Do You Believe In Magic

Chapter 2

The following morning, Kai was awaken by the sound of Josie cooing and gurgling coming from the baby monitor on his nightstand. He looked at the clock - 6:15am! He rolled his eyes, wondering how that kid could be awake, seeing that she spent between 2 and 3am trying to rock her back to sleep after giving her a bottle.

When he broke the shocking news to Caroline yesterday, the poor woman was positively heartbroken and burst into tears over the news of a mother abandoning her child. Kai had asked Caroline if she could stay the night in the nanny's quarters, but she had a prior family commitment that made it impossible to stay. Seeing how upset Kai was over what happened, Caroline took it upon herself to contact the agency to see if there was anyone who'd be able to fill in, but came up short.

Kai told Caroline not to worry, that he was perfectly able of taking care of Josie. He just thought, with all the emotional turmoil going on inside, that it'd be good to have a helping hand around.However, Josie was his daughter and he was now responsible for her all around, no matter how tired he was. It was the sacrifice of being a parent.

Kai rolled out of bed and made his way into Josie's room to find the happy, chubby 7 month old trying to stick her feet in her mouth. Upon seeing her daddy peer into her crib, Josie smiled wide, clasped her hands together and stuck them in her mouth.

'Everything's in the mouth,' Kai thought, remembering what his mom said about teething.

Kai reached in and scooped him out of the crib. "Well, looks like you're not gonna let me sleep there, baby girl. Let's see if you need changing then we'll get you a bottle."

With a clean diaper on her little bottom, Josie found herself over her daddy's shoulder and being walked downstairs.

Kai went into the fridge and pulled out one of the pre-measured bottles that Caroline had prepared for him before she left yesterday. He put Josie down in her baby seat while he warmed the bottle up. As he waited, the events of yesterday unfolded in his mind over and over again, making it seem like a nightmare.

'I can't believe this happened,' he continued to think. 'How could she leave me and Josie behind without a thought? I don't care so much about me, although, I did love her. But it hasn't bothered me the way it should've. Maybe I wasn't in love her. Maybe that was the thing I couldn't put my finger on. Perhaps it was her aloofness about getting married and having a future that made me hold my feelings back a bit. She probably had this planned for a while. How heartless could she be, leaving her child the way she did? Perhaps it was a good thing we didn't get married, only to have her leave like this because it didn't turn out the way she planned.'

Kai was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Josie's hungry wail. He took the bottle out of the pan of water, tested it on the inside of his wrist then sat down at the table. He turned the baby seat towards him and stuck the nipple in Josie's mouth, watch her hungrily suck on it. Kai couldn't help but smile to himself.

"No wonder you're getting so fat, Jos!"

As he watched his daughter drink her bottle, an overwhelming feeling of unconditional love came over him. Thank God Josie was too young to know what was going on. However, what would he do when she got older? How do you explain to a little girl that her mom took off on her and her father because she didn't want to be a mom anymore?

Kai's heart ached for this precious little girl and it caused a fierce wave of protectiveness to overcome him. He knew that no matter what went on in his life, this child was gonna come first. He'd sacrifice whatever he had to and would take her everywhere with him when possible. Her mother may have abandoned her, but he wouldn't. And, he'd always make sure that Josie would have the best care possible for the times he couldn't be with her.

That reminded Kai that Caroline would be here around 7:30am. After feeding and burping Josie, he picked up the baby seat and carried it into the bathroom. He sat it down on the floor while he took a quick shower.

He was finished and dressed just in time as Caroline arrived."Good morning, Mr. Parker," she said with somewhat sad eyes as she entered.

"Well, I wish it were a little better after what happened yesterday," Kai responded, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Thank you for coming today on such short notice, Caroline. I didn't think we'd need you once I got back. However, now that the circumstances have changed, perhaps we can workout some sort of a schedule."

Caroline regarded him worriedly. "Mr. Parker, I...I'm sorry, but I'll only be able to work for you for another week. You see, my son-in-law lost his job a while ago and hasn't been able to find work. They've been having difficulty paying their bills because of it. Last night my husband and I told them they could move in with us until they get back on their feet. My daughter will have to go back to work while her husband continues to look, which means, I have to take care of her children for her. I'm...I'm sorry about this, but they have no where else to go and no way to pay for it."

Kai's heart went out to Caroline's daughter and son-in-law. "Oh, Caroline, I'm so sorry to hear that. I understand and, please let me know if you need anything."

"Well, I appreciate the offer, Mr. Parker. Now, as far as replacing me, I've got a call into the agency for a replacement. I also had them inquire as to someone looking for a permanent position, just in case you want a live-in."

Kai thought about that. "Hmmm, that may be a good idea, since I'm the only one here. May be a good idea to have another person around 24/7 in case of anything. I do have the room with a separate entrance, so it wouldn't be a problem."

"And you know this agency is very strict when it comes to discretion and the credentials of its employees. You can be assured that, whoever they find, will do a stellar job and will keep anything that goes on here confidential. You know...because of who you are."

"Yes, that's very important to me," Kai said. "Well, let's see who they come up with. I'd like to have you there when I interview since you've been with Josie for a while and are familiar with her. Plus, you seem to have this keen sense of judgement when it comes to people."

"Well, it isn't that keen," Caroline said with sadness. "If it was, I would've spotted what Vicki was plann...I...oh, God...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention that or..."

Kai halted her by holding his hand up. "No, it's okay, Caroline. I can't deny the fact that it happened. I have to force myself not to dwell on it and concentrate on my daughter."

"Well, the agency said they had someone in mind who'd be available for a permanent position, however, they have to see if she's not in the middle of an assignment elsewhere. Whoever they find, I'm sure will be wonderful.""I hope so," Kai said with a bit of uncertainty. "I really hope so."