Page 105 of A Dream for Daphne

She looked down and saw the formula all over her shirt where she was shaking it for Tatum. The top hadn’t been put on tight and it went flying...right in her face and down the front of her.

“That’s funny,” Holly said, giggling. “Let me try it.”

The little girl was reaching for the bottle in her hand which was only half filled at this point.

“No,” she said. “Can you make Tatum laugh while I clean up and get him another bottle?”

The baby was fussy on top of it and he was squirming and crying because when he was hungry, he wanted to eat ten minutes ago.

Tatum was on the counter in a bouncing seat and Holly was covering her eyes and playing peek-a-boo. It wasn’t doing much in terms of calming the baby, but it was entertaining Holly.

When the bottle was ready and she’d wiped up as much of her shirt as she could, Daphne put a towel over the front of her and picked Tatum up to feed him while she sat down in the family room off the kitchen.

Holly had a doll in her hand and was making her dance, and whatever worked, she didn’t care.

Tatum was still fussy and didn’t want his bottle, but then latched on and guzzled it like a drunk on the street with a bottle in a brown paper bag.

“Is this your version of a keg stand?” she asked him and grinned. She’d bet he’d be one of those kids doing it.

Then she looked at Holly.

Nope, it’d be her. Definitely her.

It took longer than normal for Tatum to finish his bottle and get his burp out, but they finally got it done. Holly rushed over. “Can we go outside now?”

“I need to change my shirt,” she said. Normally she didn’t care if she got something small on it, but she was soaked and didn’t want to smell like formula. As the day went on, it’d be worse.

“Can we walk to your house?”

“We can,” she said. “Remember, no running, please. I have to push the stroller.”

And thanks to the newly installed walkways, it’d be easy to go that way rather than up the driveway and then around the long way.

“I’ll get Tatum’s hat,” Holly said.

“Please do,” she said. She always put a hat on his head even though she’d cover him up so that he didn’t get any sun on him. “And grab your sneakers. I don’t want you tripping in your sandals.”

Holly handed over Tatum’s hat and it felt like it was a wrestling match with a baby alligator the way he was thrashing his head around.

Once it was secured, she bent down and put Holly’s sneakers on the correct feet. Velcro was great and it helped the little girl, but not if she didn’t get them right.

“Ready!” Holly yelled.

She laughed over the excitement. Everything made Holly happy.

“Slow down,” Daphne said when she got the stroller out of the garage. She pulled it out through the door and put Tatum in it, secured him, and got walking, hoping that it’d calm him some. He was normally a good baby, but today he wasn’t happy.

“I want to run,” Holly said.

“No,” she said gently. “You know the rules. No running except on the grass and no running when I’ve got Tatum. I can’t keep up with you if I’ve got him.”

“I’ll get on the grass,” Holly said. “Can I walk fast?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not too fast. I don’t want you too far ahead. It has to be a walk.”

Holly moved to the grass and was walking fast, but Daphne was able to keep the distance small.

They went up the little hill toward her cabin and she saw the guys all working. There was Abe’s truck too.

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