Chapter 2 #4
Standing there with his finger in her mouth was awkward, so he pulled it out and guessed that she’d start to fuss.
That was absolutely right―she started to squeak and whimper immediately, but Blue tried to do what he’d already done in reverse as he scooted his arms under her in the basket and gently lifted her.
As soon as she was against his chest, she calmed a little, and when he stuck his finger in her mouth, she let out a huge sigh and sucked again.
The sense of satisfaction was overwhelming.
He’d actually figured out something that would quiet her!
He was so excited that he really wanted to call someone and tell them, but there was no one to call.
Besides, that would mean he’d have to take his finger out of her mouth, and no way was he going to do that.
The door opened and Polly reentered. “Let’s try this.”
“What is it?”
Polly smiled. “It’s milk cut with warm water. And I’ve got an eyedropper.”
“That’s genius,” Blue smiled. He popped his finger out of the baby’s mouth and she started to whimper, but when Polly replaced it with the dropper full of milk, she sucked greedily.
“She’s hungry. I hope Mom finds some stuff pretty soon.” As soon as the dropper was empty, Polly refilled it and started the process again. “It’s not formula, but no more than she’ll get, it’ll be fine.”
The door popped open again and Anne stuck her head in.
“Come help me,” she told Blue, then turned before he could respond.
Didn’t matter. He couldn’t wait to get whatever it was they needed and get started doing some things that would keep the baby quiet.
When he got to the car, Anne handed him an enormous package of diapers along with a couple of bags of items, and grabbed the rest herself.
They deposited everything on the kitchen counter and started going through it all.
“First things first.” Ripping open the package of diapers, she grabbed one and headed into the living room with it and a bottle of baby powder.
“Get in here and watch Polly diaper this baby,” she ordered.
“It’s easy,” the young girl told him, then proceeded to change the diaper.
Blue was pretty sure he’d never get it right, although he was glad to see it didn’t have pins.
He was certain he would’ve been dangerous with those.
Once the towel was unfolded, she wiped the baby down with a baby wipe. “This is a girl baby―”
“I can see that,” Blue scoffed.
She frowned. “I was about to say, it’s important that you clean in every fold and crease to make sure she doesn’t have pee on her skin. That’s very bad. Especially poop. It can make her bottom sore.”
Blue shuddered. “I’m a guy. That’s… awkward.”
Polly shook her head as she pulled the diaper up between the baby’s legs and taped the sides shut. “Yeah, it might be at first, but it’s part of taking care of her. It’s important.”
His voice was almost a wheeze when he said, “Well, okay, but I’m not crazy about that.”
Polly chuckled. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Dinnertime!” Anne sang out as she waltzed into the living room. She bent down over the baby as the little thing lay on the sofa, her arms waving and her legs kicking. “Who wants something to eat?”
“I do. I’m starving,” Blue answered.
Anne just shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Not you. The baby.” She held up a bottle. “Polly, show him how to feed her. When that’s done,” she said, pointing at Blue, “I’ll teach you how to do the bottles so you’ll have some.”
The diapering finished and neat, Polly handed her back to Blue. “Just hold her in one arm and feed her with the other hand. It’s not that hard.”
Blue cradled the baby in a long arm, then pressed the bottle’s nipple to her mouth. To his amazement, she latched onto it immediately and began to drink greedily. Pure joy rushed into his heart. “Look! I’m doing it!” he cried out.
Anne smiled. “Yes! You are. And you’re doing a good job too. Once she eats, I’ll show you how to burp her and she should go to sleep.” He got another shock when Anne said, “Good job, Blue. You’re doing great.”
Blue watched Indigo’s face as she drank.
The contents of the bottle got smaller and smaller, and he wondered what would happen when it ran out.
But before it could, her eyelids started to quiver, then gently began to close.
“No. Wake her up,” Anne warned. “If she doesn’t finish it, she’ll wake up in an hour screaming again from hunger. ”
“How do I do that?”
“Just jiggle her. Pull the nipple out and put it back in. Anything to keep her awake,” Anne told him.
He did as she said and, sure enough, the baby’s eyes snapped open. “Eat it all, baby. You need your strength so you can…” What was she supposed to do? “Um, cry, I guess,” he finished.
Polly chuckled. “Yeah, that’s exactly what she’ll be doing!”
