Their Little Princess

by Susan Mallery

He pulled into his driveway, which circled in front of the large, two-story house.

  “This is it,” he said as he switched off the engine. “You’re home.”

  His daughter wasn’t overly impressed. She continued to sleep as he unstrapped her car seat. He slung the bag of supplies the hospital had sent home with him over one shoulder, then picked up the seat and carried it, and his daughter, inside.

  Ryan and Ronni were waiting in the foyer. “How did it go?” his brother asked.

  “Okay.” He let the bag slip to the floor and held out the carrier. “Here she is.” He stared down doubtfully. “She’s sleeping.”

  “Don’t complain. She’ll be up soon enough. Come see what we did.”

  He followed them upstairs and into his daughter’s room. While he’d been gone Ryan had finished putting together the three-drawer changing table and Ronni had put all the clothes and linens away.

  “Newborn size clothes are in the top drawer,” she said, pulling it open to show him. “Everything else is in the lower drawers. Oh, and I hung the dress in the closet.”

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw the tiny dress hanging alone on the rack. It looked impossibly small and foreign. He sucked in his breath.

  “I, ah, guess I’d better get her in bed,” he said.

  “Absolutely. I washed the sheets and the comforter. They’ve only been out of the dryer a few minutes, so they’re probably even still warm,” she said helpfully.

  Tanner glanced at Ryan, but his brother shook his head. “You’re going to have to learn how to do this sometime. Might as well be now.”

  Tanner grunted because the alternative was to say something unpleasant and he’d already promised his daughter he wasn’t going to do that.

  First he unfastened the straps holding her in place. Carefully, supporting his baby’s head the way Ronni and the nurse at the hospital had shown him, he lifted her from the car seat and cradled her against the crook of his arm. Then he crossed the room and gently put her in the crib.

  She barely stirred. Then her big blue eyes opened, she wiggled once, yawned, then drifted off to sleep.

  “I guess you’re really a dad now,” Ryan said and slapped him on the back. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. I’ve got to do something about a name.” He glanced at his brother. “I was thinking about Cecilia after our mother. I like it, but it sounds stuffy for such a little girl, so I was thinking that would be her real name but we’d call her Lia.”

  Ryan nodded. “I like it.”

  “Me, too,” said Ronni, then sniffed. “Let’s go downstairs. If I stay here much longer, I’m going to cry. You know, hormones, babies, it’s inevitable.”

  Both men hustled her out of the room. They went downstairs into the family room, then Tanner remembered the baby monitor and had to run back up to get it. He turned on the unit on the dresser, clicked on the one in his hand, and paused by the crib.

  “Hi, Lia,” he murmured. “I’m glad you’re sleeping. You should think about sleeping a lot. That would give your old man a break. Want to give it a try?”

  Then because he couldn’t help himself, he stroked the back of his index finger against her cheek. The warm skin was so incredibly soft. She barely stirred.

  “I don’t usually fall this fast, kid, but you seem to have a firm grip on my heart. I guess we’re stuck with each other.”

  Despite the fear, he knew then that there was no where else he would rather be.

  Chapter Five

  Tanner glanced at his watch as he walked down the stairs. It had been all of twenty minutes, and so far, so good. If the next twenty years would go as smoothly, he might just get the hang of this whole parenting thing.

  As he stepped into the family room, he saw Ronni leaning against Ryan. His brother had his arms around his fiancée, and they were talking quietly. Nothing about their posture was sexual, yet Tanner sensed the intimacy between them. Something in his gut told him that Ryan had been lucky enough, or smart enough, to find another extraordinary woman to share his life. Ryan’s first wife, Patricia, had been a model wife and mother. Personality wise, Ronni was a lot different, but in her heart she was just as loving.

  Tanner pushed down the surge of envy that appeared unexpectedly. He reminded himself that he’d never been one for commitments. Of course he’d never gotten the point of kids either and now he had one. Everything changed.

  Ryan glanced up and saw him. “Ronni and I are going to let you off the hook about baby-sitting the kids,” he said.

