Baby Benefits Read Online Free PDF

“No, I didn’t quit. Not exactly.”
    “I knew you wouldn’t,” quipped Kendrick as he strolled through the doorway, nonchalantly dropping his backpack onto the chair beside Raina.
    Lavender glared at him as she brushed a strand of light brown hair off her forehead. “Be supportive.”
    Kendrick shrugged, swiping a bite of tomato off Lavender’s cutting board as he continued on his way to the living room to where their mother sat, watching her nightly dose of CNN. “Hey, I call ’em like I see ’em.”
    Raina lifted her head up just long enough to call, “And don’t leave your backpack in the kitchen.”
    Without looking back, he waved a hand as if to say he’d get it later. It didn’t make her feel any better.
    “Of course I didn’t really quit. Apparently I have no spine. Even my brother ignores me.”
    Lavender chuckled as she scraped the tomatoes into the bowl. “Of course he ignores you. He’s seventeen. He ignores everyone.” Lavender cocked her head to one side, her hazel eyes suddenly serious as she studied Raina. “So?” she prodded gently. “What happened? Why didn’t you quit? Did Darth Vader bully you?”
    “Oh, what’s the point in rehashing it all?” Raina stood, ignoring Lavender’s slur against Derek. Cassidy, the youngest of Raina’s three sisters, had nicknamed Derek “Darth Vader” years ago. Because—in Cassidy’s words—he was “tall, dark, and intimidating. And pure evil.” Unfortunately it had stuck.
    While it had been amusing at first, her family’s intense dislike of Derek only made her feel awkward now. If her siblings only knew how much he’d done for their family…Well, they’d be embarrassed to say the least. However, if they knew how she really felt about Derek, then they’d just be baffled.
    Sidetracking the question, Raina asked, “Don’t you need help with dinner?”
    But Lavender held up a hand in protest. “No way. Tomorrow night is your night to do dinner. And I happen to know that Kendrick let you help with last night’s tacos. Besides, I suspect you’re just trying to distract me.” She pointed the chef’s knife at Raina with a mock scowl. “Now ’fess up.”
    “It’s not that I didn’t quit, it’s just that it didn’t go exactly as I’d planned.” She struggled to put her feelings into words. When she’d stormed out of his office, she’d felt confident. Sure she’d made the right decision. Won a major victory. But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she’d been outsmarted.
    Lavender made a “keep it coming” gesture, so Raina summed up the agreement she’d made with Derek. As Raina spoke, Lavender’s chopping slowed, then stopped all together as she focused her attention on Raina’s story.
    “So after two weeks, he’s supposed to fire you?”
    “Yep.”
    “Well.” Lavender cocked her head to the side. “That sounds like a good thing. All you have to do is make it through the next two weeks, win this bet you’ve got going with him and walk away with a bundle of money.”
    “That’s if I can get Isabella to respond to him,” Raina pointed out, her sense of dread building.
    “True. But that shouldn’t be so hard to do.”
    “Easy for you to say. You’re the early childhood development major. Me, I passed myself off as some kind of expert on kids.”
    “You helped Momma raise four kids. I’d say you are an expert.”
    “Did you miss the part where I said Isabella is five months old? Sure, if she was fifteen or even five, maybe I’d be a help. But Momma didn’t get sick until I was nineteen. Before that I was just an ordinary kid with younger brothers and sisters. There’s certainly nothing in my background that makes me an expert on infants.”
    “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re great with babies. They love you. And you certainly adore—” Lavender broke off, frowning. “Oh. That’s what you’re worried about.”
    “What?” Raina tried to keep her expression blank, but