't know what to buy so he trusted the lady's instincts on most suggestions, but when she turned her nose up at the shorts, Zac went back and grabbed a pair in every color. He knew all the clothes he bought wouldn't be wasted. He found the baby required a lot more than what was in her suitcase and with Mrs. Woods away, the laundry was starting to pile up. "We ran out this afternoon and picked up a few things for her. When I pulled out a pair of shorts and a white tee for myself, Pat insisted we coordinate tonight." "If I didn't know any better, I would say she's your mini me." Fatima replied.
He fell silent. He didn't know how he felt about that. He gazed at the infant sleeping beside him and warmth spread in his chest. The little rugrat was starting to grow on him. "Hello? Zac? You still there?" He snapped out of his thoughts. "I'm here, but I better go put her down." "Umm... okay. Have a good night." "You too." Once the message alerting him their call had ended flashed across his screen, Zac looked down at the sleeping little girl and wondered what was getting into him.
