Brian Haner Jr

This was hell, Brian thought grimly from his place in the center of the store. Hell with miniature furniture and too many cutesy, fuzzy things. He looked around and spotted Nicole talking to one of the salespeople. The older women was nodding and typing information into a computer.

Not knowing what else to do, he glanced at a display of quilts. They were small, about four feet by three feet. He turned over the price tag and took a step back. Six hundred dollars? He peered at the quilt again, trying to figure out why on earth it cost so much. He thought about the list in the book and swallowed hard. Nicole hadn't been kidding about his credit limit. He wondered if it was going to be enough.

"Okay, here's the plan," Nicole said coming to stand next to him. "I had the store-What's wrong? Your practically green."

He ponited to the quilt. "It's six hundred dollars. If a scrap of cloth costs that, how much is the crib?"

She looked from him to the quilt, then fingered the cream colored lace and read the tag. When she returned her attention to him, humor danced in her hazel brown eyes. "Don't panic, big boy. That's a handmade quilt, covered with imported lace, They're a one of a kind item, and not for the likes of us."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Besides," she added casually, "babies spit up on just about everything, so it's better to have bedding you can just throw in the washer."

Her words planted an image in Brian's brain that made him uncomfortable. "How much do they spit up?"

"Don't worry about that now," Nicole said. She waved a long computer printout infront of him. "This is a basic baby registry. It lists every possible item in a baby book, we'll be sure to remember the important stuff. This second list tells us what's in stock. There's no point in falling in love with a crib or dresser only to find out it's not available."

"I don't generally fall for furniture," Brian muttered, but Nicole wasn't listening.

"Let's start with the big stuff," she said. "Crib, stroller, car seat, changing table, dresser, maybe a couple of mobiles. Then we'll move onto linens, bath stuff and clothes." She tapped the list. "You'll want some kind of portable crib, as well, so you can take her to a baby-sitter, or even to work. They have some that turn into playpens for when they're older."

Brian could only not as he tried to take in what she was saying. He felt as if he'd entered a strange and frightening new world and he wondered if it was too late to go back.

"Furniture," Nicole said pointing to the large display on the far side of the store.

He followed her down an aisle crammed with car seats and wondered how on earth he was going to pick on. Maybe he should have asked Matt to come along. He knew about this kind of stuff. But it hadn't occured to Brian that buying a kid a bed or car seat was going to be complicated.

"How big is the room?" Nicole asked. "And is there furniture in there now? Do we have to work around anything?"

Brian shook his head. "I have a guest room, but it's not furnished. It's about twelve by fourteen, with a big closet."

"Okay, so size isn't an issue. Basically all cribs serve the same function. These are all new and look well-made. The important factors are the hight of the mattress when it's all the way up, and the spacing of the rails. So pick what you like and then we'll check for safety features. I'm guessing all of them are going to comply with safety recommendations."

Pick what he liked? He looked at the various displays. Many were set up to look like individual rooms. There were dividers covered with wallpaper and border prints, cribs filled with ruffled comforters and too many stuffed animals for any man to be comfortable. He found hiself stepping around fuzzy bears and pink elephants. There were tigers and lions, fluffy kittens, puppies and some creatures of undetermined species.

He glanced form the displays to Nicole and back. The cribs all looked the same to him. Too-small beds with guard rails. The dressers were almost normal looking.

"What kind of wood do you like?" Nicole asked, coming to his rescue. "Light or Dark. Or would you prefer something painted?"

She stood next to him, looking patient and completely comfortable. Was this a chick thing? Did all women have the baby gene, or was she relaxed because part of her job was bringing infants into the world?

He allowed himself a moment to appreciate the way the overhead lights played on her medium blond hair. It fell to about the middle of her back and she'd pulled it into a simple, yet neat ponytail. Bangs hung softly to the left side of her face down a little below her eyebrows, but in a soft, sexy way that made him think about wanting-

Down boy, he told himself. He didn't have time to get distracted. His life was one big crisis right now and he didn't have room to add an attraction to a female doctor to his list.

"I don't know what she'd like," he said. "You used to be a little girl. What would have made you happy?"

"I'm not sure babies have strong opinions on furniture, but I'll give it a try." Nicole turned in a circle, then pointed to a display of white furniture.

They moved to that aisle. While Nicole read the tag and made sure the rails were the right distance apart-or whatever.

"I like it," she said. "What do you think?"

He shrugged. He wouldn't have picked white as his first choice, but then his first choice wasn't being here either. "It's fine."

But she wasn't listening. Instead her face had taken on an expression of such tenderness, Brian felt his blood heat up about ten degrees. Then he noticed that her longing gaze wasn't directed at him, but instead focused on a comforter in the next display. He stared at it, blinked twice and bit back a groan.

