Page 43 of His Fake Fiancé

“No, she had to work today.”

A beat of silence, the kind that felt an awful lot like shock, came through the line. “So, it’s just been you and the baby then?” He knew she was trying to keep it cool, but there was an underlying note of panic in her voice. Along with a hefty dose of skepticism.

Disappointment jabbed him in the ribs, a quick, sharp shot. The kind you didn’t know was coming, but hurt like hell when it hit. Much like the kick to the ribs he’d taken, only so much worse.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Mama didn’t think he could do this. He hadn’t been the best example of a father who was all in before now. And he was a serious screwup from way back. In fact, he wouldn’t have been in this situation to begin with if he hadn’t been fucking around with Gina.

He glanced at Olivia. She was sleeping again, her hand on his chest. Once again, the love he felt for his daughter swamped him, and he felt tears prick the back of his eyes. But she wasn’t a screw up, was she? No, she was innocent and beautiful and the love of his life. She was everything.

“Yeah” he said, and had to clear his throat because his voice was coming out way too raspy. “It’s been a daddy and daughter day.”

“And you’re really doing okay?”

“Yeah, Mama, I am.” He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but for the first time in forever, he felt like he was doing something right. “Although, honestly, I have no idea how you managed with Simon and Dec. One baby is more than enough for me. I couldn’t imagine having to do all of this stuff twice.”

Mama laughed, the sound light and airy. “And remember, I didn’t just have the twins. I also had Mason and Owen who were three and two at the time. And believe me, everything you hear about the terrible twos is true and then some. Toddlers are terrors.”

His entire body tensed at the idea of having four kids under the age of four. And she’d done it virtually alone. While his father had been around, he’d been very old school, with very old-fashioned ideas. He earned the bacon and Mama cooked it. There’d been no progressive gender roles in their household growing up. Which meant she’d done the baby and toddler stuff all by herself. Dad hadn’t been interested in the boys until they were old enough to ride a horse and help with the ranch. Before that, it was all up to Mama.

She deserved a medal or to be registered for sainthood or something. He would look into that, once he wasn’t so exhausted. “Yeah,” he said, the words dripping with sarcasm. “I can’t wait.”

Mama laughed again and Jake couldn’t help the way his lips tipped up at the sound. “Well, I’m glad things are going well. If you need anything, make sure to call.”

“I will, Mama. Enjoy your trip.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Jake ended the call and tossed the phone onto the table next to the rocking chair. He’d just sit here for a minute, make sure Olivia was conked out for good, and then he’d put her in the crib. He rocked back and forth, the silence settling around his shoulders like a warm blanket. It wasn’t often that he was surrounded by such quiet, at least when he wasn’t out in nature trying to snap the perfect shot. Things here at the ranch tended to be loud and chaotic. Which he enjoyed. But it was nice to sink into the peace of the moment now and again, too.

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, a loud noise cut through the silence. He blinked awake, and it took a second for everything to register.

The smell hit first, followed by the wet, hot, mushy feeling in the diaper region under his hand. And then the wet, hot, mushy feeling on the baby’s back. She awoke with a start and started to fuss.

“Oh, baby girl,” he said, momentarily at a loss with what to do. The smell was obnoxious, and bile crawled up his throat.

He jumped up and carried her over to the changing table. Her entire back was soggy and he shuddered. As he peeled off her clothes, he concluded that this was the grossest thing he’d ever had to deal with. And that was saying a lot, since he’d spent the better part of his life at one end of a cow or another.

There was poop everywhere. Up her back, down her legs, all over her bum. He thought there might even be some in her hair. It was too much. There was no way he’d be able to wipe it off with wipes or anything. This was going to require a full hose down.

He dropped her dirty clothes into the empty trash bag in the wastebasket, wiped up with top of the table with a massive handful of baby wipes, and then tied up the bag—he’d deal with them later, probably with some lighter fluid and a match—and then cracked open the window a bit.

Then he carried the baby into the bathroom. There was no bathtub in the guest house, just a standup shower. He glanced at the sink. It was way too small and shallow to get the job done.

So, a shower it was then. Which was probably a good thing, because it felt like he was covered in baby poop, too.

He managed to strip off his clothes, which was impressive given it required some fussy baby juggling. He was totally putting that as a special skill on his resume. Avoiding the poopy side of a wiggling baby while stripping off your poop-streaked shirt, without getting anymore on you, was definitely a skill worth bragging about.

He turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. Stepping into the warm spray was like heaven. He finally felt clean and was pretty sure Olivia felt the same, because she stopped fussing.

“See, it’s not so bad,” he said and started swaying.

Olivia smiled at him, and he leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers. She laughed and reached up and patted his cheek. His stubble always fascinated her. She made a little chirping noise and rubbed her other hand along his other cheek.

“All right,” he said, shifting her so he was holding her with one arm. He grabbed the body wash and the sponge with the other. “Let’s get squeaky clean, jellybean.”

As he soaped her up, he started to sing some silly song from when he was a kid. He had no idea what made him think of it, but Olivia seemed to like it, so he kept going. Apparently, his new focus in life was making sure Olivia was happy. And he was perfectly okay with that.