Did you miss Chapter One?
From Killer Cravings
Chapter One Continued…
It wasn’t fair! How did I manage to waste so much time on this
stupid craving, along with ruining my stakeout. And, now I was being
rewarded with no sleep.
“Kate?” a gruffly voice behind me said.
I spun around to see Jim wandering into the kitchen, followed by
our orange tabby kitten, Whiskers.
My heart lurched to see Jim. “I’m sorry, babe, did I wake you
up?” I asked, hurrying over to give him a big hug. “I missed you so
much. Almost three days,” I exclaimed, showering his face with
kisses.
“Yeah, what are you doing? Did you ever get to bed last night?” he
asked me, yawning.
“No,” I said, my shoulders slumping from tiredness. “And, I
screwed up the stakeout last night too!”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I covered them with my hands.
“I feel like crying – call it the hormones,” I said.
Jim put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “Aw, honey.
Don’t cry. What can I do? Did something happen?”
I spun around, pulling my hair to one side, to let Jim massage my
shoulders. “You promise not to laugh?”
“I promise,” he said, moving his hands from my shoulders to the
back of my neck.
“I got this really bad craving, and I didn’t bring any food. I left, and
when I came back the guy was already in his car!” I said.
Jim laughed, so I whirled around and buried my head in his chest.
“You promised not to laugh at me!”
He stroked my hair. “I’m sorry, Kate, but… it is kind of funny,” he
said.
“I know,” I admitted. “But, this means I’m going to have to do the
stake out all over again.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get him,” Jim said. “How about the food crav‐
ing? Did you get anything yummy? Did you at least bring me back
something?” He rubbed his infuriating flat stomach. No matter how
much food he put away, it seemed like he had a hollow leg!
At the word, food, Whiskers circled my legs and rubbed her cheek
against my ankles.
“No! And, that’s the problem. I know I want something sweet, but I
can’t figure out what it is,” I explained. “And, it’s driving me nuts!
Look at all that junk food I bought at a gas station last night, and it all
made me sick!”
The cat meowed.
“Did you feed her?” I asked.
“Yes, but she’s always hungry too,” Jim told me, and he went for his
jacket that was thrown over the backs of one of our kitchen chairs. “I
know what you want. You don’t have to beat around the bush. You
want a brownie from that bakery – the one with the purple icing,
right?”
Yes! Oh my goodness, I’d completely forgotten about that brownie.
When I’d first found out I was pregnant, I think I ate twenty of those
things.
My face lit up, and Jim laughed at me. “Yeah, that was probably it. I
knew I was thinking about a brownie. Wait, where are you going?”
“The bakery opens early on Thursdays,” he said. “I’ll go nab you
one and be back in time to get ready for work.”
“Jim! Don’t do that,” I said, feeling guilty. “You were up late last
night too! And, you had to deal with all that nonsense at the airport.”
“Do you want the brownie?” he asked.
I nodded. “Well, yeah, but I can—”
“Go lay down, and when I get back I’ll wake you up, and I promise
to have your special purple icing brownie, okay?” He pointed toward
the nursery. “Plus, Laurie has been asleep since three this morning.
Knowing her, she’ll be up really soon. Go rest.”
I gave him a big kiss before going and plopping down in bed. The
kitten followed me and curled up on a corner of my pillow. I was
exhausted, so sleep came to me easily. Painfully easily. The next thing
I knew, I woke up to the sound of Laurie fussing on the baby monitor.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes because the sun was shining brightly
through the blinds.
What time is it?
I hurried to get Laurie. She’d pulled herself up and was standing,
holding onto the side of the crib.
“Good morning, gorgeous!” I said, picking her up. “You’re
becoming quite a climber.”
Ordinarily, she couldn’t stand, but with the aid of a support like
the crib rails, she was a dynamo.
I changed her diaper and then sat and breastfed her in the corner,
but she didn’t seem interested.
“I know, I bet you want some bananas!” I said, and she cooed.
She definitely knew what that meant. I’d started mashing up
bananas for her recently, and now it was her favorite snack.
I headed into the kitchen where I spied a clock. Noon! Laurie had
been asleep since three… nine hours!
