Page 51 of Finding Home

“Raine wanted to come over!” Barbara shouts excitedly. “She opened her eyes this morning and immediately asked to come over here to make pancakes—with her dadda!”

Chapter 19

Aubrey

Ifinish up the yoga session I didn’t do this morning because I wound up having a mental breakdown during my first downward dog and turn off the yoga app on my phone. After Mom dropped off Raine this morning, Caleb took his daughter, “the party chef,” inside to make pancakes, while I remained outside with my book. And from that point forward, the morning has felt natural and right. Joyful. Serene. Indeed, the whole time I’ve been doing yoga, Caleb’s been in front of me in the shallows of the lake, enthusiastically giving his daughter her first-ever swimming lesson, and Raine’s been having a blast with him.

As I’m turning off the yoga app on my phone, Caleb calls out to Raine, “Great job, Shortcake! Kick, kick!”

I look up, surprised. Shortcake is what Dad has always called me, so my brain assumed Caleb must have been talking to me for a second there. But, nope. He’s holding Raine’s two little hands, while teaching her to kick her legs and dunk her face into the water.

“That’s it,” Caleb says, his tone gentle and brimming with encouragement. “You’re doing a great job!”

It’s a beautiful thing to behold a big, brawny man carefully leading his tiny baby girl around a lake. I’m transfixed by the sight.

After a few more kicks and dunks of her face, Caleb pulls Raine to him, and she sputters and blinks in his arms.

“You want to keep going or stop for now, sweetheart?”

“Thtop.”

“Okay, Shortcake. Good job. We’ll go again tomorrow, okay? Great job for today.”

Caleb begins striding out of the water toward me, with Raine clinging to his massive frame like a wet baby monkey.

“Did you see her?” he asks, stopping in front of me with a handsome smile on his face.

“I sure did. Great job, Rainey.”

“My grandpa taught Miranda and me to swim that same way, right there in the exact same spot. I’ve seen it in home movies.”

“I’d love to see them.”

Caleb scratches his bearded cheek. “Not sure where they are. I’ll ask Miranda.”

“Please do.” I bite my lip and look away. Since our conversation on the yoga mat earlier, something has shifted between us.Something big.In fact, if my mother hadn’t driven up when she did, I think I would have thrown caution to the wind and kissed Caleb before our conversation was over.

“Pway bawn?” Raine asks Caleb.

Caleb’s eyebrows ride up. “You said you wanted to play with sand toys.”

“Bawn.”

I chuckle. “Looks like she’s changed her mind.” WhenCaleb frowns, I motion to the grass in front of me. “Go on,Dadda. Oink like a pig for your daughter’s pleasure.”

Raine giggles. “Oinky, Dadda!”

Caleb visibly melts. “You already know how to get anything you want from me, don’t you? All you have to do is call me Dadda, and I’m at your service.”

Caleb sets Raine down and gets down on all fours in front of her. And then, man, oh man, the brawny, tattooed rockstar starts oinking like a pig with abandon for his baby girl. So well, in fact, Raine and I can’t stop laughing with glee at the ridiculous sight.

“Is that good?” Caleb asks. “Can I get up now?”

“Cow!” Raine commands, and to his credit, Caleb doesn’t hesitate to moo like a cow. And then, to cock-a-doodle-doo like a rooster. And on and on, as Raine, with a snarky assist from me, goes through every conceivable farm animal.

“Okay, Rainey,” I finally say. “Let’s let Dadda take a break. It’s time for lunch.”

Caleb falls onto his back and splays his arms like a dead body, making Raine giggle uproariously. “Thank God,” he murmurs. “Playing barn is exhausting.”

---