
Opening the door to my office, I set the car seat on my desk, while I gathered some files for the meeting. Shit, her vacation started today, I remembered as I was counting on her to keep an eye on Julia. When I walked down the hallway to my office, I realized that Valerie wasn’t sitting at her desk. Stepping off the back elevator that led to my office, I was instantly surrounded by a flock of women who wanted to see Julia. I started to sweat at the thought of her screaming bloody murder again. Grabbing the pacifier that was sitting next to her, I put in her mouth and her eyes slowly closed. As I gently unbuckled the car seat, Julia’s eyes opened, and I froze. I carefully opened the door and started picking up all the things from the diaper bag that fell on the floor. As I looked behind me, I saw that Julia was still asleep, and I needed her to stay that way. I pulled into the parking garage and parked in my spot. Finally, we arrived at Black Enterprises. As traffic started moving, Julia fell asleep, and I felt like I could breathe again. She didn’t stop crying right away, but the noise was becoming softer. I held the phone towards the back and closer to Julia. I hit play and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” was the first song on the list. Still stuck in traffic, I downloaded some classical music onto my phone. “Connor, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you can do until you get to the office.”Īfter hanging up, I looked at my phone and had an idea. “There’s no f**king CD in here!” I screamed into the phone. Julia was still screaming, and I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Reaching in the back, I grabbed a hold of the diaper bag and, as I was bringing it up to the front, items started falling out onto the floor.

“Do you have any classical music with you?” “No, and you’re not going to tell her either. “You gave her the pacifier? Does Ellery know this?” I’m stuck in traffic, and she won’t stop screaming. “Hel-Connor, why is the princess crying like that?” I didn’t want to call Ellery because I didn’t want her to worry, so I dialed the next best person: Mason. After I finally found it, I put it back in her mouth, but she didn’t want it. Her screams grew louder as I tried to reach back and grab it. I looked in the rearview mirror and her pacifier had fallen out of her mouth. Traffic was horrible, and Julia started crying again. I let out a sigh of relief as I climbed in the driver’s side and headed to the office. When I put it in her mouth, she stopped crying. Ellery wasn’t too keen on her having it, but this was an emergency. I reached in the diaper bag and pulled out her pacifier. She had just eaten so I knew she wasn’t hungry, and I had just changed her diaper before we left. Shit, I thought to myself, and I was already running late for the meeting. Turning around and looking at her, I said, “Was that good luck for me or for Julia?” I asked in confusion.Īs I put Julia in the back and buckled the car seat, she started to cry. I put my hand on the knob, turned it, and opened the door. Good luck, sweetie.” She smiled as she bent down and kissed Julia’s head. Do you think I’m not capable of spending the day with my daughter alone?” “Hey, honey, what’s up?” she asked as she walked over and kissed me. As I walked through the door, she turned around and looked at me. I stopped by Ellery’s studio to let her know that I was taking Julia with me. Today was Denny’s day off, so I would have to drive the Range Rover to work. I put her in her car seat, grabbed the diaper bag, and stepped into the elevator. She thought it was funny that I asked her to be extra good. Okay?”Īs she smiled at me, she screeched. Daddy is going to take you to the office and I need you to be extra good.

I looked at Julia as she sat in her bouncy seat. Ellery had just left for the studio and Phil called, stating that I needed to be at the office for a meeting regarding the new Chicago building, and today was the only day it could be done. I tried to call my family for help, forgetting they were all out of town as well. I had planned to stay home and work, but my attention was needed at the office. I had given Claire the day off to take her husband to the doctor, and Peyton was out of town with Henry. Mason had gone to California for a week with Landon, so I helped out as much as I could with Julia so Ellery wouldn’t worry about taking care of her. The opening was next month and she still had two more pictures to paint. Ellery had been working hard on her paintings.
