Make My Heart Race by Grace McGinty

Author:Grace McGinty [McGinty, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

JESSE

“Okay, hear me out, kid. We are gonna get you wrapped, snacked and back down to nap before your mama wakes up.” I looked up at Hayes. “You ready?”

He nodded, baby powder in one hand and a diaper in the other. “We got this. Smooth pit stop. We’ve been practicing.”

“The bottle’s in the warmer?”

“Yep.”

Hayes and I had taken over the night-time feedings to let Tally sleep. It had taken a couple of weeks, but we had it down to a fine art now.

“All right. Let’s do this. Box box!”

I made funny faces as I unsnapped Bobbi-June’s sleep suit. I gurgled and blew raspberries, doing anything I could to keep her distracted as Hayes wiped, swiped and floofed baby powder. I lifted her legs up, snapped the new diaper into place and slipped her back into her onesie, then back in the sleep sack.

I lifted my hands in the air. “Clear!”

“Clear!”

I gave her a tiny high five. “Great work, team.”

Picking her up gently, I laid her in the crook of my arm. It had taken at least two weeks before I could be convinced that she wouldn’t break like glass if I held her. I sat down in the rocker that Will and Colin had gifted Tally, and rocked the baby gently. She yawned and let out a kitten noise of protest.

She was a great baby, who barely ever cried, and was so alert and precious. Possibly the smartest baby on the planet, already trying to hold her head up and look around. But she was grumpy if she wasn’t fed, especially if she’d given you enough warning already.

I rocked her gently. “Don’t worry, baby girl. Hay-Hay has already gone to get your bottle. He won’t be long.”

As if her little noises had summoned him from the kitchen, he appeared, a sleepy Norton in tow. My big dog wasn’t mine any more. He was firmly one hundred percent Bobbi-June’s dog now. He’d sit there and look at her in the bassinet for hours on end. When she had tummy time, he’d lay beside her and stare at her lovingly. When Tally nursed her, he’d sit there with his big head on Tally’s lap, like a living nursing pillow. When she cried, he was the first in the room.

Hayes handed me the bottle, a yawn stretching his face.

“Go back to sleep, man. I’ve got this. I’ll put her down.”

It was a testament to how tired he was that he just nodded, leaning down and kissing her cheek. He patted the top of Norton’s head, then headed back down the darkened hallway.

I gave Bobbi-June the bottle, and she latched on beautifully. What did I say? So smart.

“Your mama has a big day tomorrow. And you do too. It’s your first day of work. I gotta say, twenty-three days old and already having to go in for the daily grind seems kinda rough. This current economic climate, am I right? Craziness.” I murmured soothing nonsense to her as I rocked. “Honestly, I can’t believe your mama is even thinking about heading back already.

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