The Cruiserweight (36 page)

She nodded. “I’m joining Brett in Orlando in a
few weeks.”

“He proposed?”

She laughed. “Not yet, but he did get a larger
place for all of us to live. He wants to be part of Autumn’s
life.”

“Never thought anyone would see the day you’d
leave this city.”

“I never imagined it either.”

“Kind of a shame I’m about to lose one of my
best writers, but whoever picks you up is going to be damn
lucky.”

“Oh, I’m going to stay home and concentrate on
the syndicated column, finish my book, and perhaps pick up some
freelance work. I want to be a full-time mom to Autumn.”

Sullivan raised his eyebrows. “You’re still
doing that novel?”

“Right now, I have no choice,” Karen said,
nodding. “I received an offer from a publisher this morning when I
opened my email.”

“Congratulations! That’s great!” He glanced
down at Autumn, who was still asleep. “Does she always do
that?”

“Only during the day,” Karen said with a
chuckle. “Hopefully, it won’t be long before she sleeps through the
night instead.”

“Going to be rough traveling with the little
one, isn’t it?”

“I’ll manage. There’s a lot of adjustments to
make now that I have a baby.”

“Speaking of adjustments, how’s the new father
doing?”

“Not keen on the idea of being awakened several
times last night, but as far as the fun parts are concerned,
Brett’s in his glory.”

“He better get used to night time
awakenings.”

“Funny, I told him the same thing earlier.” She
stood and picked up Autumn’s carrier seat. “I need to go. There’s a
couple of people I want to see first, and then head home to feed
Autumn.”

Sullivan nodded. “It’s been great working with
you all these years Karen.”

“Same. Thank you for everything, Mr.
Sullivan.”

As she turned to leave, Karen swore she saw
tears forming in the editor’s eyes.
I didn’t realize he’d valued
me that much
…

For Greg Sullivan, Karen had been more than one
of his best journalists
—
he was
losing someone he’d always considered a daughter.

CHAPTER 68

About a month after Karen and the baby
relocated to Orlando and settled into the new apartment with Brett,
she had gone to visit her new doctor for a checkup She left the
baby with Brett and Patrick, who was visiting them that weekend,
and both men were enthusiastic about caring for Autumn.

“Pat, you have to hold up the bottle,” Brett
instructed him as Patrick fed the baby. “She’ll suck in air and get
gas if you don’t.”

“Like this?”

“Now you got it.”

“Dude, you if anyone should know kids are not
my area of expertise. I only agreed to this because she’s my
goddaughter.”

“Well, if you’re going to be a god
papi
,
you have to learn to do it right.”

“Smart ass.”

"Time to burp her," Brett said, taking Autumn
from him. He placed a burp cloth on his shoulder, lay the infant on
it, and patted her back. "Come on, Little Bit. Give Daddy a good
burp.”

Autumn fussed a bit, annoyed her meal was
interrupted. Brett continued to pat her back, alternating rubbing
in between pats. Soon, she let out a loud belch.

Patrick jumped. “Not funny, Kerrigan,” he said,
raising an eyebrow.

“What was supposed to be funny?”

“Burping and trying to pin it off on the
innocent baby.”

“Hate to tell you, but it wasn’t
me.”

"That was Autumn? Jesus, that sounded like one
of
yours,
Kerrigan."

“She’s Daddy’s girl,” Brett said, smiling down
at the baby while he wiped the spittle from around her mouth and
gave her the rest of the bottle.

"My God, I didn’t know any better, I’d say
you’re ready to knock Karen up with another one.”

“Not quite yet. Want to hold her
again?”

Patrick made a face. “I think I’ll pass this
time.”

The doorbell rang. “Well, you’ll have to while
I get the door.”

“You suck,” Patrick said when Brett placed
Autumn on his lap.

“She needs burped again.”

"Right, stick me with the messy job.” Patrick
placed Autumn on his shoulder and patted her back. "I can do this.
Right, Autumn? I can do this."

A second loud burp echoed through the room.
“Holy shit, kid, that could‘ve vibrated the walls.”

"Good one," Brett said, giving him a thumbs up
when he returned from the door with a package.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“It was for three minutes. Want me to take
her?"

“
Nah, I can keep the little burp
machine for a couple. What’s the box?”

“
Something for Karen. I guess
she’s been online shopping for Little Bit again. Jesus, at this
rate, her room’s going to look like FAO Schwarz.”

Brett plopped on the couch beside Patrick and
flipped on the TV, looking for a movie to watch. Soon they heard a
strange sound and he quirked a brow at Patrick, making a face as an
offensive odor filled the room.

"I swear, it was Autumn," Patrick said in
protest when Brett glared at him.

“Classy, dude. Fart and blame the
baby.”

“I’m telling you, it was the kid. Her diaper
vibrated." Patrick carefully checked Autumn, making his own face.
"Oh, lucky us. We get to change a shitty diaper."

“No time like the present for you to learn,”
Brett said. “Get the changing pad and stuff from her
room.”

Patrick went into the nursery and returned with
several items they needed. He also grabbed a trash can from a
corner of the room and set it nearby. Brett lay Autumn on the
changing pad and unsnapped her onesie. Both men stared at the
diaper.

"Come on, we have to get this done,” Brett
said. “She’ll get diaper rash if we don’t clean her up, and Karen
will have a bitch fit for sure." He opened the diaper.

Patrick turned green as the smell magnified
tenfold. "For God‘s sake, man up." Brett said. “It’s only baby
shit, not toxic waste.”

"I’m fine," Patrick said, covering his nose
with his shirt. "I can do this. No problem."

