You're So Pretty On the Outside

“Stop crying,” I muttered, half asleep.

Ever since I brought Grace home from the hospital she had done nothing but cry.

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

I placed the crying infant back into her crib and ran a hand through my hair. She whimpered a bit, but I just shook my head. Nothing I did would make her quiet down. Gena could calm her occasionally, but only John could really do anything about the crying.

Grace seemed to have a bit of a thing for him. He could make her stop crying within five minutes of getting his hands on her.

Sighing, I lifted her back up and crept to Gena’s room. I nudged him a bit with my elbow and he looked up tiredly.

“What is it?” he mumbled.

“She won’t stop crying.”

As if by magic, Grace was silent.

“Give her to me. She can sleep with us tonight.”

“Thank you so much, John. You’re amazing.”

I passed Grace into his arms and smiled when he curled around her tiny body. I envied his magical baby skills as I left the room. I stumbled back to my room and collapsed into bed, falling asleep within minutes.

When I woke up the next morning I could hear gurgling sounds from the kitchen. I yawned and stretched as I exited the room. I shuffled into the kitchen and smiled when I saw Grace in John’s arms.

“You’re her favorite.”

He just laughed and shook his head. “No. You’re her mother. You’re the favorite.”

I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to pass Grace to me. The moment she was placed in my arms she started crying and I gave him a pointed look. John just shrugged and turned around to finish cooking whatever he had on the stove.

“So what’s the plan for today?”

I shrugged as I held a whiney grace in one hand and made a cup of coffee with the other.

“I have an article to finish by tomorrow. I think that I may need to find a babysitter for Grace soon.”

“I know a couple of people that would probably be willing to help. Would you like me to give you their numbers?”

“Sure. That would be great.”

John took a piece of paper out of the drawer near him and scribbled a single name and number.

“I know a few other people, but Sam might be your best bet. If that doesn’t work out, just tell me and I’ll give you the rest of the numbers.”

“Thanks, John.”

I took the paper from him and carried Grace back to my room. After getting myself ready, I bundled Grace up and walked back out of the room.

“I’m going to take Grace to the grocery store with me. I’ll call Sam on the way to see if we can maybe stop by there.”

“I’ll see you girls later then.”

I waved a goodbye and walked outside to my car. After buckling Grace into her car seat, I pulled out my phone and dialed the number that John gave me.

“Hello?” a very masculine voice questioned.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the phone. I had been expecting a girl to answer the phone.

“Umm… Is this Sam?”

“Oh, no. Sam’s out shopping right now. I’m the roommate. I can take a message if you’d like.”

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

“Alright. What does Sam need to know?”

I explained the situation to ‘the roommate’ and thanked him for his time before hanging up. He had informed me that Sam would be back at their house about thirty minutes later. He said that it would be okay to visit when Sam got back so I decided to just pick up a few things at the store before heading there.

I grabbed a few nonperishable items and made my way to the address that ‘the roommate’ had given me. I pulled into the driveway and looked up at the house. It was nice enough. It was mostly white with some blue trimming. Biting my lip, I climbed out and lifted Grace’s seat from the car.

I carried the heavy contraption to the front door and rang the doorbell. My breath caught when I saw the guy that opened the door. A dark brown curl fell into his eyes as he smiled at me.

“You must be Anna.” He glanced down at the car seat. “This little angel must be Gracie.”

“I know I’m early,” I said nervously. “I can leave and come back later if Sam isn’t here yet.”

He chuckled a bit and shook his head.

“Don’t fret, Dear. I’m Sam.”

My brow furrowed and I looked at him perplexed.

“Why do you look so confused?”

“I thought that Sam was a girl.”

My statement brought forth a round of laughter and I started to blush.

“No, I’m Samuel, not Samantha. Come on in. I hope that my testosterone levels don’t turn you off to the idea of me babysitting your daughter. I can assure you, I’m just as good with kids as any woman.”

I smiled softly at the way his eyes were shining when he spoke.

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Alright, so you need a sitter for your little one, yes?”

“Right. I didn’t want to take much maternity leave so I’m working now, but it’s hard to juggle work and an infant. How much do you charge?”

“I take weekly and monthly payments. Normally, I charge about 200 Euros per child, but since you’re a friend of a friend I’ll give you a discount. If you give me 150 Euros a week, I will watch your daughter full time.”

“That seems like a good price, but can I think about it for a while?”

“Of course you can, but I need to know your answer by next week so that I know whether or not to look for another client.”

“Okay. Thanks, Sam, but I have to go now. I’ll be in touch, yeah?”

When I got home, I stood in front of John with my hands on my hips.

“What’s that look for?” he questioned.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Sam was a man?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think that it mattered.”

“Well, it doesn’t,” I said awkwardly. “I was just a bit shocked.”

“Well then shut up and deal with it. Did you like him?”

“Yeah, he was nice and seemed to like Grace.”

He smirked and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Are you trying to set me up with the hot babysitter?”

His smirk turned into a grin. “I never said that, but it sounds as if you want me to.”