Ranch Manny - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,10
Nate, when it came right down to it.
“Dad-O? Was that a baby? A real baby? Can I hold her one day?” Susannah’s eyes were big as saucers as he wandered through to the kitchen and the washer and dryer.
“I bet you can. Not today, since she might be itchy.” He didn’t think so since there was no sign of the rash on Daisy’s skin, but she’d had a tough day and so had Susannah. Things could so easily go wrong. “Is Curly okay?” Curly was, in fact, asleep in his chair, and Susannah was sort of…propping him up.
“He’s snoring. It tickles.”
“Can you stay here with him until I come back?” He searched for a remote, then clicked the flat-screen TV on and found Doc McStuffins. “Here. Stay right here, baby, okay?”
She nodded. “I won’t let Mr. Curly Man fall.” She was growing up so fast. Too fast. Trace was so proud of her he could burst, though, for wanting to take care of Curly.
He got laundry going, checked the hall to make sure no one was running amok, then hit up the fridge. Hot dogs. Leftover mac and cheese in a big container. Oh, yeah. He could totally work with that.
He tossed the mac and cheese in the oven real low, set a pan of water to boiling for the dogs, and then he ran back to the girls. “Lunch and laundry are started.”
“Thanks. I’ll get Jakob all calamine coated.” Brent got up off the toilet. “Be good for Mr. Trace.”
“I will!” Caroline beamed at him. “We gotted to come home early.”
“You did.” He scooped the baby up, murmuring to her as he checked for spots. She looked safely clear, so he wrapped her up, snuggling her baby head, which smelled so good.
She snorted, then hiccupped, relaxed by the bath. So far she was clearly the angel baby.
He would go hunting for a diaper as soon as someone came back. God, he really, really wanted all the kids in the same room.
“Okay, man! Heading to the kitchen!” Brent called, voice trailing off down the hall.
Oh, good deal. That was the goal for them all. Except, clothes for Caro.
“Okay, come on, Caro. Help me find clothes for you and Miss Daisy?” He’d just let her help out, because he had no idea. Usually kids loved to be useful.
“Uh-huh.” She wore the towel he wrapped around her like a cape. “Dis way.” She led him to a bright room that had a pink princess bed and a purple dresser, but was neat as a pin, all the toys tucked away, the little dressing table all organized with a brush and comb. “Daisy is between me and Daddy Brent.”
“Oh, what a pretty room. Let me get Daisy diapered, and I’ll help you get dressed, all right, hon?”
“’Kay.” She wandered to the toy box, and Trace ran for a diaper.
He stuffed Daisy into a diaper and a onesie, then headed back to Caroline, who sat on the floor on her towel, a pair of dolls being carefully washed with a tiny washcloth.
“They might have the poisons too.”
So cute. Little momma girl.
“Let’s get you Calamined and dressed so we can meet Susannah.”
“Does it burn?”
“Not even a little. It’ll feel nice, and it’s pink.”
“Okay!” She definitely wasn’t crying now. They would probably all need another bath later, but right now, they would have lunch and get to know each other.
He corralled Daisy with some pillows on the bed, then helped Caro get covered in pink goo and dressed.
Soon he was herding them all down the hallway so he could get his eyes on Susannah. She was right where he’d left her, only Curly wasn’t in his chair, and she was jabbering at Jakob, who stared at her like she was an apparition. He hoped that was good, not bad.
“Where’s Curly, y’all?”
“With Daddy Brent.” Jakob looked at him like he was some amazing new sight. “You have a ring in your lip. Did it hurt?”
“Yeah, a little bit.” He went to the kitchen door and saw the old cowboy and Brent talking together on the back porch. Okay. Whew. Right. “Hey, Jakob. Are you guys all about ready for lunch?” He smiled as Susannah blinked at Caro, who blinked back. “Miss Caro, this is Susannah. Susannah, this is Caro. Y’all are going to be the best of friends.”
“You have a baby!” Susannah gave Caro wide eyes. “Is she fun?”
“She’s loud, and she poops a lot.”
“She smells,” Jakob said. “But so did Caro.”
Caroline stuck out her tongue. “Mean!