Because of the Baby(19)

Lark exhaled tiredly. “I appreciate that you feel responsible, but you don’t actually have to move in.”

His muscles relaxed as he heard the beginnings of capitulation in her voice. “It would be better for you if I was here full-time.”

“How do you figure?”

“Have you considered what will happen if Grace is up all night? If I’m here we can take turns getting up with her.” He could see she was weakening. “It makes sense.”

“Let me sleep on it tonight?” She held out her hands for the baby.

This time, Keaton gave up Grace. “Sure.”

Only she never got the chance to sleep. Neither did Keaton. Shortly after Grace finished eating, she began to fuss.

“It’s probably just a little gas,” Lark explained, setting the infant on her shoulder and patting her back encouragingly. “Once she burps, she’ll be fine.”

But Grace wasn’t fine and neither Lark nor Keaton could get her to quiet. During the second hour of the baby’s crying, Keaton got onto his tablet.

“She’s dry, fed and obviously tired. Why won’t she sleep?”

“Because it’s her first day out of the NICU and she’s overstimulated.”

“It says here we can try white noise. Do you have a vacuum cleaner?”

Lark shot him a look. “It’s in the laundry room.” She pointed toward a door at the back of the kitchen.

Keaton plugged in the vacuum and turned it on. The hum acted like a swarm of bees against his eardrums, agitating him. If it had this effect on him, what must it be doing to a fussy baby? Closing the door behind him to muffle the sound, Keaton returned to the living room, where Lark paced and rocked Grace.

“Is it helping?” he asked, peering over her shoulder at his niece.

“I don’t think so, but maybe we should give it a little time. She’s pretty wound up at the moment.”

But after an hour, it was obvious that the white noise was having no effect. Keaton returned to searching the internet for answers.

“How about wrapping her up?” he suggested. “Says here that babies feel more secure when they’re swaddled.” He cued up a video and watched it. The demonstration looked straightforward, but the woman used a doll, not a real baby. “Give me Grace and watch this.”

After several minutes, Lark set the tablet aside. “We can try it. I’ll go see if I have a blanket that will work.” She returned with two blankets of different sizes. “Hopefully one of these will do the trick.”

As Keaton had feared, swaddling a live, unhappy baby was a lot harder than an unmoving doll.

Lark braced her hands on the dining room table and stared down at the swaddled baby. “This doesn’t look right.”

Keaton returned to the video. “I think we missed this part here.”

Grace was growing more upset by the second and she’d managed to free her left arm.

“Is it terrible that I have no idea what I’m doing?” Lark sounded close to tears. It had been a long, stressful evening.

“Not at all. I think every first-time parent feels just as overwhelmed as we do right now.”

“Thank you for sticking around and helping me.”

“We’re helping Grace.”

The corners of Lark’s lips quivered as she smiled. “Not very well, as it happens.”

And then, because she looked determined and hopeless all at once, Keaton succumbed to the impulse that had been threatening to break free all week. He cupped her cheek, lowered his head and kissed her.





Four

The press of Keaton’s lips against hers lasted all of ten seconds, but they were ten of the best seconds Lark had ever experienced. With his granite features and steely nature, she expected his lips would be stiff, his kisses firm and unyielding. Therefore she was caught off guard by the softness of his mouth, the luxurious press and pull as he captured her sighs.

For ten seconds her brain stopped and her body came alive.

Then Grace’s insistent protests came between them like a wedge, bringing reality back.

“Let’s try the swaddling again,” Keaton suggested, his long black lashes obscuring his eyes from her as his hand fell away from her face. “I think I know where we went wrong.”

The next try went much better, but it wasn’t snug enough for Grace’s taste. Lark stood beside Keaton, her body alive with raucous cravings, her mind numb with disbelief, and watched his big hands wrap the cloth around the flailing infant. His confidence had grown in the last couple hours as he’d taken his turn trying to calm Grace. Lark’s belief in his abilities had increased, as well. She appreciated how he’d not just stood by helplessly and let her figure out what was wrong with Grace, but he’d taken to the internet to find a solution to soothe the infant.