The Snow Leopard's Baby (Glacier Leopards 2)

Jeff carried it inside to store by the fireplace in a few trips. Leah, he saw, had finished feeding Emily and taken her feet out of the bowl of water so that she could follow the baby around as she explored the cabin.

“You really shouldn’t be walking yet,” Jeff observed when he came in the second time. “Are your feet still numb?”

She shook her head. “They hurt a bit, but they’re not numb anymore. They hurt a lot while they were in the water, but it’s better now.”

“Good, that’s just what you want to happen. But the skin still shouldn’t be irritated if you can help it, which means you should really stay off your feet.”

Leah made a grab for Emily as she crawled toward the fireplace. The baby was really booking it, and Leah was barely fast enough to keep her from getting away. “Believe me,” she said, “I’d sit if I could. But this one isn’t cooperating. She really wants to check out the fire.”

“I got her,” Jeff said. “You sit down. I promise I won’t let her crawl into the fireplace.”

Leah hesitated. Jeff understood her not wanting to let Emily go, especially with someone she’d just met. “Nieces and nephews, remember?” he said. “I’m very familiar with how babies have this driving need to find anything harmful to them and put it in their mouths. I got her covered.”

“Well...I guess so.” Leah stepped back as Jeff came over to Emily, and went back to the couch to sit down. He heard

her sigh in relief as she took her weight off her feet, and he suspected that she’d been playing down how much it hurt.

That left him with Emily. He sat down on the floor next to her. “Hey, there.”

She looked at him. She was a cute baby, all curly brown hair like her mom’s and deep brown eyes that must be her dad’s. Her skin was the same olive-tan color as Leah’s, and she had a little turned-up nose and round, chubby cheeks.

“You look like a smart little girl,” Jeff told her. “You want to check out the fire, huh? Explore the world a little? How about we take a look, but keep it safe?”

He reached out slowly, giving her time to decide if she wanted to freak out. She stayed quiet, so he lifted her up. She started squirming when he settled her back-to-front against his chest, but calmed down immediately when he went over to the fireplace, staring at the fire with fascination.

He knelt down in front of it, giving her a good view but keeping well back from it, and holding on firmly so that she wouldn’t be able to get away no matter how hard she tried.

“There, take a look. Fire. Pretty cool, huh?”

She reached for it. “No, no,” Jeff said. “It’s hot. See?” He leaned forward just a little, so that she could feel the increase in heat, then leaned back.

“You’re really good with her,” Leah said quietly from behind him.

Jeff shrugged. “I like babies. They’re cute. And they’re always watching stuff, trying to figure things out. That’s something more adults could stand to do, I always think.”

Working as a park ranger, he ran into his fair share of problems that had been caused by people simply not paying attention.

When Emily squirmed again, he set her on her feet and took both of her hands. She took the hint immediately and started doing the unsteady baby walk, clutching at his fingers. He grinned and stood up, supporting her as she walked away from the fire, smiling widely at her own accomplishment.

“She’s good at this,” Jeff noticed.

He saw Leah nod out of the corner of his eye. “She loves it. She likes to hold onto the furniture and walk along it, too. She’ll be taking her first steps soon, probably.”

“How old is she?”

“Ten months.”

“Nice work,” he told Emily. She strained forward against his hold, wanting to go faster, and he obediently sped up so that they could take a circuit around the couch.

When they got around the back of it, though, Emily saw the kitchenette and wanted to go take a look at that. There was a tiny table, and she let go of his hands to grab onto one of the chairs and try to climb it. Jeff kept his hands hovering close enough to catch her, but let her do it by herself. “There you go,” he said. “Wow! What a good climber!”

“Yep,” Leah said. “She’s a fantastic climber, which is crazy considering she can’t even walk yet. It causes me all sorts of headaches, but I can’t help but be impressed.”

Emily had achieved the seat of the chair and was now seriously considering how to get herself up on top of the table.

“I checked the cabinets earlier,” Jeff said, watching the baby pull herself up to stand on the seat of the chair, and then tackle the climb to the tabletop. “There’s tea, and some dry staples—rice, beans, oats, and pasta—but that’s about it. I saw you have some food in your backpack.”

“I do,” Leah said. “What about you? Did you bring any food with you?”