Page 486 of The Winslow Brothers

But the other person in the room? The tiny, adorable baby in her vibrating chair?

Well, she has plans of her own.

Big plans that include belting out the kind of cry that makes Rem and me jolt away from each other as if we were about to commit a crime. Or you know…kiss.

Holy hell, was I really going to kiss Remy?

But I don’t have time to contemplate that question or what kissing him would have meant, because when you’re a mom and your baby is crying her little lungs out, her needs are all you can focus on.

And I’m not the only one whose focus has shifted.

Remy walks over to Izzy and picks her up, pulling her into his arms. “Aw, Izzy girl. Are you hungry? Or do you need to be changed? Or maybe we’re dealing with a combination of both?” he questions and cuddles her closer to his chest.

“I have a feeling it’s probably both.” I hold out my hands to take her from his arms, but he shakes his head.

“I’ll change her. You get the bottle.”

Izzy belts out another cry and Remy heads into her nursery, and I don’t think twice before going into the kitchen to get her bottle ready.

It’s almost surreal how easily we fall into a routine.

And by the time Izzy has a fresh diaper and her bottle is in her mouth, I plop down on the couch beside Remy while he feeds her because he refused to have it any other way.

She sucks at the nipple like she’s starving, like she hasn’t been fed in days, and it urges a soft laugh to leave my lips. “My oh my, you were a hungry girl.”

Remy flashes a wink at me. “Kind of like you when it comes to pickles and chicken sandwiches.”

“Whatever, smartass.” I roll my eyes on another laugh, but I also yawn.

“Tired?”

“I am, but that’s probably par for the course when you have a baby, right? Tired all the time.”

“My sister would agree. And definitely Flynn and Daisy. Twin boys are no joke.”

“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about having two Izzys right now. I can barely handle one as it is.” I grimace through a giggle, but when my eyes grow heavy, I find myself resting my head on Remy’s shoulder while he finishes feeding Izzy the bottle.

I’m just going to rest my eyes for a little bit, I mentally remind myself.Once Izzy is all fed, I’ll let Rem off the baby-caring hook.

Just a little catnap. That’s all…

Remy

My eyes pop open when the muscles in my leg jerk, and I jam my foot into something really fucking hard.

Ah, shit. That hurt.

I blink the remnants of sleep from my vision, looking around at surroundings that aren’t my apartment. When I note the fancy marble coffee table and practically all-white décor, I realize I’m still at Maria’s. One look to my left and I see Izzy sitting in her favorite vibrating chair. One look to my right and I find Maria sleeping beside me, still sitting up and her head resting on my shoulder.

Somewhere along the way, after I fed Izzy her bottle and put her in her swing, I decided it was a good idea to just…rest for a hot minute on Maria’s couch. She was already asleep, so I sat down beside her, but what I didn’t plan on doing was passing the fuck out.

What time is it?

As careful as I possibly can, I grab my phone off the coffee table, but when a soft groan leaves Maria’s lips, I freeze into a statue and silently pray I didn’t just wake up a sleep-deprived new mother for the mere purpose of checking the clock.

Once I’m certain she’s managed to stay asleep, I peek at the time and see it’s a little after eleven and I have a shit-ton of missed texts from my brothers.

I open our group chat and scan the messages that started a few hours ago.

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