Free His Best Mistake by Kristi Gold Page A

you don’t have to find any clothes for her tonight.”
    Leah looked appalled. “I’m not going to put her to bed in just a diaper.”
    “That’s not what I meant.” He crossed the room and opened the top drawer in the bureau to reveal several outfits in every imaginable color. “Mallory gave me some of the girls’ baby clothes and she helped me buy a few things. It’s all been washed.”
    “That was incredibly nice of Mallory.”
    “She enjoyed it.” He rummaged around and after he found one particular item, he turned and held it up. “I picked this one out myself.”
    Leah hinted at a smile as she read the words embroidered across the front of the pink sleeper. “‘Daddy’s Girl.’ Very sweet.”
    “It was either this or a mini football jersey, but I couldn’t find one small enough. I’ll get her one eventually.”
    When Kevin tried to hand her the footed pajamas, Leah wagged a finger at him. “I’m not going to dress her. You are.”
    The dressing part didn’t seem so intimidating compared to the bath. But then he had to admit all the snaps looked confusing. “Okay, but don’t blame me if I put it on backward.”
    When Leah moved aside, Kevin unfolded the towel encasing Carly and applied the diaper with ease. Now came the hard part.
    “Feet first,” Leah said before Kevin had time to figure out the mechanics.
    He managed to get her legs into the sleeper but he wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with the rest. “I’m not going to hurt her when I put her arms in it, am I?”
    “Just take one arm at a time.”
    Kevin was surprised that it wasn’t as difficult as it looked. Of course, Carly was totally cooperative, as though she’d done this before. Probably because she had. After he had the garment in place, he went to work on the snap maze that ran up one leg and all the way toher neck. He only missed a couple at first but before long, he had his daughter dressed. “All set, kiddo. You did good.”
    “So did you,” Leah said, her smile fully formed.
    “Thanks. I hope I’ll get faster with practice. What now?”
    “You can feed her if you’d like.”
    Kevin looked down at his chest and then back up again. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly equipped for that.”
    A touch of sadness crossed Leah’s face. “I stopped breast-feeding this past week. I rarely found the time to pump while I was at work and my milk production was basically next to nothing. She’s on formula now, and I hate that.” Her tone indicated exactly how much she hated it.
    When Leah glanced away, Kevin asked, “When a new mother comes to you with the same predicament, how do you respond?”
    She sighed. “I tell her that the breast is best, but formula is a healthy alternative if it doesn’t work out.”
    “Do you tell them they should feel guilty?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Then you need to practice what you preach. You gave her that all-important colostrum, and you hung in there a lot longer than a lot of women with your schedule would have, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”
    “How do you know about colostrum?”
    “I’ve read up on it and a lot of other baby-rearing aspects.”
    Finally, her smile returned. “Have you ever given a baby a bottle before?”
    “No, but I’m a quick study.”
    “I’ll be right back.”
    After Leah left, Kevin gathered Carly into his arms, stood, and sat in the padded rocker across the room. She studied his face a moment before lifting her fist and bopping him twice in the chin. “Okay, I probably deserved that for a number of things, including not being there the day you were born.”
    She smiled as if to say, That’s okay, Dad. You’re excused . He bent and kissed her forehead, drawing in the scent of the lavender baby shampoo that had soothing properties, according to Leah.
    He saw very little of his Irish father in Carly and a whole lot of his Armenian mother, right down to her dark eyes and hair. But then he, too, was a chip right off