“Come to Uncle Ben, my little Tiger Lily.”
“I can’t hear out of my left ear,” Ollie groaned as he passed her over.
Ben swayed back and forth with Lily curled against his chest. He patted her back firmly until she let out a belch that would have made their grandpa proud.
“Really, Lilith?” Ollie said. “I’ve been trying to burp you for an hour.”
Ben grinned and kissed her head. “I have the magic touch.”
Ollie grunted and put Lily’s carrier and diaper bag on the floor. “Where’s Dad?”
“He and Papa went shopping. Papa wants to redecorate the living room since it’s not big enough for all of us anymore. We have a light afternoon, so it seemed like a good time.”
“Plus, grandkids come with so much…stuff,” Ollie added through a muffled yawn. “I was going to have Dad check on Lily. I’m just?—”
“A first-time parent. I get it. Let me take a look and see why my girl is so mad.”
Ben carried Lily to one of the exam rooms and put her on the bed. After giving her a quick check-up, he put his stethoscope around his neck and cooed down at his niece.
“Someone isn’t digesting her formula very well today, are you Tiger Lily?”
“What does that mean?” Ollie said, more than a little panic in his voice.
“She’s okay. She has some gurgles in her tummy. We need to help her out a little, that’s all.” Ben put his hands on her little belly and massaged the area. She was so tiny and perfect. As he worked, she unfurled her legs and stretched them out. “That’s my girl. Kick those little legs for me.”
“You’re so good with her,” Ollie said, moving to Ben’s side and leaning against him. He let out another long yawn seconds before his daughter released an impressive amount of gas. “Good gravy, no wonder she was crying.”
“Yep. I’ll show you how to do this until she gets better at moving around and doing it herself. Don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal.” Ben gave his brother another long look before picking up Lily again. “Why don’t you go up to the house and crash for a couple hours? Lily and I can spend some time together.”
“I….” Ollie yawned and glanced at his daughter, who’d already settled against Ben’s chest. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Ben. What time is your next appointment? I’ll make sure I’m?—”
“I only have one follow-up, so Lily will be my nurse. Don’t worry about it.”
Ollie stopped yawning and stared at him. “What?”
“What?” Ben repeated. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, I get it.” Ollie nodded as if they’d had an entire conversation. “Koios must be your afternoon appointment.”
“What?” Ben asked again.
“Say no more.”
“I didn’t say anything at all.”
“You didn’t have to,” Ollie said. “It’s obvious.”
“What?”
“Why do you keep saying what?” Ollie asked. “You aren’t making any sense.”
“I’mnot making any sense?”
“Exactly. Now, Lily, you be a good girl for Uncle Ben while Baba goes and sleeps for what he hopes is a whole uninterrupted hour. Two would be glorious.”
Ben chuckled and shooed him out the door. He grabbed a blanket from Lily’s carrier and took it over to the desk with them. After wrapping her up like a little burrito, Ben tucked her into one arm and returned to his research.
He had absolutely no idea what Ollie had been suggesting with his comments, or how he’d known that Koios was Ben’s afternoon appointment. It wasn’t like his brother had seen the research on his computer screen or Ben’s notes. Ollie was probably just teasing him, for some unknown reason.
