5

“Mr. Oliver, how many days old is he?”

“Two.”

“Has he already had the heel prick test?” I asked, curious.

“What?” he replied as if he didn't know what it was.

“It's an essential exam, done in the first days of a newborn's life. It diagnoses some diseases early.”

“We'll do this, today we'll buy what we need, tomorrow we'll do all the necessary medical exams, all right?” he answered impatiently.

“All right.”

The rest of the way was silent. When we arrived in the capital, the first store we stopped at was to buy the car seat and the crib. Then we went to the registry office. I sat near the exit door, looking at the street while the man waited to be attended. I even thought the baby's mother might show up to register her son, but nothing! There were three people waiting before him, so I had an incredible idea while I waited. I had seen a women's clothing store next to the registry office, so I decided to go there and buy a few pieces for myself.

With the baby in my arms, I went in and picked up some underwear, five shirts, three pairs of pants, and two dresses. I didn't even try them on, I just said my size and put them in a bag. They also sold shoes there, and I bought two pairs of sandals and a pair of sneakers. I bought a small travel bag and asked them to put everything inside it. Next to the store, there was a pharmacy where I bought personal hygiene products.

It didn't even take me twenty minutes, and I already had a bag full of everything I needed. When I returned to the registry office, Oliver appeared.

We went into the pharmacy and bought diapers, bottles, teethers, a hygiene kit, and the right milk the baby should drink. Then we stopped at a clothing store and bought the clothes he needed. I bought most of them in larger sizes, because I knew the baby would grow fast. Oliver didn't care about the price. On the contrary, he told me to buy the most expensive ones, from well-known and famous brands. We had already been out for more than two hours, so the baby started crying.

“I can't believe this boy is crying again?” Oliver said nervously.

“It's normal, sir. Babies this age feed every two hours. Can you stop at a snack bar around here? I'll ask them to disinfect the bottle for me.”

We stopped at a small restaurant. I spoke with the waitress and explained the situation. She quickly not only disinfected the bottle, but also heated the water to prepare the milk. After feeding the baby, who went back to sleep, we finished buying what was missing.

“Where do you live? We'll get your things,” Oliver said.

“There's no need. My mother brought them to me. I asked her when we were at the registry office.”

He looked suspicious, but said nothing. Then we headed to the farm. When we arrived there, an employee was in front of the house waiting for us. He soon took the things from the car and carried them to “my” room.

There were several bags I needed to organize. I would have plenty of time, because the good thing about newborns is that they spent most of their time sleeping.

I took the clothes we bought and went looking for the laundry room. Since the baby would have exams the next day, he would need to wear clean clothes. I washed everything by hand and hung it out to dry. Meanwhile, I went to the kitchen to heat water to fill the thermos I would take to the room. When I entered the kitchen, I found a woman there.

“Good afternoon!” I greeted politely.

“Good afternoon.” The woman looked at me curiously. “You must be the nanny.”

“Yes, that's me. My name is Aurora.”

“I'm Lúcia, the housekeeper. The boss said you were here, so I prepared your lunch.”

“Thank you very much.”

After I served myself, Lúcia left the kitchen. She didn't seem like much of a talker. I stayed alone, watching the baby through the baby monitor I had just installed. After eating, I went upstairs to the room and started organizing some things in the wardrobe. There were even a few toys among the things. While I was organizing, I smelled smoke coming from outside the window. Curious, I looked and saw Oliver throwing some clothes into a large barrel to burn. I was afraid he would see me spying, so I just closed the window.

When I went down for dinner, I took the baby's dry clothes and ironed them. Then I went back upstairs and put them away in the wardrobe. My brain kept creating theories in my head, but I preferred to ignore them for the moment. The crib hadn't been assembled yet, so, since it was already nine at night, I decided to leave it for the next day. I would sleep with the baby in the bed.

I took a shower and put on the pajamas I had also bought. I found it strange that Oliver didn't show up to see his son for the rest of the day.

At ten at night, I lay down beside that tiny little creature and gave him a small kiss on the forehead, since his parents hadn't shown up to do it.

I felt something unusual for that baby at that moment.