Page 68 of Treat

“Hey, yourself,” Kara replied, then turned her smile on Brynn. “So, did you two have sex?”

“Is there a sign over our heads or something?” Jude demanded while Brynn blushed and Tommy laughed.

“We saw the game,” Kara said, sending Brynn a look of amused sympathy. Tilly waddled forward to sniff her bare legs, drawing her attention. “Oh, is this Tilly?”

“This is her,” Brynn said, grateful for the change in subject. “If she gets annoying, just say the word and I’ll put her out in the truck.”

“She’s fine.” Kara shifted the baby to lean forward, holding out a hand for Tilly to inspect, and a plaintive squeak came from the bundle. “Oops. I’ve disturbed her highness.”

“Here.” Tommy stepped forward. “I’ll take her.”

Brynn watched them make the exchange, fascinated by the way big, gruff Tommy Jakes turned into a cooing pile of mush the instant he held his baby daughter in his arms.

“There’s my girl,” he crooned, pushing back the blankets so the baby’s head came into view, with a shock of thick black hair sticking straight up.

“Wow,” Jude said. “She’s got your hair.”

“Yeah,” Tommy said, beaming with pride, and turned the baby to show her off. “But the rest of her is all Kara.

Brynn wasn’t that familiar with babies. She’d done her share of babysitting as a teenager, but that had been older kids, and none of her friend group had hit the baby-making stage of their lives yet. To her, babies always seemed to look like vaguely humanoid blobs, especially when they were this new. But she could see Kara in the little rosebud mouth and the shape of her eyes, still newborn blue and currently blinking at them as though wondering who the hell they were.

“She’s beautiful, man,” Jude said.

“She is,” Brynn agreed and leaned around Tommy to look at Kara. “Nice job.”

Petting Tilly with both hands, Kara smiled. “Thanks.”

“Hey, I did some of the work,” Tommy protested.

“You did a nice job, too,” Brynn assured him while Kara rolled her eyes.

“Thank you,” Tommy said with gracious dignity, then winced. “Uh, babe? I think we need a diaper change.”

“My hands are full,” Kara informed him smugly, still petting the dog.

Brynn folded her lips to keep from laughing at the discomfort on Tommy’s face. “Come on. You know I’m not good at this.”

“I have faith in you,” his wife informed him solemnly.

“Shit.” Scowling, Tommy headed for the adjoining room.

“Where’s he going?” Jude wanted to know.

“We’ve got a secondary nursery set up in the next room so we don’t have to go up and down the stairs all the time,” Kara explained.

“Smart,” Brynn put in and sat in one of the leather chairs. “So, how are you feeling?”

“Like I pushed an eight-pound human out of my vagina,” Kara said bluntly, and out of the corner of her eye, Brynn saw Jude go pale. “But I didn’t tear, so that’s something.”

“Tear?” Jude echoed, going paler.

“But breastfeeding is a bitch,” Kara continued, and the twinkle in her eye had Brynn biting her lip. “My nipples are raw, and one of my milk ducts keeps trying to block, so I have to hand express. You know—” She lifted both hands to cup one breast and mimed milking herself.

“Um, I’m just going to go see if Tommy needs any help,” Jude said faintly and made his escape.

Brynn snickered at a grinning Kara. “You’re terrible.”

“I should be ashamed,” she agreed, looking anything but.

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