Page 58 of Second Chance with Seth

“You want me to hold her?”

“Yes.”

I move a little closer and gently hand her over to him. He’s holding his breath, I can tell, and as she settles in the crook of his arm, he slowly releases it, gazing down into her eyes.

“Hi there,” he whispers, stroking her head. His hand looks enormous, and I struggle not to cry, fighting down the lump in my throat. He clearly notices and pulls me into a hug, the three of us bound together, as he whispers, “It’ll be okay,” in my ear.

It’s easy to believe him when he says it like that and I lean back, studying his face, before we both look down at River again. She wriggles, and he tenses, making me smile.

“She knows it’s bath time,” I say, and he nods his head.

“And does the wriggling around mean she’s excited, or trying to avoid it?”

“No, she enjoys being in the water. I think she’s just letting us know she’d like us to get on with it.”

“Okay. We’d better do as we’re told.”

I chuckle, removing my apron, which I’d normally have done downstairs before leaving the coffee shop. I guess I must have been distracted today, although I can’t imagine why, and I throw it over the back of the couch and make my way to the bathroom, opening the door. Seth follows me in and stands to one side while I put the baby bath into the tub and run some water into it.

“What’s that for?” he asks, pointing to the sling that sits inside the baby’s tub.

“It’s to support River while I’m bathing her… so I can use both hands.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah. Once she gets a bit older, I can drop it down, and there’s a separate bar. It has holes in it for her legs, which will help her while she’s learning to sit up.”

“I see,” he says, studying it as it fills with water. “How do you know how hot to make it?” he asks.

“I have a thermometer.”

I grab the crab-shaped device, putting it into the water, and Seth looks down at it. “That’s neat.”

“Yeah. I didn’t realize until after I’d bought the bath that you can get them with built-in thermometers. But we get along okay with the crab. We’ve got another one in her room, which doubles as a nightlight. It’s shaped like an egg, though, not a crab… so it’s not as much fun, but it’s really useful at night, when I’m feeding her.”

I hate that I’m having to explain all of this to him… that he wasn’t involved in helping to choose and buy all the things Riverneeds. But I don’t want to get back into whose fault that was. I don’t feel as though we’ll gain anything.

And besides, the bath is full, and according to the thermometer, it’s just the right temperature. I lay a towel on the floor and, rather than expecting Seth to undress River, I take her from him and put her on top of it. She brings her feet up, wiggling her legs, and making it harder to get her clothes off… but I’m used to this, and leave them in a pile on the floor, removing her diaper before I lift her into the bath, supporting her with one hand.

She takes no more than a second to get used to it and then giggles as I splash water over her.

“She really does like it,” Seth says, crouching beside me. He’s removed his leather jacket and River studies him, like she doesn’t understand why there’s a strange man in the bathroom with us, and I lean in a little closer to her.

“This is your d—daddy,” I say, ignoring the catch in my voice.

She can’t understand a word I’m saying, but she claps her hands together, which makes us both laugh, and then Seth leans in to me and whispers, “Thank you.”

I turn to him. “What for? I’m just introducing you.”

“I know, and I’m thanking you for doing it.”

River lets out a squeal, and we turn our attention back to her, Seth cupping a handful of water and drizzling it over her, which makes her giggle again, as we lean against each other and gaze down on our beautiful daughter.

Her body wash is on the shelf next to me, and before the water gets too cold, I lean over and grab her sponge from the hook. It’s in the shape of a dolphin, and I squirt some body wash over it, giving it a squeeze before I hand it to Seth.

“You want me to wash her?”

“Why not? She’s your daughter.”

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