Baby on Board Read Free Page B

good-naturedly as he put her back in the car seat.
    First things first, he would get her room together.
    After he had carefully taken off his soiled shirt and threw it in the
    wash, he took the car seat into the room he felt would be the perfect
    nursery and put her in a corner and began to assemble the crib. He had
    purchased the nicest one that Target had to offer. It had two big drawers
    beneath it to hold her clothes, and there were two shelves in the closet
    where he could stack diapers and boxes of diapers, and above that was a
    bar to hang more clothing and her pretty little dresses. Beneath the
    changing table he had bought was a drawer for baby powder, rash cream,
    and other things. While she slept soundly in the car seat, he worked
    tirelessly in making the room a place for his daughter to call her own.
    Plans swirled in his head. His mother always liked Disney so he was
    going to give Bonnie a Disney princess themed room. Rafe shook his head
    at the way his life had completely turned in a matter of hours. He’d had
    every intention of coming home and relaxing with a beer. Instead, he was
    putting a musical Little Mermaid mobile over a crib filled with pink and
    purple teddy bears. A chuckle escaped his lips at the irony.
    Finally, after a couple of hours of work, everything was completed and
    put away. He gently laid Bonnie in the crib and changed her diaper as she
    slept. Ivy’s milk idea worked because she hardly stirred as he swapped out
    the wet nappy for a dry one. Rafe covered her with a pink blanket polka-
    dotted with little brown bears and looked down at his daughter. He picked

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    Baby On Board Dahlia Rose

    up the receiver for the baby monitor and walked out of the room. Just a
    little longer , he thought as he found himself going back to the crib to run
    his fingers over her soft cheek. Rafe stood there, not knowing how long,
    watching her sleep. But as the time passed, he went from his feet to his
    knees and then finally to leaning against the crib. He reached his hand in
    and even in sleep, Bonnie wrapped her soft, tiny hand around his finger as
    if she knew he would protect her, and that he was her father. Rafe ended
    up sleeping in that position the rest of the night.

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    Baby On Board Dahlia Rose

    Chapter Two

    It seemed that Rafe took to fatherhood like a fish to water. Ivy
    watched him run down the sidewalk with one of the newest model
    running strollers. Bonnie was strapped safely within. More than one
    mother stopped him to peek at the baby. In Strawberry Glen suburbia,
    he’d become the most eligible single dad overnight. It made her grit her
    teeth in agitation. Rafe didn’t seem to be paying it much attention,
    however. If he was, he didn’t let on. She’d stopped by on Saturday
    evening to find him on the floor playing with Bonnie, and Donna “Double
    Ds” from two houses down was in his kitchen making a casserole.
    Then again on Sunday afternoon she dropped by to see a plate of
    cookies on his kitchen counter. She knew the particular pattern
    immediately. She’d been on the receiving end of those cookies when she
    moved in. No one but Grace Adams from down the block made salted
    caramel shortbread cookies. Now it was Monday—Memorial Day—and
    she planned to sit in her backyard with a good book and relax. There was
    a knock on the door as she was coming down the stairs, complete with her
    floppy hat and sunglasses on. Her white cotton shorts and tank top kept
    her cool and put a smile on her face—she loved dressing down and didn’t
    get to very often. She was always stuck wearing big, frumpy scrubs.
    When she opened the door, her smile dropped just a little. Rafe stood on
    her steps looking a bit frazzled, holding Bonnie with the baby bag slung
    over his shoulder.
    “Hi,” Ivy said slowly.
    “Hey, I need a huge favor,” he began. “Can you watch Bonnie for a
    few hours?”
    “Um…why?” She put her hands on her hips and stared at him through
    the darkened lenses