She looked up at me unblinkingly.
She couldn’t, but maybe the new baby would.
Swallowing hard, I tugged out a new snuggly outfit for her in soft green. On the front it said my grandma loves me mostest, which I knew to be true.
I smiled. Hopefully, Gran was having fun on her trip. With her boyfriend.
Oddly, the thought of her actively dating didn’t cause an immediate pulse-pounding headache. Probably because I was in no place to judge. She always had a good time and picked her dates well. She also didn’t have to worry about pregnancy or sticking her giant foot in her mouth so many times it got stuck there.
“She’s the smart one, right, Lily Patch?” I tugged the outfit into place and set her on her feet, laughing a little as she tried to step forward.
Then she did it again.
“Holy sh—crap, Lily, are you walking?”
Unsurprisingly, she didn’t answer, just jammed her hand in her mouth.
She’d tried a few times, but she’d never gotten very far. A blessing for sure. A walking baby was a lot more work than a crawling and climbing one.
Before I could try to get her to walk to me again, she fell back on her butt and chewed on her fingers, her cheeks reddening. She let out a sob and I rubbed the back of my neck.
Now what did she need? Could it be time for another bottle? Hadn’t Hannah mentioned feeding her before bed? That hadn’t been all that long ago in the scheme of things, as evidenced by my dry, gritty eyes.
“Hang on, kiddo.” I set her back in her crib and went to the kitchen to warm up a bottle of formula. Hannah’s door was still closed.
Maybe she’d left. I couldn’t quite blame her if she had. But no, I knew she wouldn’t do that. To me? Maybe. Just never to Lily.
Hell, she probably figured Lily needed her influence. She wasn’t wrong.
I brought the bottle back to the nursery. Lily was still crying, knuckling her streaming eyes with one hand while she sucked on the other.
“Come here, sweetheart.” I tried to pick her up and she kicked out at me, sending the bottle rolling away. I sighed and retrieved it before pickin
g up Lily and propping her on my hip.
My gaze landed on the rocking chair where Hannah had sat with her the evening before.
I didn’t think I’d ever forget that moment. Knowing she not only cradled Lily but that she had my child inside her…
Even if I had not one clue what to do with said child, I couldn’t deny the feelings he or she aroused in me. More and more with each passing hour.
I lowered myself into the rocker and attempted to give Lily the bottle, but she kicked out again. Only my nimble reflexes saved it from going flying again.
“Not hungry, hmm? Diaper is clean. What’s left? Do you miss Hannah?” My voice dipped on her name as if I could conjure her that easily.
Worst of all, I was pretty sure I missed her too, although it had been mere hours since I’d seen her last.
But she needed her rest. They both did.
Christ.
Lily kicked out again and shoved her other hand in her mouth to join the first. Her face was getting redder and redder despite her cries lowering to rather pathetic whimpers.
If she kept that up, we’d wake Hannah whether or not we meant to.
I set Lily higher up on my lap and fumbled out my phone from my trouser pocket. I did a quick one-handed search for possible explanations for crying babies, which ranged from diaper rash—her bum had seemed fine to me—to allergies—I had no idea to what—to teething.
Since Lily was currently rubbing her mouth against her hand and drooling all over the place, I decided that was a good guess.