“Yeah. I’ve changed a diaper or two myself,” Trace said dryly, inspecting his son for damage. Now that he was being held by someone he recognized and trusted, Seth relaxed considerably, his face morphing from wary concern to a big smile. “Hey, little man. You scaring your Auntie Bea-Bea?”
“Scare. Yeah.” She blew out a puff of breath that ruffled her hair and flopped to the overstuffed armchair. “He has a rash.”
“A rash?” Trace looked once more at Seth’s arms and legs, his neck, his face, even his bald head. “Like, an allergy? Did you feed him something other than his bottle?”
“No. On his butt.”
Trace stared at his sister for a full ten seconds. “You sent me an SOS because of diaper rash?”
She threw up her hands and rocked back. “I don’t know! I’ve never babysat before! He woke up crying and so I got one of the bottles Emma left me in the fridge and I fed him. And that wasn’t too hard, but then he spit up on me when I burped him.” The disgust in her voice had him choking back a smile. “So I put on your sweatshirt in case he did it again. I figured it was too ugly for anyone to care if it got nasty.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But then he started stinking so I checked his diaper and …” Bea turned a little green at the memory. “And it was disgusting, too. Did you know how gross your son is?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “And when I changed him, I noticed the rash. It looked painful and I wasn’t sure if I would hurt him if I put something on it, but then he started freaking out anyway because kids don’t like me—especially that one—and then I was afraid it was because I was hurting him and I didn’t know and Peyton’s in there with Red and I didn’t want to bother them—”
“So you bothered me.” He jostled Seth a little to settle him down. “You’re nervous and he’s reacting to it. Calm down a bit.”
Bea closed her eyes and started humming something nonsensical.
“What are you doing?”
“Meditating,” she said without moving her lips. “Try it sometime.”
“Yeah. Okay then. Let’s go to bed, little man. I think you’ve pushed Auntie Bea-Bea over the edge.”
Seth found this vastly amusing and clapped his hands in delight. Trace smiled and tapped his son’s little nose. “That shouldn’t be funny. It’s not nice to drive people crazy.” He lowered his voice and stage whispered, “Even if it’s Bea.”
“I heard that.”
“Go meditate something.”
He walked a few laps around Seth’s room in the dark and sang a country lullaby in a low tone, barely mouthing the words. Seth’s eyes drooped enough to put him down in his crib easily. After closing the door and waiting a few moments to see if he woke back up, Trace walked over and stretched out on the couch.
“Did I ruin something for you?”
“Maybe.”
Bea sniffed. “Good. Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that again, Trace Muldoon.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Seth seemed to have fun torturing you.” He laughed when Bea threw a pillow at him. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad. You get better the more you do it.”
“Pass, thanks.” Bea was quiet for a moment. “Do you wish his mom was around?”
“No.” Easy answer. “We’re a duo.”
“Who was she?”
“Nobody you’d know.”
“Where is she?”
“Nowhere important.”
“Wow, big brother. Don’t talk my ear off. Please, stop with the oversharing.”
Trace smiled at Bea’s dramatic tone. She was destined to be an actress, even at an early age. “Don’t worry about his mother. We’re doing fine on our own.”
“I know you are.”
The softness of her voice had him looking up. She smiled. “Hey, I tease, but you’re good with him. Way better than I would ever be. It’s cute, the two of you. Two boys hanging out. Dad would have loved him.”
Trace settled back down and stared at the ceiling. “Think so?”
“Oh, yeah. Another male to carry on the Muldoon tradition of roping and riding? Right up his alley.”
The bitterness took him by surprise. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She stood and flopped one long sleeve at him. “I’ll throw this in your hamper in the morning. Though, if you ask me, you should burn it.”
“I didn’t.”
“Sadly, I know.” She stared at his jeans. “Still can’t believe you managed to find a woman who would be attracted to you dressed like that.”