“Blue,” Anne admonished, “when you talk to her, call her by name. She needs to start recognizing her name when people call it.”
“Okay.” He looked down into her face. “Eat your dinner, Indigo.” At the sound of her name, the baby’s eyes went wide and she fastened her gaze on Blue’s. “That’s a good girl, Indigo,” he said, repeating her name. Then it happened.
For just a few seconds, she stopped sucking, looked up at Blue, and grinned around the nipple. He almost fainted, then blurted out, “She smiled!”
“Sure she did! Babies smile by her age. That usually starts at six months, so it’s not surprising that she can. She’s finished,” Anne pointed out. “Pick her up under her arms and put her on your shoulder.”
“Like a bag of beans?”
Anne shook her head and laughed. “No. Just so her arms hang over.” Blue tried it.
“Don’t let her fall.” He shifted himself around until it felt okay.
“Now take your free hand and pat her back. Rub it too. Gently.” Afraid he’d hurt her, Blue patted her back tenderly.
“You can do it a little harder than that. She won’t break.
And jiggle her up and down a little while you do it. ”
Blue tried it, and in just a few seconds the baby let out a rip-roaring burp right in his ear. “God, that’s pretty fucking rude!” he almost shouted.
Anne burst into laughter. “That’s what she was supposed to do! Now she won’t have the tummy ache.”
Blue sat for a second, thinking, before he said, “Oh! I get it! That makes sense.”
“Yep. Air on a tummy equals a fussy baby. Next time, make sure to throw a towel or something over your shoulder so if she spits up, you won’t get soaked,” Anne warned.
“If she spits up? Should I give her medicine or something?” The idea that she might get sick scared Blue to pieces. He couldn’t handle somebody who was leaking from every orifice.
“No. They just sometimes do that, and it’s usually not a lot.” Anne gave him a gentle smile. “Sit there with her for a few minutes. Just rock her forward and back and let her get sleepy. I need to get some clean things to put in her little basket. Do you have towels?”
Blue chuckled―it was the first one he’d been able to let out all day―and pointed toward the kitchen. “I just did a load yesterday. They’re in the dryer back there.” He watched as Anne moved in that direction.
“You’re doing really good, Mr.Blue,” Polly told him softly as they both watched Indigo’s eyes close gently.
“I’m scared I’ll wake her up,” he whispered.
“No. Once she really gets to sleep, she’ll sleep like a log. Her belly’s full,” the girl whispered.
Aha! Feed them and they sleep! That made sense too.
Pretty soon, Anne appeared with the basket freshly packed and set it down on the sofa beside Blue.
“There you go. I think she’ll sleep soundly enough.
I should show you how to make some bottles.
And we’ve got little clothes to wash and dry so she’ll have something to wear. We should get started.”
Blue laid the sleeping child in the basket and pulled another towel over her.
He watched as her lip quivered and she sighed, then grew still again.
A huge sense of accomplishment swept over him―he’d fed a baby and gotten it to sleep!
But as soon as it hit, a tsunami of panic slapped him back into reality.
“Anne, what am I going to do? I don’t have anybody to watch a baby and I’ve got to go to work on Monday.
I can’t take her with me, and I can’t leave her by herself. ”
“Let’s cross each bridge as we come to it, okay? We’ll figure out something. It’ll be fine. Now let’s get on the bottles and laundry.”
Three hours later they had a good handle on things.
Indigo woke, but Polly watched her in the living room and kept her occupied.
In a little while, there was a knock at the door and Toady joined them.
He sat on the floor and made faces at the baby, and she grinned and laughed and blew spit bubbles at him.
When they had laundry done and bottles made, Blue headed into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. “Whew! I’m beat!”
“So am I,” Anne chimed in.
“This must be your day off,” Blue responded, then instantly felt bad. “And I’ve used it all up and kept you busy. I’m so sorry. I never thought about it.”
Anne shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
I should make nice with her. She seems like a kind lady. “So where do you work?”
“At Mercy Hospital.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m the assistant director of nursing.”
Blue’s eyes went round. “Really? That’s an important job.”
“Yeah. I volunteered to do second shift because someone needed to be watching the nursing staff. They also have a lot of times when they’re short-handed because someone doesn’t come in, so I’m an extra pair of hands.”