Page 46 of Before You Can Blink
“Huh?” My brows drew down.
Fingers threaded through the short strands of my hair. “The baby. Boy or girl?”
I reared back, staring down at the little life we’d created together. “Uh . . .” Tugging on the back of my neck, I confessed, “I don’t actually know.”
“Why don’t you take a peek, Dad?” The nurse pulled away the towel, which had been obscuring the baby from view.
Extending a hand, I pulled up short when I saw how my palm looked extra-large compared to the tiny body. Instead, I elected to twist my neck to check between their legs.
Like I’d been punched in the gut, the word came out on a heavy rush of air. “Girl.”
A sob sounded from Daisy, and when I lifted my gaze, I found happy tears streaming down her face. “A girl,” she repeated, voice thick with emotion.
We’d narrowed down names weeks ago, so with zero hesitation, I brushed a kiss over the top of our daughter’s head, murmuring so softly only she could hear me, “Hello, Aspen. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter 7
Jett
Age 25
August
“Howweremybestgirls’ days?” I dusted a kiss first over Daisy’s lips and then over the crown of the baby nursing at her breast.
Though she’d been born bald as a cueball, Aspen’s head now featured a reddish fuzz at four months old. My mother had worked herself into a tizzy, insistent we’d brought the wrong baby home from the hospital, but Daisy had been quick to reassure her that she had a few distant cousins who were redheads. Although it might not be ideal on a ranch, where most days were spent in the sun, it was easily managed by investing in a good hat and applying copious amounts of sunscreen.
“Lazy,” came Daisy’s reply as I shucked my shirt, tossing it into the hamper. “Spent most of it eating and napping. I think she’s going through a growth spurt.”
With our daughter clad only in a diaper, the rolls lining her limbs were on full display. A smile touched my lips at the proof that she was beingwell-fed. At least that was one less thing to worry about, with the constant stress of ranch ownership weighing me down.
I’d known it wouldn’t be easy, but I never expected it to be this hard. Sure, we had the barn and the bunkhouse built, but we hadn’t yet taken the necessary action that would put our horses in the family way.
Simply put, Daisy and I were the only ones who had done any breeding on our breeding ranch. And that was something that needed to be remedied very, very soon.
Unfastening my belt buckle, I shoved rough denim down my thighs as I made my way over to the steel tub in the corner set beside the toilet. We were fortunate to have indoor plumbing at all, but there were times when I would kill for a wall separating the bathroom from our main living space.
Hosing myself down in full view of my wife and child, I quickly scrubbed the dirt from a hard day on the range off my skin. Once I was clean enough to hold my baby girl, I stepped out, dried off with a towel, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants.
“All right. Hand her over.”
Without hesitation, Daisy placed Aspen in my arms, and I cuddled her against my chest, skin to skin.
“Missed you today.” My lips moved over the top of her head. “Come on, let’s give your mama a break.” I slipped through the front door and dropped onto the porch steps.
This was our routine. I came home, took a shower, then took my girl outside for a bit of daddy-daughter time while her mama got a moment to unwind.
When I bounced Aspen on my lap, she squealed, giving me the biggest gummy grin. Her bright blue eyes followed my finger as I pointed out the birds in the sky, the horses on the range, and the sun beginning to set on the horizon.
She wouldn’t remember these quiet moments we spent bonding, but I would never forget them.
The door unlatched behind us, and Daisy sat down beside me, her head coming to rest on my shoulder. I turned just enough to press a kiss to her forehead, working up the courage for what I needed to ask.
And because my wife knew me better than anyone else, she remarked, “Best to get it off your chest instead of bottling it up.”
I grunted. “Not sure you’ll feel that way once I let it out.”
“Try me,” she challenged.
