cheek.
A high pitch squeal bellowed out of her and she slapped her hands on the tray of her highchair. Yes, she really did love being fed. And Chase loved feeding her when she didn’t blow out his eardrums.
“You’ve got a set of lungs on you, sweetie.” He dipped the tiny spoon in the jar of baby food and shoveled more greens in her mouth. “At least you’re not spitting it out this time.” Her answer was another scream. Little Lily was starting to become acquainted with her lungs. He’d never paid attention to how loud babies could get when they were excited.
Every once in a while, when he looked at his niece, he thought of his college girlfriend. Chase couldn’t picture himself with a kid right now. He liked his single life just the way it was. Sometimes, looking at Lily, he couldn’t help but wonder how different his life would be right now if the girl he’d been dating at the time had made a different decision. He knew her decision had been for the best. No way could he have handled that kind of responsibility as a college student. But her deception had hurt. The fact that he’d had to find out from a friend of hers…
Eleven years was more than enough time to put the whole thing behind him. And he had. He’d walked away from the situation losing his ability to commit to a long-term relationship. Now, he simply stuck to the occasional date and one-night-stands. That was all he needed.
Lily sucked down the rest of her dinner with minimal spit-up and lots of grins. He cleaned her up, all the while talking to her and tickling her little chin. His niece was extremely ticklish. As soon as her hands and knees hit the floor, she took off, crawling as fast as her pudgy legs could carry her. She was quite the mover. Chase watched with amusement as she tried to pull herself up to the coffee table but didn’t succeed. Her grin turned to a whine when she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor.
“I can’t help you there, kiddo.” He picked her up and settled her on his hip. The child weighed about as much as a bag of feathers. Her miniature, sticky hands reached out and tried to grab his face. Noah had said Lily had this thing for grabbing faces. One time she’d grabbed Noah’s face so hard she’d actually left a welt on his cheek. “No way am I going to let you scar my face.” He pulled her hand away right before it reached his cheek. “Let’s see what mommy packed for you.” A bag full of toys, a few stuffed animals and toys with all kinds of lights and buttons, sat by the door where Avery had dropped it. Chase took out a contraption that had steering wheel and a gear shift. He shook his head, thinking how elaborate children’s toys were these days. What happened to being content with a few wooden blocks and Lincoln Logs? He set the baby down and the toy in front of her. She kicked her legs and let out another ear-piercing shriek. The toy lit up and sang to life when she fumbled around with the wheel and banged on the buttons. Her dexterity was practically non-existent. Her fingers tried desperately to hit each button but she missed almost every time. Didn’t matter though. No matter where she touched the thing it sang some silly ABC song. That seemed to please her.
Chase cleaned up the baby mess of jars and snacks and had just started to much on cold pizza when his doorbell rang. The clock above his stove said six-fifteen, way too early for Noah and Avery to pick up their daughter. He set the pizza down and scooped up Lily.
Golden hair illuminated by the soft glow of the porch light fell far beyond Lacy’s shoulders. The strands looked like they were in need of a good combing and her freckles stood out on her makeup-free face. Slight bags sat under her grass-green eyes as if she hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before, or she’d been crying. As much as he tried, Chase had a hard time picturing Lacy crying.
Against his wishes, his certain parts responded to the sight of her in a plain
A high pitch squeal bellowed out of her and she slapped her hands on the tray of her highchair. Yes, she really did love being fed. And Chase loved feeding her when she didn’t blow out his eardrums.
“You’ve got a set of lungs on you, sweetie.” He dipped the tiny spoon in the jar of baby food and shoveled more greens in her mouth. “At least you’re not spitting it out this time.” Her answer was another scream. Little Lily was starting to become acquainted with her lungs. He’d never paid attention to how loud babies could get when they were excited.
Every once in a while, when he looked at his niece, he thought of his college girlfriend. Chase couldn’t picture himself with a kid right now. He liked his single life just the way it was. Sometimes, looking at Lily, he couldn’t help but wonder how different his life would be right now if the girl he’d been dating at the time had made a different decision. He knew her decision had been for the best. No way could he have handled that kind of responsibility as a college student. But her deception had hurt. The fact that he’d had to find out from a friend of hers…
Eleven years was more than enough time to put the whole thing behind him. And he had. He’d walked away from the situation losing his ability to commit to a long-term relationship. Now, he simply stuck to the occasional date and one-night-stands. That was all he needed.
Lily sucked down the rest of her dinner with minimal spit-up and lots of grins. He cleaned her up, all the while talking to her and tickling her little chin. His niece was extremely ticklish. As soon as her hands and knees hit the floor, she took off, crawling as fast as her pudgy legs could carry her. She was quite the mover. Chase watched with amusement as she tried to pull herself up to the coffee table but didn’t succeed. Her grin turned to a whine when she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor.
“I can’t help you there, kiddo.” He picked her up and settled her on his hip. The child weighed about as much as a bag of feathers. Her miniature, sticky hands reached out and tried to grab his face. Noah had said Lily had this thing for grabbing faces. One time she’d grabbed Noah’s face so hard she’d actually left a welt on his cheek. “No way am I going to let you scar my face.” He pulled her hand away right before it reached his cheek. “Let’s see what mommy packed for you.” A bag full of toys, a few stuffed animals and toys with all kinds of lights and buttons, sat by the door where Avery had dropped it. Chase took out a contraption that had steering wheel and a gear shift. He shook his head, thinking how elaborate children’s toys were these days. What happened to being content with a few wooden blocks and Lincoln Logs? He set the baby down and the toy in front of her. She kicked her legs and let out another ear-piercing shriek. The toy lit up and sang to life when she fumbled around with the wheel and banged on the buttons. Her dexterity was practically non-existent. Her fingers tried desperately to hit each button but she missed almost every time. Didn’t matter though. No matter where she touched the thing it sang some silly ABC song. That seemed to please her.
Chase cleaned up the baby mess of jars and snacks and had just started to much on cold pizza when his doorbell rang. The clock above his stove said six-fifteen, way too early for Noah and Avery to pick up their daughter. He set the pizza down and scooped up Lily.
Golden hair illuminated by the soft glow of the porch light fell far beyond Lacy’s shoulders. The strands looked like they were in need of a good combing and her freckles stood out on her makeup-free face. Slight bags sat under her grass-green eyes as if she hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before, or she’d been crying. As much as he tried, Chase had a hard time picturing Lacy crying.
Against his wishes, his certain parts responded to the sight of her in a plain
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