Page 32 of The Way We Collide

“Raven…” he cries, gagging again.

Haddy cries more, and I growl. “Go away before she gets too upset.”

Pushing off the floor, he sprints out of the living room again. I grab the wipes and quickly clean up our baby.

“He’s got a long way to go, Hads.” My tone is sweet, and I quickly wrap up her dirty diaper, putting it to the side as I slip on a new one.

She’s still making little quivering sobs, and I grab the bag, digging in it for her pacifier. As soon as it’s in her mouth, I lift her and she rests her head on my shoulder, curling her fingers back and forth in my shirt sleeve.

I put all the supplies away and wrap the dirty diaper in a plastic bag before putting it in the garbage. Hendrix sits at the bar holding a coffee pod to his nose, and I shake my head at him, doing my best not to growl.

“I can’t do this, Rave.” His eyes are serious. “I do football. I don’t do poop.”

“But you’re a smart guy.” I shake my head. “You’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t know how I’ll figurethatout. Iwillvomit.”

“Think of it like you’re a doctor. She needs you to help her. She can’t do this herself.”

“How long before she can do it on the toilet?”

“A couple of years.”

His head drops back, and he groans. “Years?”

I walk over and put my hand on his forearm. “I’ll give youa pass this time, but you have to learn to do it. She can’t stay in poop if I’m not here. It’ll give her a bad rash, and that’ll be worse. Imagine if you had to sit in poop for hours.”

His lips press, and he puts his hand on our daughter’s back. “Hear that, Hads? No pooping when Mom’s away.”

I shake my head. “Help me with her dinner. Then we can give her a bath and get her ready for bed.”

9

Hendrix

Grizz

How’s it going, hotshot? Encountered any biohazards yet?

With a growl, I shove my phone into my pocket. If it were anyone else, I’d confess and ask for advice, but there’s no way in hell I’m talking to that showoff.

I’ll ask Jack later. I’ve got a lot more respect for him after that poopy diaper incident. He had to do it all by himself after Danielle left. With a shiver, I return to bath time.

Haddy sits securely in a little foam chair in the middle of the garden tub in Raven’s bathroom. She’s much calmer now that she’s had her dinner.

We don’t have a high chair or seat for her, so she sat in my lap as Raven spooned mush into her mouth. It was really cute, and surprisingly not too messy.

Raven would hold up a spoonful of bright orange sweet potatoes, and Haddy would open her mouth like a baby bird.Then she’d do a little shiver like it was the grossest thing in the world, but she kept opening her mouth for more.

I couldn’t stop laughing. I might be biased, but I think she’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen. Garrett can fight me.

Now she’s in the warm water, and I lift a sponge shaped like an octopus, sliding it over her teeny shoulder. She’s happy, and she seems to have forgiven me for my snorkel misstep.

I guess I did look pretty scary in that mask, but dinner made up for it.

“It’s like she has rubber bands around her arms.” I use the octopus to wash the three little creases on her chubby limb.

Haddy kicks her feet in the water, splashing bubbles all around us and making happy baby noises. Warmth fizzes in my chest, which is weird. I haveneverbeen the baby type.

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