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I went into the dim bedroom to find she’d worked her way out of the swaddle and was lying on her tummy, screaming her lungs out. So she was capable of rolling over then. Good thing Ava had picked up a playpen for her to sleep in tonight.
“Come here, sweet pea,” I said as I picked her up. “Shh. It’s okay. We’ll get you a bottle.” I laid her on the bed and checked her diaper. “And a dry diaper and some brand-new pajamas.”
“Another blowout?” Knox asked as he entered the room behind me.
“Just wet, I think. Could you flip on that lamp?”
He went to the nightstand and turned it on.
“Are you ready to change your first diaper?” I asked him.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready, but let’s do this.” He rubbed his hands together as he came closer to Juniper, who’d paused in her crying to watch him, her head tilted and eyes curious.
I stepped aside so he was front and center and handed him a fresh diaper. I talked him through the steps, watching his every tentative move, resisting the urge to reach in and help him get the ointment rubbed in and show him how to fasten the tape tightly enough. The more he did on his own, the more his confidence would grow.
I handed him the pajamas with the pastel rainbow llamas on them and talked him through putting them on, holding back a grin at the inexperienced fumbling of his large hands that I was sure were competent at lots of other things—just not dressing a baby. Yet. Eventually Juniper was fully suited up in her new pajamas, and Knox exhaled as if he’d thought he’d never make itthrough.
Next up was another bottle, which she went through quickly again. This time, she didn’t immediately fall asleep, so I showed Knox how to burp her. While he walked around, burping her and talking to her about nonsense things like llamas, I got the playpen out of the box and set it up. When I finished, I glanced at the baby and saw her lids were closed.
“She’s sleepy again. Keep that up for another five minutes and I think she’ll be out fully. Then we can put her to bed.”
He nodded.
“Once we get her down, I need to run home to grab some things for the night. It won’t take long at all.”
Knox sucked in a deep breath, then nodded again. “I should be okay,” he said in a low voice.
“You will be.”
After checking out the other two spare bedrooms and finding that one was an office and one had stacks of boxes and nothing else, I maneuvered the playpen into the guest room where she’d napped.
“We can put her in my office,” Knox whispered from the doorway. “So she doesn’t keep you awake.”
“She won’t keep me awake, but since we don’t have a monitor, this way I’ll hear her when she stirs.”
“You’re the boss,” he said. “Do you think she’ll wake up in the night and need something?”
“Most likely a bottle and a diaper change or two.”
When he frowned, I reassured him, “Totally normal. Sleeping through the night at her age would be the anomaly.”
“Do people really have babies on purpose?” he asked, and I laughed quietly. Juniper appeared to be passed out good. The real test would be when we laid her down.
In the darkened bedroom, Knox carefully handed her off to me, our shoulders brushing in the process. Though I could barely see him, I caught a hint of his masculine scent and felt the air he blew out when Juniper was safely in my hold. There was something about our shared mission in the dark room that created an intimacy between us.
Or maybe that was me being ridiculous and in need of a boyfriend. Preferably one my own age. Someone who wasn’t paying me to spend the night.
Two minutes later, Juniper was in her playpen, still sound asleep, and Knox and I tiptoed out. We exhaled in unison and high-fived as soon as I pulled the door shut.
“Go get your stuff,” he said quietly. “I’ll be fine. As long as you hurry.” His lips curved up in the slightest hint of a smile. I suddenly longed to see more of that smile, to see it light up his eyes. That was probably asking too much after the day he’d had.
“I’ll be back in a half hour,” I told him.
“Promise?” he asked, his tone lighthearted.
“Promise.”
* * *
