"No, I didn't," she called, and she followed him slowly up the stairs, curious as to what he might have found. Shortly after she'd started tailing Nicholas, the most God-awful voice assaulted her eardrums and made Mattie cringe. She knew that sound from underpaid babysitting jobs; a feeling of dread settled over her as she entered the room and her eyes fell upon the crib. [i]Oh, no.[/i] What were they supposed to do with a baby? 

Mattie was not good at caring for other human beings. Therapists had told her that the lack of human interaction and limited affection in her early life had damaged that bit of her brain or something like that, but she knew that it would be unforgivable to leave the poor thing to starve here. Cautiously, she reached into the crib and prodded at the infant to check for anything like bites. She turned her head and looked at Nicholas with round eyes. 

Her voice was soft at this point. "Maybe we should look for diapers and baby food." She chewed her lip. This was a challenge she certainly hadn't seen coming.