The three of them spoke for a while, then Jacob woke up from his nap. Jessica fed him before handing him to Julia. Julia had worked for the same family for fifteen years until all the kids grew up. She was now looking for a new family. Jessica could find nothing wrong with her and the thought of someone helping out with the baby was beginning to look more appealing.
“Your son is very beautiful,” Julia said after a little while. Jacob was sitting on her lap playing with one of his teething rings.
“We sure think so,” Alex stated proudly.
“I think all children are a gift and precious of course but Jacob is very mild mannered. Is this unusual or is he a happy baby for the most part?” Julia questioned.
“He’s an exceptionally good baby. I’ve heard horror stories of babies staying up all night and having colic, crying for hours and hours on end. I’ve had none of those problems so far with Jacob. He wakes every few hours, which is normal but he’s never had any problems. The only time he fusses is when he’s hungry,” Jessica said fondly.
“It wouldn’t matter to me either way,” Julia said. “If a baby is crying there’s a reason for it. He’s either hungry, needs changed, needs some extra love, or is hurting and trying to tell you about it. One of my previous kids was very colicky. We would walk the floors for hours on end. It was just an excuse for me to get to cuddle with him longer,” she remembered fondly.
Jessica could tell she was telling the truth. The woman seemed to have unending patience, which was definitely a must for a child care provider. She was shocked to find she did like the woman.
“As much as I hate to leave this precious little one, I will get going and let you both get back to your day,” Julia said and then handed Jacob back to Jessica.
“We’ll discuss things and get back to you within the next couple of days. I have all your information. We really appreciate you coming by and spending so much time with us today,” Alex said, as he led Julia from the room.
“Thank you both very much. You have a beautiful family and I would love to be a part of it,” Julia replied, then left.
“What do you think?” Alex asked her.
“I think she seemed pretty great. I guess the idea of a nanny wouldn’t be all bad. It was nice to be able to take a nap today,” Jessica conceded. Her face turned a shade of red, as she was picturing the way she’d woken up from her second nap that afternoon.
Alex’s eyes darkened, also remembering the pleasant way they’d awoken. His hands itched to grab her and pull her close.
“I’ve already run the background check and verified her references. Her last family couldn’t say enough great things about her. The kids all remain in contact with her and consider her an honorary aunt. They adore her and the family begged her to stay on with them, even after the kids had grown but she told them she needed to continue to be a nanny. She loves young ones far too much to give that up.”
“I guess there’d be nothing wrong with trying it out,” Jessica conceded. “Just make sure to tell her we aren’t sure if it will be a permanent situation,” she added, not sure if she wanted to commit to a nanny long term.
“I’ll give her a call. She already told me she could begin tomorrow.” He left the room and Jessica was a little nervous with how quickly things were moving along.
The rest of the afternoon and evening flew by. Alex spent most of his time in his home office and Jacob was fussy, requiring all of Jessica’s attention. She was grateful to have gotten the nap in, because she had a feeling it was going to be a very long night.
Alex helped her walk Jacob around during the evening. She was trying to stay unattached but he made it very difficult when he was amazing.
Around nine that evening Jacob’s fever broke and he finally fell asleep. Both Alex and Jessica were happy he was feeling better and breathed sighs of relief as they stared down at their sleeping child.
The crying didn’t bother either of them. They just felt powerless with their son not feeling good and not being able to do more than walk him.
“He’s cutting his first tooth and it’s hard on him. I think the worst of it’s over now,” she said, in explanation of Jacob’s illness.
“I wish there was more I could do,” Alex replied.
“I know. But the best thing to do is cuddle him and walk around. He enjoys the motion and I think getting to look around helps him to not feel the pain.”
“Let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted,” Alex said, while he turned towards their bedroom.
Jessica hesitated. Alex had said he wouldn’t push her into anything but she knew he didn’t really have to push. She wasn’t sure if she was ready yet to share a bed with him. She’d already involved her feelings way too much into the marriage and was afraid to hand over her entire heart.
“Jessica, we aren’t going to do anything you don’t want to. Let’s just go to bed,” he repeated to her. She could see the irritation in his eyes and hear it in his voice. She knew he didn’t like that he had to push his wife into sleeping with him.
“Fine Alex, I agreed to this marriage so I’ll share the bed. I’m sorry if I misled you on the couch today but I don’t want to have sex.” She finished talking and stepped ahead of him into the room. She grabbed her favorite pajamas and went to the bathroom to change.
“You can try to run but you want this just as much as I do,” Alex whispered, far too quietly for Jessica to hear. He knew it was going to be a long night. He was determined to have her come to him though. He knew it wouldn’t take long.
Alex climbed into bed, wearing nothing but boxer shorts. He only kept those on out of deference to her. He preferred to sleep in the nude. He was lying on his back, with his hands under his head and the covers were only pulled up to his waist.
Jessica took a deep breath at the sight of him when she walked out of the bathroom. He was unbelievably sexy. He had the perfect amount of muscles, rippling with each movement he made. His stomach was hard and defined and the trail of hair on his lower stomach disappeared under the blanket, causing her mouth to water. She wanted to trail her fingers over him, finding all his favorite spots. Even as exhausted as she was feeling, she knew she’d be lucky to get any sleep lying there next to him.
He said nothing to her but followed her every move as she slowly walked to her side of the bed. She quickly jumped under the covers, turning away from him, hugging the edge of the bed like it was a lifeboat. She pulled the covers up to her chin and started counting sheep. He flicked off the bedside lamp and before she knew it, exhaustion took her into blissful nothingness.