The Brick Wall

Chapter 17

Collins POV

  I could hear him try and sneak through the living room. The dude is a burly bear at an easy six foot, built. He's stupid to think that he can walk through any area and go unnoticed. But I keep my face towards the back of the couch, not really interested in another altercation. 

  We seem to start out relatively friendly when we speak, but then something always flips and we somehow end up at each others throats or shutting our lips so tight that our jaw might break. Which is why I'm keeping mine locked shut even as I hear the first scream from Miss Lennox Everett.  I hear the quiet sound of her bedroom door shutting and I know Curtis had picked up his pace.

  I roll onto my back, staring up at the ceiling and work through a couple of things in my mind, thinking back to her schedule from earlier in the evening. I can hear him speak to her all the while she's continuing to scream bloody murder.  I sit up, frantically moving around the kitchen to prepare a bottle for her.  

  At eight months old my niece Paige had started sleeping through the night, except for when she was teething.  Teething always brought out a sleep regression in both she and my nephew.  Even as their teeth began growing past the uncomfortable stage it would take a bit for them to get use to sleeping through the night again without the comfort of a bottle.  

  I don't knock against the wood of the door, her cries breaking my heart. Instead I push it open and see her flustered father about ready to throw in the towel as he questions whether or not it's her teeth. 

  "No," I say softly, not wanting to startle him to my appearance. "She's hungry."  I go right past him, the little girl already grabbing up at me when I lean over the crib. The bottle is in her mouth before she can even blink, her mouth suckling against the nipple as though she hasn't eaten in days. 

  I'm only a little surprised when he asks, "How'd you know?"

  I breeze past him, willing myself to not snap.  "It's not my first rodeo," I answer evenly as I move out of the room, snuggling the little girl on the way out.

  We settle easily into the recliner, Lennox laying back into my arms while one hand reaches to fist my shirt. It doesn't take more than a moment for Curtis to follow us, taking a seat on that awful, uncomfortable couch.

  "What do you mean, not your first rodeo?" he inquires. I notice now that he'd put on a shirt at some point after putting me to bed, rudely walking away with a simple 'Night.'

  Okay, in his defense I probably shouldn't have made the assumption that he lets random women inside, uncaring of their name.  But, honestly his visual profile, the brooding Adonis he gives off. would lead any sane woman into believing he's a one night stand kind of guy.

  My first response towards him always seems to want to bite back.  Say the first thing that comes to my mind and not care how it comes out. Right now though, I'm not in the mood for snarky which oddly enough goes against our usual conversations, so I answer honestly. "I have a niece and nephew."

  "How old?"

  I close one eye in the darkened room, making my mind focus a little harder on remembering their ages. "Nine and five. My nephew is the oldest."  I chew on my lower lip, a habit of peeling at the skin with my teeth. "You had her thinking she was getting a bottle when you went into the kitchen. That's why she screamed so loudly the further away you went from what she wanted most."

  Silence. I'm met with silence. He's probably brooding and preparing some one-liner to put me in my place and remind me that he knows his kid better than I do.  In most cases he probably does, but I'm getting the feeling that he may not know all of his daughter's cues as well as he thought. 

  He doesn't snap back at me. He doesn't try to put me in my place. Instead, he apologizes. "Sorry," the word is quiet and soft, probably so he doesn't disturb Lennox. "I didn't want her to wake you."

  "She didn't," I answer, my finger trailing over the girl's round cheek.  "Your attempt at moving your grizzly bear body through the room didn't help, though."  In the dark he probably can't see the crack of a smile on my face, but I'm hoping he senses the joking tone of my voice.  The words aren't laced with venom or aggravation, it's really only a light jab.

  I hear the faint but hard exhale of breath from his nose. "Was that a little chortle?" I ask, daring to glance in his direction.  There's not enough light in the room, only a faint glow coming from the light over his stove in the kitchen.  He's sitting closer to that side of the room, allowing me to see him a little more clearly.

  "Maybe," he answers, punctuating the one word with a yawn. He stifles it behind the back of his hand.

  "Long day?"  Lennox releases the nipple from her lips, her sweet, baby blue eyes barely staying open.  "Come on, Princess Lenny. Don't conk out on me yet." I sit her up against my chest, patting her back. It's a futile attempt, the girl is asleep. 

  "Is she out?" Curtis asks, sliding to the edge of the couch.

  I continue to pat her back in hopes that maybe I can dislodge a bubble while she sleeps. "It appears that way." 

  He stands, walking over to me in easy strides, barely missing stepping on the pacifier she ceremoniously tossed earlier. "I'll take her," he offers.

  "No need. I'm gonna make sure she burps. I don't want her having a belly ache. You can go on to bed, get some rest."

  I can't make out his face with the little bit of light being behind him. No clue if he's giving me a death glare this time or not. "You can trust me to do this, Curtis. You've left her with me already, and this time you're just in the other room. She's safe, and you're tired. Go to bed."

  I do notice the drop in his shoulders. He's weary, exhausted even. And while I'd love to find out why he appears to be doing this parenting thing all on his own, we don't have that kind of a relationship. We're barely civil to one another even now.

  "What about you?"

  "What about me?" It may come across as a challenge, but really it's because I know I'm not going to get much rest tonight anyways. I'm not in my own space, my brain won't quiet itself down enough. I don't have the comforts that would normally help me relax.

  "You need to get some rest, too," he reminds me.

  I wave him off, smiling even. "I'll be fine. I'll lay back down after Little Miss gives me one of her big burps," I assure him, rubbing against the baby's back. "We're good, Curtis. I promise."

  There's a soft sigh falling from him before he's leaning over me, his hands on either arm of the couch. My  pulse picks up. What on earth is he doing right now? I can't help but push the back of my head further into the leather chair, inching myself further away from him. 

  But damn, does he smell good, woodsy and masculine.

  I watch frozen, barely making out the slight purse of his lips as he bends down to kiss the back of his baby girl's head. "I love you, Lenny Lou."  The girl doesn't even stir, completely dead to her father's scent, her dad's soft lips against the wisps of blonde hair. 

  However, I am not.  The hard lump in my throat proves just that.

  I cast my eyes down, not wanting to watch the man retreat down the hall to his bedroom, I go back to trying to coerce a burp from the small girl.  

  "Hey, Collins?" His voice startles me as I'd expected him to already be climbing under his covers, a welcomed night of uninterrupted sleep now waiting for him. 

  "Hmm?" I respond, not taking my eyes off the little one in my arms.

  "Thanks."

*Unedited