  Tanner stared blankly. “What are you talking about?”

  Ryan grinned. “See, that’s what happens. You get a child in the house and the parents start losing their minds. The first thing to go is short-term memory. Trust me on this. It’s only going to get worse.”

  Ronni shook her head. “What your big brother is trying to say is that the wedding is at the end of the month. With a newborn in the house, you’re not really in a position to take care of three more children.”

  Tanner set the baby monitor on the counter closest to the family room and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re right. I did forget.” When Ryan and Ronni had decided to elope, he’d offered to take Ryan’s children for the long weekend. Lily, Ryan’s mother-in-law and his usual source for live-in help, was going to be taking a cruise with her sister.

  “Look, this is your wedding,” Tanner said. “I still want to take the kids. Drew’s a big help with his younger brother and sister and I don’t want you two worrying. You’re barely going to get away for more than a weekend as it is.”

  Ryan and Ronni exchanged a look. “We’ll find someone else,” Ronni said firmly. “It’s sweet of you to offer, but you have no idea what you’re getting into. Having a baby in the house changes everything. We’ll arrange child-care for Ryan’s three.” She glanced at her watch, then at Ryan. “We need to be going,” she said.

  Ryan nodded. “She’s right.” He tapped his shirt pocket. “I’ve got my cell phone with me, so call if you need anything.”

  They were leaving? Tanner fought down a sudden surge of panic. “You guys can stay a little longer, can’t you?”

  “Sorry.” Ronni picked up her purse and slung it over one shoulder. “I’ll be in touch later this afternoon with a couple of numbers for baby nurses. I have two in mind and I think one of them is available.”

  He watched helplessly as they headed for the front door. “What do I do if she wakes up?”

  “Take care of her,” Ronni said. “Check her diaper, then feed her.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Yes, you do. We went over it this morning.”

  Yeah, right, like practicing on a doll was the same as feeding a baby. “But…”

  “Be sure to check the temperature of the formula and burp her when you’re done,” Ronni said, giving him a reassuring smile. “If you get into trouble, call on the cell phone. Ryan and I can be back here in less than twenty minutes.”

  He would prefer they didn’t leave at all, but he couldn’t bring himself to insist that they stay.

  “Sure,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel. “We’ll be fine.”

  They waved, then walked out the front door. Tanner wanted to go running after them and beg them to move in with him for the next two or three years. Maybe he should ask Ronni to find a baby nurse who could start today, or in the next fifteen minutes.

  He paced the length of the family room, then turned and stared at the baby monitor. It was just a matter of time until Lia woke up and started crying. Dear God, then what was he going to do?

  Kelly took the stairs down to the basement. Once there, she headed for the cafeteria. The delivery had gone smoothly, and mother and child were doing well. As soon as she had something to eat she would head over to Tanner’s. After all, as the grumbling in her stomach reminded her, her page had come before she’d had a chance to eat any of the bagels she’d bought that morning.

  The cafeteria was mostly empty. Kell
y collected a tray then filled it with a bowl of fruit, a small salad and a roast beef sandwich. After paying, she looked around and saw a familiar doctor sitting at a table by the wall. She smiled at the sight of her friend, Dr. Alexandra Larson, and walked over.

  “Hi. Are you on call?” Kelly asked as she set her tray on the table.

  Alex glanced up. Her normally bright brown eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep and there wasn’t a scrap of makeup on her face. She smiled wearily. “This is my weekend and I was called in just after midnight. A car accident. A van hit a small pick-up. Everyone survived, but I had a couple of difficult breaks to fix.” Alex was an orthopedic surgeon. She picked up a cup of coffee and took a sip. “What’s your excuse for being here on Saturday?”

  Kelly took a seat. “The usual,” she said. “A six-pound eight-ounce baby boy. He’s about as cute as can be and the parents are so happy they’re floating.”