If he'd given a second's thought to decorating a child's room, he would have pictured primary colors, or building blocks, or maybe even a train. But that's not what had caught Nicole's eye. She'd been transfixed by a pink-and-white comforter decorated with a teddy bear in a ballerina get-up.

"It's adorable," she said taking his sleeve and tugging. "Don't you love it?" She pulled him toward the display. "They have the comforter and linens and bumper pads. On, look, there's a diaper stacker. I'll be there's a border print for the walls and even a valance for the window. You could..."

Her voice trailed off. She released his sleeve and nodded. "You hate it."

Hate implied an emotional energy he wasn't willing to commit to ballerina teddy bears. Nicole was a woman. She'd once been a little girl. Therefore her taste had to be better than his. With any luck, the pattern would fade in the wash.

"It's fine," he said. "Lets get it. What's next on the list?"

"But Brian, you don't think it's cute. We can pick something else."

He looked at her and found himself intrigued by her height. In her heels, she was only about an inch shorter than him. He'd generally gone in for the petite types, but there was something to be said for looking a woman dead in teh eye without having to tilt his head.

"Nicole, this is fine. I'm sure she'll love it."

By this time, the sales clerk had joined them. She was a middle-aged woman with a cheerful smile. By the way she kept out of the discussion Brian suspected she'd heard more then her share of arguements over baby accessories.

"If you're sure," Nicole said, and turned to her. "All right. The white crib, the four-drawer dresser and the three-drawer changing table. Then this bedding set with the diaper stacker." She paused. "We can worry about the wallpaper another time."

Like never, he thought, trying not to picture a wall covered with ballerina teddy bears. The three of them moved on.

They spent nearly thirty minutes in a discussion about car seats before they all agreed on one. Then they chose a mattress, crib pads, receiving blankets-although he didn't know what they were going to receive-towels with hoods, a stroller and dozens of things he couldn't recognise. Brian surprised them and himself by insisting on a mobile of fuzzy animals, of which his favorite was the lion, and a matching wall hanging.

When they moved onto baby clothing, he told himself not to watch as Nicole chose tiny shirts and nighties and warap, sleeper things with and without feet. The store clerk carried armloads over to the cash register, then returned for more. They even bought a diaper bag, which Brian could not imagine having to carrying around. When they reached the stage of discussing bottles for feeding and best brand of diapers, he couldn't stand it anymore. He touched Nicole's arm.

"Could I talk to you for a minue?" he asked.

"Sure." She excused them from the clerk and led him to a corner of the store. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this," he said. "You're buying bottles and I don't know how to physically feed her. Or how much. Or how warm it's supposed to be." He could hear the sharp edge to his voice, but he didn't think he could control it.

Nicole looked at him for a long time, then reached in her purse for her cell phone. Brian paniced. Was she calling the hospital to tell them he couldn't be trusted with his own child?

"Val, hi, it's me. I'm with Brian at the baby store." She paused then smiled. "Oh, he's definaitly having a dose of reality and he's looking longingly at the door. But he'll be fine. Tomorrow, when you drop by Brian's to give him the diaper changing lesson, could you also teach him about feeding and anything else he might need? You know, the first-time parent baby lesson." She paused again, them smiled. "Clueless is a strong term, but in this case appropriate. I'll let him know. Thanks. Bye."

She hung up. "That was Val."

"I guessed that." He was going to complain that he wasn't clueless, but unfortunately he was. It was pretty sad.

"Val's going to phone the hospital and arrange for them to keep Baby Haner until early afternoon. Val and Matt will come over to your place in the morning. Matt will help with whatever furniture isn't finished and Val will take you through the basics."

Some of the tension in his chest eased. "That's great."

"And as I already promised, I'm available this weekend." She pointed to the impressive pile by the cash register. "All that isn't going to fit in your car. I suggest we take home as much as we can, starting with the biggest things. I'll swing by tomorrow and get the rest of it."

He didn't know what to say to her. Part of him wanted to explain that while her offer was really nice, he didn't want to put her out. but that was a very small part of his brain. The rest was doing a cheer in relief.

"Thanks," he said. "I don't want to think about spending that first afternoon with her by myself."

"You won't."

He studied her face. She was pretty enough, but not a beauty. Not at all the normal kind of woman who caught his eye. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Because I want to," she said easily. "I think you and your daughter deserve a fighting chance and I want to give you that."

"Thanks," he told her and had the sudden urge to give her a hug.

That would be dumb, he reminded himself. Dr. Nicole Milenkovich wasn't interested in him-she was concerned about the baby. As long as he remembered that, they would be fine.