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My baby slept nine hours!
I could hardly believe it. I sat her in her high chair.
Why hadn’t Jim woken me?
As I opened my refrigerator, I found my answer. I found a plate
full of chocolate brownies with purple icing sitting in the fridge with
a note. It read, “You looked too peaceful. I hope Laurie let you sleep
for a bit! There are plenty of brownies, and I went ahead and made
Laurie some mashed bananas for you! Love you, see you later tonight!
~ Jim”
My hero.
I located the mashed bananas, and brought them over to Laurie.
Deciding I was probably going to give her a bath shortly afterwards, I
let her mash her fingers into the banana mush and feed herself. She
had a good old time with that, and it allowed me a moment to pour
myself a giant glass of milk. I then grabbed one of the very large
ooey-gooey brownies and placed it on a plate for myself and sat down next
to Laurie as she continued making a mess in her highchair.
I took one bite of that rich brownie with the light, fluffy purple
icing, and I was in heaven. That was exactly what I’d been craving. I’d
been craving that stupid brownie for probably three days. It’d been
about a week since Jim had brought home some of those brownies
when he had stopped by that new bakery, and I’d just loved them.
I’d completely forgotten about them, though. But, I guess the baby
hadn’t. The baby wanted that brownie so bad, and Jim had delivered
an entire tray full in the fridge. The brownie was just so perfectly rich
and moist even after sitting in the fridge for what had to be several
hours. It was just wonderful, and I took my time eating it – enjoying
every bite as it went down like it would be my last.
“Your daddy is so sweet, you know that?” I said to Laurie, and she
giggled. Oh my goodness, just thinking about that brownie makes my
toes curl a little. “Your daddy is just awesome!” I said just to make sure
she knew.
I suppose that tracking down a sleazy cheater for a week could
make anyone look good, but Jim was already exceptional. He was the
perfect husband. He always looked out for me in ways I could hardly
reciprocate. I felt truly lucky.
As I was daydreaming about my darling husband, I received a face
full of banana goo.
Laurie was going through a throwing phase.
“No, ma’am!” I said to her, but I couldn’t help but laugh as I wiped
my face. I downed my glass of milk and then got Laurie out of her
highchair. I brushed her honey-colored locks out of her face and
tickled her chin. She had a full head of hair now; she had been balding
a little bit recently, but it had all grown back just perfectly.
I carried her back to the bathroom, our kitten racing down the
hallway to follow us. With my free hand, I ran some water in the tub,
and Whiskers tore off and hid.
I laughed. “No bath, kitty?”
Laurie wiggled happily at the word, kitty, and looked around the
bathroom frantically for the now disappeared cat.
Laurie still had to sit in her little baby tub, but I usually just sat the
baby tub down in the bath to make it easier on myself. I took off her
clothes, and after checking the temperature of the water, I sat her in it.
She giggled and squealed, practically screaming. She had this
eardrum-piercing squeal that sounded almost like a dinosaur from
Jurassic Park, but it was adorable in its own little way.
Jim would call it her Pterodactyl yelp. She always did it when she got
really excited, and that was pretty much every single time I put her in
the bath tub. We’d just gotten past a phase where she couldn’t stand
the bath, but now it was one of her favorite things. That and bananas.
Eventually the water got cold, and my little girl was clean. That
didn’t mean she was ready to get out of the bath tub, of course.
Finally, though, I was able to coax her out, get her dried off, and
dressed and ready to go for the day. I sat her down in her playpen
while I got myself ready, and I could hear her quietly playing by
herself in the living room while I ran back to the bedroom to get
dressed. I was really starting to get the hang of this whole mom thing.
Whenever things were going well with Laurie, I would get a new
boost of confidence about being a mom all over again.
When I had first found out I was pregnant, it had been pretty
scary. Another baby so soon? It seemed like utter madness. Plus, I had
just changed career fields, making the news all the more insane. But, I
was happy and eager to meet the latest member of my family now.
Once I was dressed, I decided to treat myself to one more rich,
purple icing brownie before really getting going on my day.
And, boy, was it good.
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