Free 0215543001348293036 vaughn piper oshea m.j. by one small thing

room to room until we eventually ended up at the potted geraniums that sat on my kitchen counter. Alice seemed to like those best. I think it might have been the deep red color. I’d read it was one of the easiest for babies to see. Whatever it was, they were one of the few things she seemed to really focus on, and since the day was
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    one small thing

    sunny and clear, it occurred to me she might enjoy a trip to the park to look at the flower gardens there.
    I got her set up in the baby carrier I’d purchased a couple of weeks back, grabbed her diaper bag, and headed out into the warm fall afternoon. I didn’t leave the apartment all that often, but the first time I ventured out with her for coffee, it was such a pain getting her stroller down the stairs—not to mention all of the attention that pink-and-black monstrosity attracted when I was walking down the street—I’d come home and researched baby carriers and bought one that very same day.
    The straps were a bit tricky at first, but once I had them figured out, getting the thing on and off was a breeze. Alice seemed to like it better than the stroller too. Within ten minutes of leaving the building, she’d already fallen asleep with her head lolling against my chest.
    I went to the park anyway. Even if she wasn’t awake to see the flowers, we were already outside, and the fresh air would probably do her some good. No point in wasting the trip.
    I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when we reached the park and she was still asleep, but I didn’t have the heart to wake her. I wandered the trails, checking out the flowers on my own. They reminded me of my old garden and how much I used to love spending time in my backyard. But no one could bother me in my little fenced-in haven. At the park, people nodded hello, and the women who were walking with their babies in strollers looked at me curiously as they passed. There weren’t any other single men around with babies, and I could tell a few of the women wanted to approach me. Before they had the chance, I turned and started making my way back toward the street.
    Being outside with Alice, I could handle. Chitchat with strangers was quite another story.

    I TOOK her back to the park the next day. I still thought she would enjoy the flowers, and I knew there probably weren’t very many good days left before the first frost descended. This time she stayed awake. I walked the trails with her, stopping to point out the various types of
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    Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

    flowers—golden chrysanthemums and deep purple asters, thick-stemmed sunflowers and bright pink cosmos. I picked one of the last and tucked it into one of the straps on the carrier, close to Alice’s face.
    “There you go, baby girl. It’s almost as pretty as you.”
    “Awwww,” gushed a voice from beside me. “That’s so sweet!
    How old is she? She looks just like you!”
    I almost jumped out of my skin. Instinctively, I cupped the back of Alice’s head and pressed her closer to my chest as I turned to face the person who was speaking.
    It was a tiny blonde woman, probably only an inch or two over five feet, who, from the look of her clothes, had probably been out for a jog or something. An overweight chocolate lab sat on the ground next to her feet, its tail wagging lazily. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “Uh… it’s n-no problem.”
    She nodded toward Alice. “How old is she?”
    “F-four weeks.”
    “Aww, I thought she had that squishy newborn look.” The woman took a step closer, and I barely stopped myself from backing away. “It’s so nice of you to be out here with her. You don’t see men out here by themselves very often. Is your wife at home?” The question was so unexpected I could only blink down at her for a moment. “W-wife? I’m not m-married.”
    “Your girlfriend then?”
    “N-no girlfriend.”
    The woman stepped even closer. “So you’re