Names mean a lot to me, which is strange, considering I don’t even go by my own birth name. No one calls me Olivia anymore, and I’m perfectly okay with that. I’ve been going by Eddie since shortly after I left Mrs. Katie’s, thanks to an early-life crisis. I tried to find Mrs. Katie a couple of years ago to let her know what an impact she’d had on my life, but sadly, she passed away just a few years after I moved out. I’ll never forget the wisdom Mrs. Katie instilled in me, though, which is why I named my own daughter after her.
And now that Layken and Will have had their first child, they’ve done the same by naming her something that means something to both of them. They agreed on Julia, after Layken’s mother. Julia was an incredible woman, so their baby is lucky to be named after her.
She’s two weeks old, but I’ve only seen her twice since they came home from the hospital. Katie has been sick, and Gavin and I didn’t want to pass it on to Layken and Will, so we’ve kept our distance. Tonight is the first night we’ll actually get to spend time with the gang again, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. I insisted they come over here for a change and let me and Gavin cook for them, but Layken has something to prove, I guess. She said she wants to cook because it’s been weeks since their kitchen has been used, so I conceded. She’s stubborn and I’ve learned not to argue with her once she gets something in her head.
I open the front door to Will and Layken’s house, but as soon as I step inside, I do a quick double take. This house doesn’t seem like the same house from before two weeks ago. This house looks like a hurricane tore through it.
There’s laundry piled on both couches, there are unopened gift boxes piled in the corner, and the worst part is, both Kel and Caulder are in the kitchen, looking like they’re about to lose their minds. Kel is running a pot from the stove to the sink and Caulder is staring down at his hands in disgust, which are covered in what looks like a thick paste.
“Eddie!” Caulder yells with relief when he sees me. “Help us!”
I hesitantly step inside the living room and walk toward the kitchen, afraid of what I’m about to get myself into. “What happened over here?”
Kel is at the stove again, turning on a burner and pouring something into a pan. He glances at me, then returns his attention to the stove. “We told Layken and Will we’d cook dinner tonight so they could sleep, because that baby never sleeps and they’ve been walking around like zombies. But then she started crying, so we picked her up before she could wake them up and we couldn’t get her to stop crying because all she does is cry. Now we’re trying to cook but…we don’t really know what we’re doing.”
I look around the kitchen and assess the situation. There are measuring cups and bowls spread out on the counter, along with what looks like an entire bag of spilled flour. I glance into the living room, but there’s no sign of an infant anywhere. “Where’s baby Julia?”
Caulder and Kel both look at each other, then look back at me. I don’t like the looks on their faces. They look guilty, and guilt is never good when it involves an infant.
“Where is she?” I say again, scared to hear their answer.
Caulder nudges his head in the direction behind me. “She’s asleep. On the dryer.”
My eyes grow wide. Surely I didn’t hear that right. “The dryer?!”
Kel shrugs. “She’s in her car seat. And don’t worry, we put the dryer on the cool setting and strapped it down so it wouldn’t fall off. It’s the only way she’ll stop crying,” he says defensively. “I think she really likes the sound of the dryer.”
I roll my eyes and rush to the laundry room. Sure enough, her car seat is strapped to the top of the dryer with bungee cords. I start to reach over and undo them, but then I notice Julia is actually passed out. It’s only the third time I’ve seen her since they brought her home, but it’s the first time I’ve actually seen her not crying.
I decide to leave her there and I walk back into the kitchen to help Kel and Caulder finish whatever meal they’ve started.
“Where’s Gavin?” Caulder asks.
“He’s changing Katie’s clothes. She found the ketchup bottle again.”
Caulder laughs. “You guys are gonna have to get rid of all your condiments.”
I nod in agreement. If it’s something that squirts, Katie will find it, no doubt.
I look at the mess laid out across the counter and stove. “What is this supposed to be?” I ask.
“We were trying to make a casserole,” Kel says. “But it’s not working out too well.”
I try to figure out a way to salvage it, but it’s impossible. It’s turned into some sort of paste. “We could just order pizza,” I say.
Caulder doesn’t even hesitate. He grabs the phone from the bar and starts dialing the number from memory as Kel switches off the oven and the burner on the stove.
I hear the shuffling of feet and look up to see Will slowly making his way out of the hallway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looks up at me and I try to stifle my laugh, but he reminds me of how Gavin looked for the first few weeks after Katie was born. Scruff on his face, unkempt hair and stains all over his t-shirt.
Will looks at the three of us preparing dinner in the kitchen, then spins around, looking for Julia. “Where is she?” he mumbles.
Caulder stands up straight as if he’s about to give a speech. “You know how she’s never slept for more than five minutes straight?” Will arches an eyebrow, suspicious of what Caulder is getting at. “Well, we think we figured out the answer. She’s been asleep for over an hour.”
“Where is she, Caulder?” he asks, almost threateningly.
Caulder nudges his head again toward the laundry room. Will’s head slowly turns in that direction.
“She likes the dryer,” Caulder says.