Annie frowned again, but he could tell she wasn’t completely against it. “Natasha... that’s not bad, I guess. But it sounds too Russian, don’t you think?”
“No. Lots of Americans are named Natasha these days. It’s a little exotic, but not too over-the-top.”
Annie took the baby back and peered closely at her tiny face. “Are you Natasha?”
“Gah!” Natasha said, drool running out of the side of her mouth.
That last “gah” sealed it.
A week later, they’d received the jumper that Annie’s mother had supposedly made for her granddaughter. He never had liked the ugly thing. Neal soon discovered a tiny a MADE IN CHINA tag on the inside. All the lazy woman had done was embroider Natasha’s name across the front. And she probably hadn’t even done that herself.
In any case, whenever the baby was wearing the hideous garment, he thought she looked ridiculous. She reminded Neal of a mean little wrestler, the wild-and-crazy types you saw on the Saturday morning TV programs.
Neal’s thoughts came back to the present...he realized he’d just been sitting in the hospital parking lot for about five minutes, staring out the windows at nothing...the defroster had cleared the fog off the glass. It must have been the pain killers. He finally got the nerve to glance over at Natasha.
Asleep in the baby seat, with her arms outstretched, her head down, the flabby baby-flesh under her chin bunching together like a fat old man’s...she actually
Neal shook his head and downed a few more pain killers, popping them into his mouth like gum drops. He backed the car out of the parking space and began to make his way out of the lot, to the street. He felt another strong urge to glance at Natasha, but fought it.
Neal gave a reassuring nod to himself, feeling a little better. He decided to go over all the supplies he would need. Yes, that was a good idea—make a mental list of things he would need in order to take care of Natasha. That would keep his mind occupied.
1. Formula.
That was the most important thing. Annie had plenty of it at home—she had bought a half-dozen cans the day before, so that wasn’t a problem.
2. Diapers.
He was sure there were some diapers around the apartment, too, though Natasha seemed to go through them at the same rate that he went through the pages of the classifieds. But he would manage.
What else did Natasha need?
Neal struggled to think, desperately trying to concentrate...to avoid looking at the baby...
She was looking at him, though.
He could feel it.
Neal underwent this internal struggle for the next few minutes, until he approached Roswell Road. He managed to keep himself under control. He
Neal slowly turned his head just a little bit to the right, his gaze focusing first on the radio...then the glove compartment... the passenger door handle...
