“We’re just about to remove his dirty diaper before he gets in the tub,” Seth said as he shut off the water. Grabbing a towel, Jayne carried Toby into Seth’s bedroom and laid him on it, on the bed.
Handing him a newly opened package of wipes, Emma asked, “How long has it been since you changed a diaper, Seth?”
“I’ve never actually changed a diaper.” Although she could tell how out of his element he felt, he didn’t hesitate as he took a seat on the bed and listened to Emma instruct him how to do it and what to watch for.
He stripped off Toby, who looked just as dumbfounded, and then peeled the tapes back, seeming afraid of what he might find. His vulnerability made Jayne smile in commiseration.
Messing with his clothing and the diaper had gotten Toby squirmy and red-faced. His lopsided little frowny face would’ve been comical, if it hadn’t been for a good reason. His little bum was as red as a beet. Toby growled when his dad wiped his dirty bottom clean, and Jayne noted with a chuckle that Seth recognized the sound too. He sounded just like his father when he growled.
“Poor little angel,” Emma crooned. “It’s not too bad though. She must not have been traveling with him very long. We brought ointment. In a day or two that rash will be healed.” Toby squawked when Seth got up to dispose of the offensive diaper and Emma took his place, crooning to him and playing with his toes. She gave him a quick once-over and smiled at Seth. “There’s no question who his father is.”
Seth promised to call Emma’s receptionist in the morning to make an appointment to get him checked out more carefully and make sure his immunizations were all up to date. While they talked, Jayne slipped Toby into the bathtub and gave him a clean washcloth to chew on while she bathed him with the baby wash Grace handed her.
Kneeling side by side next to the tub, Grace and Charity had a fit over the similarity between him and his father and sang silly songs to him until he finally cracked a big grin for them, winning their hearts forever. He made them work for his smiles. That, too, reminded Jayne of his father. But when those smiles came, they were beautiful.
Charity nudged Grace. “Did you see? He winked at me.”
Grace scoffed. “He did not. He has something in his eye. Look at those long, long eyelashes. Oh, he smiled at me.”
Charity scoffed. “Nah, he’s just passing gas. He’s the mirror image of his daddy. Almost makes me want another.”
“Almost?” Grace asked, snickering.
Charity grunted as she got up from her knees. “It’s been a long time since I kneeled beside a tub to wash a baby. Stick a fork in me, I’m done, sis.”
Grace glanced at Seth, who was still talking to Emma, and turned to Jayne. “So…what happens now?”
Biting her lip in complete and utter confusion, Jayne replied, “I don’t know. I think we wing it tonight and see what happens.”
Grace patted her. “You know you can call any of us, if you have questions or need help.”
Charity nodded. “And there’s always Google.”
A weird unsettled feeling lodged not quite comfortably in her chest as she watched Emma show Seth how to easily get the baby into his sleeper, which one of the girls had found in the stuffed diaper bag Tamar had left behind.
Grace patted Jayne’s shoulder. “Once Toby gets settled in, that weird, out-of-body-experience feeling will ease up. Seth seems like he’s handling it well. Are you okay?’
“I feel like I’m in a dream.” Toby made eye contact with her from across the hallway, in the bedroom, and gave her a droopy-eyed half smile. The clench in her heart was undeniable. He was already on his way to owning her heart too.
* * * *
Thinking that fate could turn life upside down, and make it seem terrifying and so right all at the same time, Seth smiled at Jayne. She looked as though she was having an experience similar to his own, her heart and uncertainty in her eyes. He could almost read her thoughts in her expression. A sleepy but fairly contented Toby yawned from his nook in Seth’s arms, and Emma, Grace, and Charity took that as their cue to say good night.
Smiling and sympathetic at the same time, Grace said, “I made a bottle for him, and it’s sitting in a pan of warm water on the stove. Don’t forget to eat. I put lasagna on two plates for you and put the rest in the refrigerator.”
With the house quiet, Seth felt drawn to Jayne and took her in his free arm and held her for a minute. “Will you stay?” He asked out of want and not need.
She nodded and seemed to relax as though she’d been waiting for him to tell her what he wanted her to do. She slid her arms around him and squeezed then caressed his son’s cheek. Seth tilted her chin up and claimed a kiss from her.