Page 20 of From LA to London, With Love

I paused. I didn’t want to tell Jenny about Sophie. If I did, I was sure Jenny would work out in a flash that I was interested in Sophie and then bombard me with awkward questions.

“Yep. I’m at home. Just looking after a friend’s baby for a couple of hours. I don’t suppose you have any ideas for how to entertain a six-month-old? He’s getting upset and doesn’t want to play with his toys.”

“A friend? What friend? I didn’t think you knew anyone in London.” She sounded suspicious but thankfully seemed to treat her questions as rhetorical. “Hmmm, I don’t know much about babies. My nephew used to love chewing on my fingers when he was around that age. You could try that?”

I offered Elliot a finger. He snatched it enthusiastically and dragged it to his mouth.

“Ouch!” A sharp pain shot through my finger, and I pulled it away. “He must have teeth, very sharp teeth. That hurt. I think he drew blood.”

“Oh yeah, as soon as my nephew got teeth, we stopped that game right quick. Their teeth are like little piranha’s. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.”

I ended the call with Jenny and examined my finger. Elliot’s front bottom tooth, which I hadn’t noticed before, had punctured the skin, and some blood had dripped onto my shirt.

My phone pinged. It was a message from Sophie.

Sophie: How are things? Josh is doing much better than expected, thank goodness. I’ll be home soon.

I sat Elliot on my lap and posed for a selfie with him with my thumb up, making sure I positioned him so the pee, vomit, and bloodstains on my shirt weren’t visible. The finger biting incident seemed to have perked him up, although I wasn’t keen on sacrificing another one any time soon.

Chris: All well here! Glad to hear he’s on the mend. See you soon.

I turned my attention back to Elliot.

“Okay, buddy. We’ve got to get tidied up before your mom gets home.”

When Sophie walked through the door about forty minutes later, I was wearing a clean shirt, serenading Elliot with “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, and he was waving his arms about in delight. It turned out, it wasn’t my voice after all. He just wasn’t keen on nursery rhymes. Nineties boy bands were more his jam. We were having a great time.

“Your son has excellent taste in music. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and entertain Elliot while I practiced for karaoke.”

Sophie laughed, looking around the room. “Wow! What happened here?”

I’d moved all the breakable objects out of Elliot’s reach, rearranged the furniture so it acted as a barrier between Elliot and the power cords, and tied a necktie around the handles on the TV cabinet so Elliot couldn’t open it.

“Just a bit of baby proofing to make sure this place is safe for Elliot if he comes over again,” I said, smiling, hoping that he would.

Despite the rough start, the last few hours had been surprisingly fun.

CHAPTER NINE

SOPHIE

“I’M SO EXCITED! This is the first time I’ve been out—not including volunteering, which doesn’t really count—since Elliot was born. And last night he slept through the entire night, and I’m just feeling amazing! I’d forgotten how nice it is to have a proper night’s sleep.”

The Uber I was sharing with Josh whizzed by the neon lights and the lines of people waiting to get into the clubs. I hadn’t been to Soho since I’d met Mia and Rose for cocktails—well, a mocktail for me—a few months before Elliot’s birth, for a “business planning session” which involved very little business planning. I’d made Mia and Rose promise there would be no business talk tonight. As excited as I was about it, this evening I just wanted to relax and have fun.

I turned to Josh, and my spirits dropped slightly at the state of his face. “But are you sure you’re up to this?”

Josh was sporting some bad bruising around his right temple and eye, as well as some stitches above his right eyebrow. While he claimed he’d made a full recovery, I was pretty sure he was only saying that because he wanted to meet Chris.

“That’s awesome, Soph! And yes, I’m fine. It’s not like I was hit by a truck, just a scooter.”

Staring at him skeptically, I vowed to keep a close eye on him and send him home if he showed any signs of being unwell. I still hadn’t recovered from seeing him lying in the hospital bed, pale with bandages around his head, and I didn’t want this karaoke night to jeopardize his recovery.

I also hadn’t recovered from walking in on Chris serenading Elliot with the Backstreet Boys. It was a cuteness overload. I’d been distraught at the news of Josh’s accident and overwhelmed at the prospect of lugging Elliot to and from the hospital when I made the split-second decision to leave Elliot with Chris. But the entire time I was away, I’d worried whether I’d done the right thing. While I’d thought I could trust Chris, I really hadn’t known him for very long at all. It was a huge relief to get back to the Castle and see them having such a great time. I did notice Chris was wearing a new top and wondered what had happened but thought it better not to ask. Knowing Elliot, it could have been any number of bodily fluids.

“So, is Muscle Man still coming tonight?” Josh couldn’t hide his excitement. A wide grin filled his face.

“Yes. He’s got a call, so he’ll be late, but he said he’d come. Please don’t be too over the top, Josh, and definitely do not mention the photos.”