Happy New Year, Baby (SEAL Team: Holiday Heroes Book 2) by Laura Marie Altom

Author:Laura Marie Altom [Altom, Laura Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SEAL Team: Holiday Heroes, Book 2
Publisher: Fulton Court Press
Published: 2017-12-23T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

LILIANNA WOKE SOMETIME in the night, disoriented and drooling. It took a few deep breaths to realize Donny was crying over the monitor.

She yawned before easing out from the beneath the down comforter in the king-sized bed she used to share with Brandon. The room was chilly, so she stepped into her slippers, then slipped her thick robe on over her flannel PJs. After a pit stop in the bathroom, she jogged down the hall to her son.

“Coming, sweetie…”

Only when she got there, Donny was no longer crying because his uncle had already lifted him from his crib, settled him on his changing table and was attempting by the soft beams of the swimming fish nightlight to change the baby’s diaper.

Brody looked so big.

Donny so small.

It was probably exhaustion making the observation, but the combo was the most enchanting sight Lilianna had witnessed in a long time.

“A+ for effort,” she said behind Brody, “but have you ever done that before?”

“Nah, but it can’t be that hard. Plus, I figured you could use the sleep. You left bottles filled with breastmilk in the fridge, right?”

“Yes, but…” Who was this thoughtful, capable man and what had he done with her brother-in-law?

“All of that sounded great in theory, but how do I get the old diaper off?” He’d successfully removed the lower half of Donny’s Onesie, but fumbled with the full diaper’s sticky tabs.

“Helps if you turn on a light.” She moved a few feet to the left, toward the cozy rocker and side table where she flicked on a lamp. “Now you can see the tabs instead of fumbling for them.”

“Ah, got it. Thanks for the tip. What next?” Donny cooed and kicked. “I didn’t realize we were dealing with a moving target.”

“Just wait till he pees on you.”

“No way? For real?”

When she nodded, they shared a laugh.

What a novelty it was—and unexpected joy—to share this late-night ritual. It was the sort of thing she’d dreamt of sharing with her husband, but as one of her oldest, dearest friends, Brody would do.

“If you can clasp him by his ankles, then lift and wipe.” She demonstrated, giving her son a good cleaning, then placed the used wipes onto the soiled diaper, wadding it into a ball, then pressed her foot on the lidded diaper pail to throw it away. “Grab a new diaper from here…” She took one from the table’s highest shelf. “…Slide it under his bootie like this, then pull it up and seal the tabs. You might wipe his legs a little—just in case a little pee went rogue. Last, put his feet back into his jammies, button him up, then voila, he’s ready for feeding.”

“Holy crap…”

“What’s wrong?” She turned out the lamp, already moving toward the hall.

“Nothing, just that I can’t believe you do this every night, then wake up for work every morning. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”

She shrugged. “That was never the plan, but it wasn’t as if I had a choice. Millions of moms don’t.

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