From Me To You

Chapter 16 - Salomé

James opens his door while holding a crying Salomé and she stops as she sees me.

He widens his eyes in surprise but then she starts to cry again and he lets out an exhausted grunt.

"Come in," he grimaced.

"Well," I start. "She is gorgeous."

We practically have to yell over her crying and I feel so bad for him. Daniela just flew back to Monaco this morning and left James alone with Salomé. I came over to help as soon as I got a call from him with a voice full of despair.

"What's all this?" He asks and questions the grocery bags I brought as he begins to bounce a little to try to quiet her down.

"I, uh, I thought I'd make dinner," I kind of ask for permission when responding.

"Oh, that'd be so great!" He exclaims.

He leads me over to the kitchen and I clean it up a bit before I begin to cook, he left bottles and baby food everywhere and he apologizes but I shrug it all off since he is so busy with her. I tell him that's a cry of tiredness and he nods and says he's gonna put her to bed and he leaves me alone in the kitchen.

I hear the shower head turn on as I put the pasta in the boiling water.

"Salo!" I hear him plead.

I finish up what I have to do and let the pasta sit there and head towards the bathroom. She stops crying when she sees me.

"Hey!" I wave at her.

I kneel in front of the tub next to James and inch closer.

"Why are you crying?" I ask her and she just stares back blankly.

James takes the opportunity to pour water on her head and she begins to cough right after and cry again.

"What am I gonna do with this girl?" he complains. "She been crying since her mom left."

"Salo," we both speak at the same time.

She begins to calm down and look back and forth at us.

"Salo, this is Kat," he points at me. "She's a friend of daddy's."

"Hi, Salo," I smile as she quiets down. "Why are you crying sweetie? You're too beautiful to cry."

She stays quiet once I finish talking.

"Say thank you, Kat, you too," James says.

Salomé just begins to splash water at us and cry again.

"Okay!" I say as I get up and get her towel from the rack. I feel the water soak into my jeans even more before I walk back to her.

As James turns off the water I begin to dry Salomé and then he picks her up and begins to walk down the hall. He enters her room and I head over to the food. I continue to cook and finally put the dish in the oven. I then grab the mop and clean the bathroom while James is still trying to put her to sleep.

When I leave the bathroom I almost bump into James as he exits her room with a baby monitor in hand. We both go to the kitchen as he runs a hand through his hair. He turns the monitor on and the echo of the baby's cries fills the kitchen.

"Thanks for mopping," he mentions as he begins to warm up her milk.

"Just be patient," I tell him sincerely.

"How are you so calm about this?" He questions as he puts the bottle in the microwave.

"I grew up having to take care of kids, I have a huge family, you know? Cousins for days," I tell him.