Temptation - Brenda Jackson [20]
Sheila cocked one eye open as she gazed over at Sunnie, who was back in the crib toying with her mobile again. She sighed, not sure how long she would be able to stay awake. It had been almost eighteen hours now. She’d done doubles at the hospital before, but at least she’d gotten a power nap in between. She didn’t know babies had so much energy. She thought of closing her eyes for a second, but figured there was no way for her to do something like that. Mothers didn’t sleep while their babies were awake, did they?
She had tried everything and refused to drink another cup of coffee. The only good thing was that if she continued to keep Sunnie awake, that meant when they both went to sleep, hopefully, it would be through the night. She glanced around the room, liking how it looked and hoped Sunnie liked it as well.
Zeke had been such a sweetheart to help her put the baby equipment together and hang pictures on the wall. Although he hadn’t asked, he had to have been wondering why she was going overboard for a baby that would be in her care for only two weeks. She was glad he hadn’t asked because she would not have known what to tell him.
She tried to ignore the growling of her stomach and the fact that other than toast, coffee and an apple, she hadn’t eaten anything else that day. She didn’t want to take her eyes off the baby for even a minute.
She nearly jumped when she heard the sound of the doorbell. She glanced at the Big Bird clock she’d hung on the wall. It was close to four in the afternoon. She moved over to the window and glanced down and saw the two-seater sports car in her driveway and knew who it belonged to. What was Zeke doing back? They had exchanged numbers last night, merely as a courtesy. She really hadn’t expected to see him again any time soon.
She immediately thought about the kiss they’d shared…not that she hadn’t thought about it several times that day already. That was the kind of kiss a girl would want to tell somebody about. Like a girlfriend. She’d thought about calling Jill then had changed her mind. On second thought, maybe it was the kind of kiss a girl should keep to herself.
The doorbell sounded again. Knowing she probably looked a mess and, at the moment, not caring since she hadn’t anticipated any visitors, she walked over to the bed and picked up the baby. “Come on, Sunnie. Looks like we have company.”
Zeke was just about to turn to leave, when the door opened. All it took was one look at Sheila to know she’d had a rough night and an even rougher day. Sunnie, on the other hand, looked happy and well-rested.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked Sheila when she stepped aside to let him in. And he figured the only reason she’d done that was because of the pizza boxes he was carrying.
“I’m fine.” She eyed the pizza box. “And I hope you brought that to share. I’ve barely eaten all day.”
“Yes, I brought it to share,” he said, heading for the kitchen. “The kid wore you out today?”
“And last night,” she said, following on his heels. “I talked to the pediatrician about her not sleeping through the night and he suggested I try to keep her awake today. That means staying awake myself.”
He stopped and she almost walked into the back of him. He turned inquisitive dark eyes on her. “Sunnie hasn’t taken a nap at all today?”
“No. Like I said, I’m keeping her awake so we can both sleep tonight.”
He found that interesting for some reason. “When do babies usually develop a better sleep pattern?”
“It depends. Usually they would have by now. But we don’t know Sunnie’s history. Her life might have been so unstable she hadn’t gotten adjusted to anything.” She glanced at the baby. “I hate talking about her like she isn’t here.”
Zeke laughed. “It’s not as if she can understand anything you’ve said.”
He shook his head. Sheila had to be pretty tired to even concern herself with anything like that. He glanced around the kitchen. It was still neat as a pin, but baby bottles lined the counter as well as a number of other baby