Page 59 of Second Chance with Seth

He gently wipes the sponge over River, taking his time, and she gazes up at him, confused, but going with it, by the looks of things. Once he’s finished, we rinse her off together, and I stand up and grab her hooded towel from the rail, lying it on the floor, and then lifting River onto it.

“She hates this part,” I say as she starts to cry. I wrap her up quickly, pulling the hood over her head, and lift her into my arms. “There,” I whisper. “It’s all okay.”

She whimpers a little, but soon settles and Seth quickly works out how to pull the plugs at the bottom of the tub, releasing the water. Once that’s done, he grabs her clothes and the spare towel from the floor.

“Where do you want these?” he asks.

I’m so unused to having help, I pause for a second, and then say, “The towel goes back on the rail, and the clothes in the hamper. Thanks.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he says, doing as I’ve asked before he grabs his jacket, which he left on the floor. “What now?”

“We need to fix her a bottle and go upstairs.”

He smiles, and I wonder if that was because I just said ‘we’, instead of ‘I’. It felt natural, not forced, but rather than making a big deal out of it, I simply lead the way out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Seth dumps his jacket over the back of the couch, alongside my apron, and then follows me, watching as I set up the automatic formula mixer.

“Is that as complicated as it looks?” he says.

“Not at all. It’s probably the best investment I’ve made. It saves so much time, and I got it on sale with the bottle sterilizer.”

He comes over, standing right beside me, and pays close attention while I demonstrate, showing him how to input thecorrect temperature and amount before placing the bottle underneath the dispenser.

“There’s a little more to it than that,” I explain while the formula filters through. “It has to be cleaned a lot, and obviously the formula has to be topped up quite often.”

He nods his head as I hand him the bottle and lid and he puts the two together, making sure it’s on tight before he follows me up the stairs to River’s nursery.

“Wow… this is amazing,” he says, taking in the changes I’ve made up here. Before, the walls were cream-colored, but now they’re pink. The drapes have teddy bears on them, and as well as River’s crib, which is over to the right, and has a changer at one end, there’s a dresser and a chair, which is over by the window.

“I just need to get her ready for bed,” I say, taking River to the changer, and lying her on the soft mat. I keep diapers in the top drawer, and sleep suits in the one below, and I quickly grab what I need, getting River dressed in no time at all. Once she’s ready, I pick her up again, and as Seth is still holding her bottle, I ask if he’d like to feed her.

“Me?” he says.

“Sure.”

I nod toward the chair by the window and he goes over to it, sitting down and looking up at me as I lower River into his arms.

“What do I do?” he asks.

“Just introduce the teat into her mouth. She’ll do the rest.”

He does as I say, watching in wonder as our daughter suckles. I watch them too, trying hard not to cry… or to wish it could have been like this from the start. I busy myself, clearing up a few things, and closing the drapes, although it doesn’t take River long to finish her bottle, and by the time she does, she’s struggling to keep her eyes open.

“You need to sit her up,” I whisper, keeping things quiet now.

Seth does as I say, even though River would clearly rather remain where she is, and we both smile when she lets out a loud burp.

“Very ladylike,” he murmurs, looking up at me with a smile.

“I like to put her in her crib while she’s still vaguely awake,” I say, keeping my voice low, and taking her from him. “That way, she gets the concept of falling asleep by herself.”

He nods and gets up from the seat, putting the lid back on the bottle and following me to River’s crib, where I lie her down and zip her into her sleep sack.

“Doesn’t she have any covers?” Seth whispers as I take the bottle from him.

“No. She’s fine like that.”

I blow her a kiss and he does the same, lingering for a moment before he follows me to the door, and we both step outside.

At the bottom of the stairs, I start toward the kitchen, but he grabs my hand, pulling me back.

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