Page 33 of Betrothal or Breakaway

The guest bathroom is almost as big as mine, so there’s plenty of room to move around. It has a sleek white freestanding bathtub which now hosts a smaller, pink baby bathtub. While the pink tub fills up, I move to the cabinet where the towels are stored and remove a few for Nella and lay them out for when her bath is finished.

Gently, I pick up the wiggly baby girl and ease her into the tub. When her body hits the water, her face scrunches up like she’s mad, but she soon calms down and gives me a gummy smile. She splashes her hands merrily in the water, causing it to spray all over my face, but I just chuckle. How could I be annoyed when she’s so happy? Especially after seeing her so miserable not even fifteen minutes ago. I never want to see her scream like that again, but I know she probably will.

Amber has arranged a caddy beside the tub with baby soap, lotion, small wash cloths, diapers, diaper cream, and fresh sleepers. I smile at her tiny bit of organization. Tidiness has never been Amber’s strength, so you can tell that her number one priority in life is… taking care of her daughter. I grab a washcloth with a little pink duck pattern and squirt some lavender-scented soap onto it, then get to work washing the slippery baby. She coos and smiles like she wants to have a conversation, so I oblige.

“I never had a chance to tell your mom that we’re going to have company tomorrow.”

Nella stares at me.

“I know. Not even three days into marriage, and family is already visiting.”

She pokes her tongue out.

“Hey, now. Cut me some slack just this once, okay?” I dampen her red curls with the washcloth. “At least you’ll get spoiled by your aunt and grandma. Honestly, you can’t complain.”

She smiles and flails her hands again, making water splash on my face once more.

“All right, Nells. Let’s get you dried off before your fingers and toes go pruney.”

She splashes in protest, but I manage to get the clean baby dried, diapered and dressed.

As Nella and I sneak out of the bathroom, I peek toward the bed and see Amber facedown amidst a pile of pillows and smile to myself.

Thankfully, Nella stays quiet as I close the guestroom door. When I pass my room on my way back downstairs, I stare at my bed, denying the itch to make it the way I do every morning of my life. Instead, I force myself to ignore it and carry Nella downstairs, where I lay her on her playmat that has little toys hanging above it. She loves the simple contraption.

As I’m making myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, where I can still see Nella in the living room happily grabbing for her toys, I take a deep breath for the first time since waking up early this morning.

I’m quite literally about to plant my ass on the sofa—the first time I’ve sat down this morning—when my doorbell rings.

I close my eyes and count to three, that annoying prickle of overwhelm creeping its way in. I’ve held it together the past few days, through all of the changes in life, routine, tidiness of my house…but that one little doorbell sound is what’s about to set me off.

Checking that Nella is still on her mat—not sure where I was expecting her to go—I run to the door.

Colby Knight stands there, grinning his signature smile. I groan and spin on my heel, back to the living room. I can tell he’s following me from the sound of the door clicking shut and the patter of footsteps.

“Okay, what’s your problem? That’s no way to greet your next-door neighbor and favorite teammate, now, is it?” He asks, taking a seat on the floor by Nella as I sit on the couch and grab my mug of coffee.

I roll my eyes and take a sip, welcoming the caffeine to my system. “None of you are my favorite,” I grumble, sipping my black coffee again.

“Everything okay? Where’s Amber?”

“You wouldn’t believe the morning we’ve had, especially since we’ve only been awake for like two hours.” I set my mug down. “I woke up to a text from my mom that she and my sister are coming tomorrow, went to find Amber to tell her, then got completely derailed by this adorable thing.” I pause, pointing to Nella. “Who was having a massive meltdown and pooped all over the place…all over me.” I huff a laugh. Now that the moment has passed, I can admit it’s a little bit funny.

Colby bursts into laughter then bumps his fist against Nella’s. The contact draws her focus to the man on the floor beside her and she smiles up at him. Colby’s eyes go soft, and he runs a hand across her now dry curls. “Dude, how can you be annoyed with someone this cute?”

“I’m not annoyed at her,” I defend myself. “She couldn’t help it. I think I’m just…” I pause again, thinking of a description for what I’m feeling. “I think all the change is sinking in, you know? I’m more than happy to have Amber and Nella here, but this morning was my first dose of reality. Nella comes first over everything, obviously, but babies are a lot of work. I know it’s stupid, but I didn’t think about how hard it would be. How hard this has all been for Amber. Like I’m exhausted from two hours when she’s been doing this on her own for nearly three months. She’s freaking super mom.” Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees. “Every day I wake up and have the same routine, I have only myself to think about, until I get to work and have the team to think about. My time has been my own, everything was just easy. And I need to learn to spread that time to three people now.”

Colby nods, blowing out a breath. “That’s definitely a lot of change at once. But if anyone can do it, it’s Ford Remington. Captain of the unruly D.C. Eagles.”

I snort a laugh. “Nella and Amber are much cuter than you guys.”

Colby’s hand comes to his chest in mock offense. Nella coos, and he looks at her, his bottom lip poking out. “Okay, you have a point. She’s really f?—”

“Language,” I warn.

“Right. Really freaking cute,” he corrects. “Can I hold her?”

Holding my hands up in front of me, I say, “Hold at your own risk. She may have another blow out.”

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