Home with the Rodeo Dad by Jeannie Watt

Author:Jeannie Watt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-11-04T18:39:42+00:00

* * *

KAT RETURNED A few minutes later with a plastic zipper bag of ice and a white washcloth. After wrapping a smallish cube in the cloth and handing it to Troy, she managed to push the bag into the ridiculously tiny freezer compartment.

“I don’t know what happened to the ice trays that used to be here, but this works,” Kat said. “You can get ice from me anytime.”

Livia stopped crying when Troy rubbed the cold damp cloth over her gums, and her eyes went wide, like she was considering the interesting feeling. A second later, her little hands came up to grab the cloth as she sucked on it.

“So far, so good,” Troy said a split second before Livia pushed the cloth away and turned her head. He coaxed her into allowing him to run the ice over her gums again.

“I think I feel the tooth,” he said.

“Hopefully, it’ll break through soon and give her some relief.”

“Amen to that. I guess I’ll buy one of those teething things that you freeze tomorrow,” he said.

“I’d buy two. One for immediate use, one for the freezer.”

“Good plan.”

A brief silence fell, then Kat asked, “Does she crawl?”

Troy smiled a little as Livia made slurpy noises on the cloth. “She pushes up onto her hands and knees and rocks.”

“So she’s not permanently attached to your chest?”

He laughed, feeling better now that Livia wasn’t as distraught. She was still thinking about crying, but in a more half-hearted way. If ice made this much of a difference, he wouldn’t have to go to the emergency room.

“It probably looks that way, but she gets lots of floor time.” He pointed to a folded blanket next to the bassinet with a small basket of colorful toys sitting on top of it. “She gives those rings a workout. Particularly the purple one.”

Kat smiled a little and got to her feet. A shaft of disappointment shot through Troy at the thought of being alone again, but instead of saying goodbye and good luck, Kat held out her hands. “Let me take her for a while more.”

Troy almost protested. Almost said he was good and that he didn’t need any more help, but the words didn’t come. And he didn’t bother wondering why.

“Thanks.” He handed his daughter over to Kat. Livia gave a small warning whimper and then set about sucking the cold cloth again. Troy, who suddenly had nothing to do, sat down and watched as Kat crooned to Livia and walked the short distance to the bathroom door and back to the bassinet, her lips curved into a gentle smile as she studied the baby’s face. And when Livia pushed the cloth away and debated about crying, Kat cajoled her out of it. Part of it was the ice, part was that Livia was probably so exhausted that she didn’t have the energy to really cut loose again.

Kat continued to walk the baby and Troy closed his eyes for the briefest of moments, comforted by Kat’s steady footfalls and soft murmurs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.