Page 102 of Smitty

“That’s a nice name.”

She nodded, then rushed back over to her momma. Being careful not to wake the baby, Jenna reached over and helped Luna back up on the sofa. Brayden handed Anslee over to me and said, “I’ll be over in a bit.”

I nodded, then walked over and sat down next to Jenna. I smiled as I leaned in, getting a better look at the baby. He had dark hair like his father and adorable chubby cheeks that reminded me of Anslee’s. “My goodness. He’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jenna smiled. “He’s been such a good baby.”

“That’s good. Anslee was, too… It makes it all the more tempting to have another.”

“Doesn’t it?” Jenna giggled. “I think Grim would have a coronary if I asked for another.”

“I don’t know. I saw the way he looked at you three. I think he’d be all for it.”

“Maybe, but I’m in no rush.” She looked down at him and smiled. “I need a minute to catch my breath… and it would be great to be able to sleep through the night again.”

“I hear ya,” one of the other mothers grumbled as she rocked her little one. “John Robert is still waking up in the night… sometimes twice.”

“Oh, that’s a tough one.”

“Have you started adding anything to his nighttime bottle?” Jenna asked. “I’m pretty sure I started Luna on rice when she was five months old, maybe even a little sooner. Maybe you could ask your pediatrician about trying it with him.”

“Maybe. I’ll call her tomorrow and see what she thinks.” She shook her head. “I’m getting desperate.”

“Have you tried a sound machine?” I asked. “Ours has been a lifesaver. Anslee can’t sleep without it.”

“Afraid so.” She let out a deep breath. “We have a fan and a sound machine. We’ve tried with and without night lights. Bath before bed. A hundred different kinds of pacifiers, and anything else you might think of.”

“Oh, you definitely gotta try the rice. It will be a game changer,” Jenna assured her.

“If it’s a bust, I’m calling in reinforcements.”

“As you should. I would’ve already called them,” Jenna laughed.

The conversation died out for a moment, and Antonia used the opportunity to say, “So, Memphis mentioned that you’re a social worker.”

“I am.”

“That’s a tough job.”

“It can be, but it’s not all bad.” Anslee pulled my sunglasses off my head and started toying with them as I said, “Every once in a while, we get reminded of why we do it.”

“Has that happened to you?”

“On more than one occasion.”

“What happened?”

“I was able to get a little boy and his family the help that they needed.”

The words made me think of one of my earlier visits with Dylan and how timid he was. His shy smile and the worried look on his mother’s face. And then how he’d changed in a matter of days. He finally looked like a kid instead of a shell of a boy carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

There was no hiding the pride in my voice as I told them, “And I was able to close his case after just a few months, and that doesn’t happen all that often.”

“That’s really great.”

“It was.” I gave Anslee a little tickle on the belly. “Now, if I can just do the same for the fifteen other cases I’m working on.”

“I have a feeling you’ll do just fine.”