Page 12 of Absinthe Minded

“She’s mine.”

“Holy sh—” He gave Maggie a sheepish grin. “I mean, holy cow, you have a kid?”

“I could use some help tonight.” I nodded toward the pissed off woman. “Mags has a date.”

She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “He’s busy with homework and needs to practice his sax.”

“Naw, that’s cool. I don’t mind helping.” He poked around in the fridge.

I shifted Ella to my shoulder and wished I hadn’t. Urine soaked into my shirt. “See? Zach and I can handle the kids.”

“Okay. I’ll go.” She folded her arms.

I turned my head before she caught me staring at her chest. “Which room do you want me and Ella in?”

Maggie glanced at the baby and sighed. “I’m in the guest room. You can take the master.”

“Can she sleep in the bed with me?”

“Uh, no, but Ryan’s crib is still in there. He doesn’t use it anymore.” She snatched her cell phone from the counter and headed for the back of the house.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let me clear it out.”

Unsure what to do, I trailed behind her. Better to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t start overthinking the situation and throw us out on the street.

Maggie tossed a towel on the floor and took the diaper bag from my arm. “Lay her down.”

I knelt and placed Ella in front of her. Maggie had changed since the last time I’d seen her. She smiled less, and the twin wrinkles between her brows had deepened. Raising three kids hadn’t been completely unkind. She’d filled out in ways that made me want to slide my hands beneath her T-shirt and explore her new curves.

“Use a wipe, even if she’s wet. No powder, no ointment, unless she has diaper rash.” She did some sort of ninja move with the diaper.

“Wait, slow down and do that again.”

She gave me an impatient look that reminded me of my mother. “It’s simple. Put the clean diaper under her bottom before you pull out the dirty one.”

“Got it.”I didn’t have it. In fact, I didn’t have any clue how she’d pulled it off.

“She should be eating every three to four hours, but don’t wake her to feed her. She’ll let you know when she’s hungry.” She pulled a clean pair of pajamas out of the bag and dressed Ella. “Follow the directions on the formula can to make her bottles. They need to be body temperature. Put the bottle in hot water, don’t use the microwave. Always test the milk on the inside of your wrist before you give it to her.”

“Got it.” I lifted my daughter into my arms.

Maggie opened her mouth as if she had something to say but bit her lip.

“Thanks.”

She put the wipes back into the bag and pulled out the envelope with Ella’s birth certificate. “What’s this?”

“Read it. Tell me if it looks legit.” As much as I wanted the documents to be bogus, I doubted they were.

Maggie’s frown deepened with each page. “They seem that way, but you should call the lab.”

“I’ll have my attorney look into it, maybe run a second test to be sure.”

“Do it soon, before you get more attached.” She glanced at the clock and sighed. “I use the master bath. I’ll move my stuff out later, but I don’t have time to do it right now. I need to get dressed.”

Memories of the two of us in my shower hardened my cock—the bastard always did have bad timing. “We can share.”

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