I chuckle. “They aren’t that complicated. They mostly need the basics. Food, shelter, love, and lots and lots of clean diapers.”
He chuckles. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It’s not.” I shrug. “At least it’s not too bad until you have to provide all that when the baby is screaming and covered in his own shit. That’s when it gets a little trickier.”
He lets out a bark of laughter and shakes his head. “That sounds terrible. I wonder if I can take lessons somewhere?”
You know those birthing and parenting classes they’re always going to in the movies? The one where the couples practice breathing and then learn to put a diaper on a doll? A picture of Archer sitting next to me in one pops into my head and I can’t stop the brief stab of sadness that settles in my gut.
Not for the first time, I find myself wishing I’d had a partner to go through it all with me. It was hard to do it alone, even with all the help from my family.
Especially when it came time to give birth. It would have been nice to have someone hold my hand. Or who I could yell at during childbirth, even if they weren’t doing any of the work.
I clear my throat and reach into the box of donuts, pulling out the first one I touch. Chocolate covered with some sort of crunchy cereal, caramel drizzle, and flakes of sea salt. The noise I make when I bite into it is positively indecent, but I can’t bring myself to care.
That’s a damn good donut.
“I could teach you,” I say around a mouthful of decadent dessert. “You know, if you want,” I add, without looking up.
“Really? You would do that?” His voice takes on a husky quality and when I look up, there’s a spark of…something in his eyes. As I’m about to ask if there’s something on my face, Lincoln’s babbles come through the baby monitor.
I stand up and dust my hands on my jeans. “I would. And it’s time for your first lesson. Come on.”
He gives me that panty-melting grin again, whatever was sparking in his eyes now gone, and stands. “Lead the way, professor.”
Archer’s gaze blazes hot on my back as he follows me to the bedroom I share with Lincoln. How amazing would it be if he were following me to my bedroom for another reason?
I huff a silent laugh.Yeah, right, Phoebe. Like he’d want to take you to bed when he has that gorgeous blonde with the mile-long legs waiting for him when he gets home.No, it’s enough that he intends to be involved in Lincoln’s life. I can’t get greedy now. I wanted one thing when I moved back to Westborough and I got it. I found Lincoln’s father.
And now I’m going to teach him how to be a dad. A great dad. Then he’ll go off and have a baby with the blonde.Would he forget Lincoln? No. There’s no way.A knot in my stomach has me rubbing my belly. Why does the thought of Archer having a baby with that woman hurt so much when he’s not mine and never has been?
Damn it.
“Everything okay?” A hand on my shoulder drags me out of my reverie. “You’ve been staring at the door for a solid minute.”
I shake my head and blink a few times. “Sorry. Guess I zoned out for a second there,” I say, opening the bedroom door. “You ready?”
He nods and follows me into the room, stopping next to me at the side of the crib.
“Hi Linky, did you have a nice nap?” Lincoln kicks his little legs, a gummy grin on his face as I pick him up and carry him to the changing table. “So as soon as he wakes up, you want to change his diaper. If he sits in a dirty diaper too long, he’ll get a rash and we like to avoid that. Make sense?”
“Can I try?”
“You want to change a diaper?” I cock an eyebrow. Starting with diapers is impressive. I thought he’d want to hang back and watch for a while before practicing on his own.
He shrugs. “Well, it’s not exactly high on my list of fun things to do, but you said he can’t stay in it long and I’m here to learn. Might as well start now.”
I nod, a little stunned that he wants to jump right in with diapers first thing, but he said he wanted to learn. “Sure, uh, sure. Yeah. That’s a phenomenal idea. That’s what we’re here for, right?”
“Put me in, Coach. I got this.” Archer hops side to side like a boxer and feigns cracking his neck and I can’t help but laugh.
“Okay, let’s get to it. Grab a diaper and the package of wipes from that shelf,” I say, pointing to the shelf above the changing table. “And whatever you do, don’t let him go. He’s started rolling, and he’s already tried rolling off the table several times.”
Archer looks at me with wide eyes. “Really? That’s something that happens?”
I shrug. “I guess. They say babies are resilient, though, and it infrequently does much harm. But better safe than sorry, right? As long as you don’t leave him unattended it will be fine.”
I show him how to get Lincoln undressed and how to slide a fresh diaper under the old one before opening it. I explain how to properly clean the baby using wipes and show him where the trash goes. Then I step back.