  Alex rested her elbow on the table and leaned her chin on her hand. Her hair, a short wedge of auburn tinted brown, swayed with the movement. “Must be nice to get instant gratification from your patients. Mine stay asleep while I work to repair whatever the problem is. Afterwards, they’re often groggy and in pain. No one ever floats. I’d like floating. Or even applause.”

  Kelly laughed. “I confess, I’ve never had applause. It would be nice. Maybe a gallery of impressed bystanders.”

  “Fans,” Alex said firmly. “Just like rock stars.” She stared at Kelly. “You look happy about something and it’s not just work.”

  Kelly was surprised. “I do? What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure. There’s this glow.” Her brown eyes narrowed. “Either there’s a new man in your life, or you just had a make-over. If it’s the latter, I want to know where you went. Maybe they can do something for me. I need a change from my wash-and-wear life.”

  “You adore your life and you don’t want to change a thing.” Kelly took a bite of her sandwich and chewed. There wasn’t a man in her life, she thought, even as a blush crept its way up her cheeks. Tanner wasn’t really in her life. She was just helping him out with a difficult situation. The fact that he was good-looking and had an amazing butt was interesting, but not important. She swallowed.

  “Things are going well for me,” Kelly said. “I love my work, I’ve settled into living here in Honeygrove. I guess that’s what you’re seeing. Contentment. Now speaking of men, how’s your favorite guy?”

  Alex’s expression softened and her full lips curved up in a tender smile. “Tyler is perfect in every way.” She laughed. “Okay, he can make me crazy in about thirty seconds, but other than that, he’s wonderful. I thought three was a great age, but four is even better. He’s so smart.” She paused, then laughed again. “I’m gushing.”

  “You always gush about Tyler. It’s charming. It proves you’re a great mother.”

  Alex sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I try. Time is always a problem. I’m so busy with work. But he’s my world.”

  Kelly thought about that statement. Tyler was his mother’s world. Alex had never married and Kelly didn’t know much about Tyler’s father. She wanted to ask if Alex ever thought about having a man in her life—a grown-up, in addition to her charming son. Did she ever get lonely? Most of the time Kelly didn’t allow herself to think of those kind of questions, but lately they’d been popping up more and more frequently. She’d come to realize that sometimes she needed more than just her work.

  Except if she asked Alex those questions, Alex would also ask them of her and she wasn’t ready to answer them. So instead she asked about Alex’s houseguest.

  “Are things still going well with Wendy?”

  “Sure. She’s a sweetheart. And huge,” Alex added. “I swear that baby’s going to pop out any second.”

  “I’m guessing in the next week or so.”

  “She’s staying with me until the baby is about six weeks old,” Alex said.

  “Thanks for taking her in.” Kelly smiled at her friend. “You were a real lifesaver.”

  Alex shrugged. “That’s what spare rooms are for.”

  Not for most people, Kelly thought. Alex was someone special. Her friend’s guest room had a revolving door. As soon as one person in need left, another one showed up. Alex didn’t turn anyone away. When Kelly had realized Wendy, all of seventeen years old and eight months pregnant, had been thrown out and was living on the streets, she’d instantly called Alex. And Alex had taken her in.

  “I owe you,” Kelly said. “And I mean that. I would have taken her home myself, but not only do I not have a spare room, my apartment is too close to Wendy’s mom’s place. She wouldn’t have been safe there.”

  “Oh, stop,” Alex told her. “I can read that look in your eyes. Don’t you dare start talking about what a bleeding heart I am. This is where I remind you that you’re the one who volunteers at that clinic, giving away your very valuable time for free. The way I see it, we’re both doing what’s right. End of story.”

  “Okay. I won’t grovel in thanks, but I do appreciate what you’ve done.”

  Alex dismissed her with a wave, then pressed her fingers to her mouth to smother a yawn. “I’m going to head home and see if I can get a couple of hours of sleep before Tyler comes home from the sitter. What are you doing with the rest of your weekend?”

  “Helping a friend,” Kelly said casually, ignoring the flare of excitement Alex’s question had stirred. Tanner was just a friend, and there was nothing between them. Nothing except her imagination and too much time between men.