He grabbed some baby wipes and cleaned Autumn‘s
bottom. Brett handed him a clean diaper, tossing the dirty one and
the used baby wipes into the trash can. He bent over to tie up the
bag as Patrick finished diapering the baby.

"There. I did it, Brett!”

“You sure did, bro. See, was that so
bad?”

“No, but not something I’d do on a regular
basis.” He handed Autumn to Brett and finished cleaning up the mess
they’d made changing her.

At that moment, the diaper fell from Autumn. It
hit Patrick on the head before settling on the floor. Seconds
later, he felt something warm and wet hit his head. “What the
hell
…
Kerrigan, that better not be what I think
it is!”

It was all Brett could do to restrain himself
from laughing at the sight of Autumn peeing on her godfather. “If
you think it’s baby piss…then…" He broke out laughing.

Karen walked in the door. “What on earth are
you doing with that baby?”

"I was showing Pat how to change Autumn,” Brett
replied between gasps of laughter. “The diaper…fell off
…
and…Pat was cleaning up…when she just started
peeing!"

“Good lord. When I asked you two to take care
of her, I didn’t mean use her for entertainment.” She took Autumn
from him. "Come on, my little ladybug," she said. "Mommy will get
you a clean diaper."

Brett was still laughing, literally rolling on
the floor. Annoyed, Patrick grabbed the bag with the dirty diaper
in it and tossed it toward his best friend. It hit Brett full crack
in the face, stopping the laughter.

Karen rolled her eyes as she changed Autumn.
"If you two children are done goofing off, would you help Frank
bring in the rest of the groceries?”

Brett glared at Patrick, who was still
laughing, as they headed toward the door. "Sure, I think we can
manage that.”

She handed Patrick the soiled diaper bag. “Take
this too.”

“Hey, that’s for baby daddy.”

“You’re closer,” Karen said. “Go.”

After they left, she picked up Autumn. “We have
some very strange men in our lives, you know that?” she said. “Then
again, Daddy and Papi Pat never give us a dull moment. Now, let’s
go find something for dinner.”

CHAPTER 69

When eight-week-old Autumn’s cries sounded over
the baby monitor in the middle of the night, it was Brett who woke
first. "I’ll take care of her," he said when Karen
stirred.

He hurried to the nursery to retrieve the baby
before she woke Karen again, then stopped short when things grew
quiet. Panicked, he burst into the room, only to find Autumn wasn’t
alone in her crib, and had stopped crying.

“About time you made yourself useful around
this house, Jack,” he said in a whisper when he spotted the cat
curled beside a now-sleeping Autumn, purring.

Jack tilted his head and stared at Brett, who
reached in and petted him. “Good boy. Remind Daddy to give you a
special tuna snack in the morning.”

Smiling, Brett walked back to the bedroom. "Is
everything all right?" Karen asked.

“I think the little lady was just lonely. Jack
took the liberty of keeping her company.”

“Oh, that‘s so cute. I wondered why she was
quiet all of the sudden.”

He fussed with the material on her nightgown.
"This is new, isn’t it?" he asked.

She nodded and smiled. “Right”

“You wore it for tonight?"

“Right again.”

"Jesus, and I fell asleep on you."

"You had three television tapings this week.
You’re tired, and it caught up with you. We can wait until you’re
more rested.”

Brett smirked. “I’m plenty rested. How about
you, sexy?”

"On one condition." she replied.

“What?“

Karen leaned across him to reach into his
nightstand drawer, and pulled out a condom. “Use this.”

“Okay
…
” He raised
an eyebrow.

“We don’t need any more surprises before
Autumn’s at least school age, and probably by then, we won’t have
to worry about using anything but adoption agencies.”

*****

As the sun rose, Karen lay in Brett’s arms as
he spooned her. The sheets were draped over their naked bodies and
a thin sheen of sweat coated them. He gave her shoulder a gentle
kiss before pulling her closer to him.

"Now that was worth the wait," he
whispered.

She smiled, closing her eyes. "I can’t believe
Autumn slept through the rest of the night."

"Yeah, I half expected her to start crying at
any moment, considering all the noise you made,” he said, starting
to laugh.

Karen gave him a playful smack. “Hey! You
weren’t very quiet either.”

"Let’s hope that the next time we can do
something like this is before our wedding."

His statement threw her off.
“What?”

"Makes sense since we have a beautiful little
girl," Brett said. "What do you say? Will you marry me?”

“Oh, God.
Yes!”

“Yes?” Brett was thrilled.

“Yes. Now we to set a date, call your mother, I
need to find dresses for me and Autumn, make up a guest list,
arrange for flowers, the cake, you need to get a suit
and…"

Brett’s finger settled over her lips, silencing
her. “Slow down. Right now, let’s have another round of loving
before Autumn wakes up. Then we’ll all go shopping for your
engagement ring later today.”

CHAPTER 70

“Will you get the hell off that scale?” Brett
asked when he spied Karen weighing herself one morning. “You just
got weighed at the doctor’s office yesterday, and you look great
from here.”

“Just making sure I’m losing the last of my
baby weight,” she replied. “Five more pounds to go. Got to admit
I’m surprised I didn’t gain very much when I was
pregnant.”

“I wouldn’t have given a shit if you gained
fifty pounds, especially if your ass was bigger.”

Karen stepped off the scale and hugged him.
“You’re too sweet, you know that? I think Autumn’s going to be just
like you. By the way, where‘s the baby?”

“In her bassinet. I took the liberty of giving
her a bath, a clean diaper, and a bottle while you were
asleep.”

“Sounds like someone’s enjoying being
Daddy.”

“Indeed. Hey, I have to tape two episodes, so
it looks like it’ll just be you two ladies tonight. I should be
back around twelve-thirty.”