Chapter Eleven
Jake
I held her long after my brothers quietly left the kitchen and went on about their work, long after her sobbing quieted. I hadn't expected her to weep for the man who hurt her like that, but I guessed it stood to reason. She had loved him at one point.
The baby monitor crackled a little and Janna's sleepy whines came through. "Let me get them. You take the day for yourself." I figured I knew enough about them by now I could manage for one day.
A little part of me felt like I owed her since I was the dirty bastard behind the reason for her grief. Maybe I should have left well enough alone, but I couldn't let her go through life with that threat over her head. Even if Manny hadn't been able to help and it meant I had to get my own hands dirty, I wouldn't have hesitated.
She nodded and I hurried over to Gramma's house just in time to meet Ian stumbling out his room rubbing his eyes. "Hey buddy. You ready to get the day started?"
He nodded up at me, wide-eyed.
"Momma's not feeling great today, so I figured you, me and Janna would hang out. That okay with you?"
He gave a quick grin. I followed him back into his room and watched as he stripped out of his PJs and attempted to dress himself. Frustration took over pretty quickly when the shirt refused to go over his head. Together, we fumbled through and he grinned with satisfaction when we finished.
"You know where the stuff for Janna's bottles is?" Hopefully, that was what she needed.
"Yep." He led me to the kitchen and climbed up on a stool to reach a can sitting on the counter, then a bottle from the dish drainer. With his help and the directions on the can, I thought I did okay fixing the bottle. Ian shook the hell out of it after I got the powder measured and put in.
By this time, Janna started to actually howl, letting me know in no uncertain terms what she thought of my slowness. I stood there for a long minute, watching her glare up at me, her little lip puckered.
A deep breath gave me the nerve to pick her up. "How'd you sleep, beautiful? You ready for breakfast?"
Ian giggled. "Silly. Gotta change her."
I turned back to the baby to find her contentedly chewing her knuckles and waiting for me to get my ass in gear. I looked around until I spotted the little changing table thing and hoped like hell the supplies were all there. It took a few minutes, but I finally got the little coverall thing she wore off. Whoever made clothes for babies was evidently an idiot, since there was no logical way for that shit to work.
The soaked diaper peeled back and the chubby little legs went to kicking like crazy. Ian giggled some more, but handed me a replacement diaper. I carefully slid it under the wiggly kid butt and folded it between her legs. But then the fastener parts wouldn't cooperate. Ian finally took mercy and helped me get it somewhat right, so at least it stayed. Satisfied with that task, I decided to leave Janna in just her diaper after I looked at her clothes and couldn't figure how to work them. Not like it was cold or anything anyway.
A little more than half-proud of myself, I took the kids and the bottle over to the house so Ian could eat at the same time. I grabbed the plate Ande had already prepared for Ian and brought it over to the coffee table. "Here ya go, kid, breakfast is served."
He stared at me, then at the plate, and back at me. Then he went to sit at the kitchen table.
"Why you going over there? You can eat here and watch TV."
He shook his head. "Momma say eat at the table."
Well, shit. Couldn't argue with what Momma said. I took his food over to him and settled into my usual chair to feed the baby. The kids both ate like they hadn't seen groceries for a month, even though I'd seen them eat every meal for days. Ian finished and gulped down the rest of his milk just as Janna's bottle gave up the last drop. Getting them both settled for a morning of cartoons and playing peek-a-boo seemed like a breeze.
Until about an hour later when Janna started fussing, and quickly turned on the waterworks until she was blasting the top off the house. A skunk had apparently sprayed on the porch a few moments ago. It was strong enough to make my eyes water, so I figured that must be what was wrong with Janna too. Couldn't blame the poor kid. I jiggled and bounced and talked and made faces and walked, and still, nothing helped. I even closed the window to try to cut down the stench, with no luck. It looked like I was going to have to call in one of the boys to scrub down the porch so the poor kid could breathe.
Ian glanced up from where he pushed a little car around. "She pooped."
Oh. Well. That explained it. I could handle this. I found the tote of diaper supplies Ande kept in the house, laid the wriggly little mess on the floor, sat down beside her, and resolved to figure this out.
In my defense, when Ian said she pooped, the kid had no concept of 'poop'. This child had shit. It went up her back the instant I laid her down, and squished out the legs of her diaper. And she kept rolling. Moving that shit all around everywhere. In her hair. In her hands. On her belly.
Okay. Okay, I could do this. I reasoned if the kitchen sink worked for cleaning up a puke baby, it could work for cleaning up a shit baby too. I balanced her over one arm and got the temperature right, then peeled the diaper off. In the process of transferring her to the sink, I got the shit all over myself too. How the hell did people do this? I sprayed the worst of the poop off Janna and started trying to figure the rest of it out.
"Jake got poop." Ian pointed out my obvious failings. "Got to shower."
Well, okay. That made sense. I headed for the bathroom. I could spray the poop off both of us at the same time. It took some doing, but I got my own clothes off and managed to hold onto the greased pig otherwise known as Janna, and got the water adjusted. Finally, I managed to get us both clean. Janna giggled and sputtered, and my damn heart fluttered. Rotten kid had me wrapped around her finger.
The bathroom door flew open. "Jake, Ian said—" Ande froze in the bathroom door and covered her eyes. "Oh, my God! I'm sorry!" She grabbed for a towel. "Uh, here. I'll keep my eyes closed, you can just put the baby in the towel."
Shit. I suddenly realized I was naked, in a damn shower, with someone else's kid. Oh fuck. This could be very bad. "I couldn't figure how else to get the poop off us both."
Ande turned her back and giggled. "Ian said she made a big poop and Jake made a big mess."
"Ian was so right."
She closed the door behind her and left me to my own devices. I took three minutes to make sure there was no leftover baby poop, then dried off. Thankfully, now there were clean clothes in my room, instead of having to sort through a month's worth and hoping to find something that didn't stink too terribly.
Back out in the kitchen, I found Ande feeding a clean, dry, and dressed Janna. "How do you get her in those things? They don't work right."
She laughed. "You just have to know how to do it."
I grunted and helped myself to more coffee. "Figures. That stuff should come with an owner's manual." I took a long drink. "I'm sorry. I meant to keep up with them for the day for you, to give you some time. Apparently, Janna's poop is not beginner level on the baby sitting scale."
"Don't worry about it. You did good. Honestly, I'm surprised you made it ten minutes." She chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen anything so funny, though."
"What was funny?" I might have been a little frightened to know. "Nevermind. I don't think I really want to know."
The chuckle became an outright laugh. "No, seriously, if you could have seen it. This big, rough guy and this tiny baby grinning at each other through the water like they just solved the biggest problems facing humanity."
Okay, when she put it that way. "Poop is a huge problem, but okay, as long as you're not laughing at me." My ego poked its head up, demanding to be soothed.
She winked. "No, not at all."
Another head popped up, making its own demands, but I told it to hush for now. "You doing okay?" I changed the subject out of sheer self preservation.
She nodded. "I am. I'm shocked. But okay. I guess his ways caught up to him. I wish I could say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Nobody ever deserved it more." She turned a bright smile on me. "You know what? I think it's a day to celebrate. I know the other guys are working, but would you like to join the kids and me for a picnic? I promise not to let Janna poop on you again."
My heart thudded against my ribs. "How could I refuse the chance to spend some time with my favorite people?"