  “Hush, Lia,” Tanner pleaded as he rocked his daughter in his arms.

  When she’d awakened a little more than an hour before, he’d rushed upstairs at the first whisper of her cry. He’d checked her diaper, which had been dry, then had carefully fed her. After double-checking the temperature of the formula, he’d positioned her as both Ronni and the nurse in the hospital had shown him. Lia had taken to the bottle with no trouble at all. When she’d finished her meal, he’d held her against his shoulder and patted her back until she’d let out an impressive burp. But since then, all she’d done was cry.

  The harsh, hiccuping sound made him frantic. Did she have a temperature? Was she sick? Had he given her too much formula or not enough?

  She drew in her breath and let out another sob. Her face was all scrunched up, with her eyes squeezed tightly closed and her tiny fists waving in the air.

  “No one should be this unhappy,” he murmured to her as he rocked her back and forth. In the past twenty minutes it felt as if her weight had doubled. He paced the length of the downstairs and wondered if he should just give up and page Ronni.

  Before he could decide, the doorbell rang. He rushed to the foyer and pulled it open.

  Kelly stood on the porch holding several plastic grocery bags. “I brought supplies,” she said over the sound of Lia’s crying. “From the drugstore. Baby wash, diaper wipes, that sort of thing.” She stepped into the entrance and glanced at Lia. “What’s wrong?”

  He resisted the urge to hold out the screaming child to her to fix. “I don’t know. When she woke up, she was fine. I fed her then burped her. I thought she’d go back to sleep.”

  Kelly crossed to the kitchen where she set down her bags. “What about her diaper?”

  “I checked it first thing.”

  Kelly began unpacking the bags. He clamped down on his frustration. How could she be so calm about this? Something could be seriously wrong with Lia. Didn’t she want to recommend that he rush her to the emergency room?

  “Did you check her diaper after you fed her?”

  He blinked at the question. “After?”

  She gave him a quick smile. “Sometimes babies go after they eat, rather than before. Sometimes they go both times. Have you checked recently?”

  Just then he caught the odor of something…something not pleasant. He swallowed. “Do I have to?”

  “Oh yes. And before you think of passing that job off on me,
I’ll just go ahead and mention I have a lot more stuff in my car. I’ll bring it in right now.”

  With that, she disappeared.

  Tanner stared at his daughter. “About this poop thing,” he said. “I’m not up to it. Maybe you should just dispose of everything in liquid form. What do you think?”

  She gave another cry, so he headed up the stairs. Two minutes later he had her on the changing table and was staring at something that looked like a prop out of an alien horror movie.

  “What is it?” he asked when he heard Kelly’s footsteps in the hall. “It’s disgusting.”

  “It’s something you’re going to have to get used to.” She poked her head into the bedroom and grinned. “It could be worse.”

  He looked up. “How?”

  “She could be a boy. They are notorious for sending up a little shower while they’re having their diaper changed.”

  “Great,” he muttered returning his attention to his daughter. “There are too many firsts for me, sweet Lia. Bringing you home, your first bottle, now this first diaper. Things are moving too fast. Let’s all just relax for a bit and catch up, okay?”

  She’d stopped crying. He gently wiped her bottom, then collected a tiny new diaper and set it into place. Her gaze seemed to look at his face and as usual, her expression was faintly worried.

  “I think she knows I’m clueless,” he told Kelly. “She’s got this look on her face as if she’s sure I’m going to drop her or something.”

  “All babies do that,” Kelly said, walking over and smiling down at Lia. “I heard your daddy call you by a name. Lia. Do you like it?”

  Lia responded by fluttering her eyelids a couple of times, then dozing off.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Kelly said.

  He glanced at her and saw she carried an armful of supplies. He saw baby wash, baby shampoo, cotton balls and swabs, tiny washcloths and a host of other boxes and jars he didn’t want to even think about. Babies required way too much stuff as it was. How was he supposed to keep it all straight? What if he used the wrong product on the wrong part?