Chapter 63
—Kasey—
“Mom!” I whisper-hissed into the phone as soon as she answered early the next morning.
“Kasey? Why on Earth are you calling this early?”
I glanced at the huge living room wall clock and grimaced. Six o’clock—barely.
“I need some help.”
Mom’s voice sobered and cleared, and I imagined her sitting up in bed, ready to roll at a moment’s notice. “With what? Do I need to wake Dad?”
“No, don’t do that! It’s about Posie.” I eyed the little baby, chilling on the rug beside me. “What do I do with her?”
“What do you mean?” I heard blankets rustling as Mom slid from bed.
“Well, Reed’s asleep, so I don’t want to wake him, but I’ve given her a bottle and now she’s just lying on the floor under the play gym thing. What do I do now?”
A smile entered Mom’s tone. “Have you changed her?”
I immediately felt stupid. “No.” Then indecision kicked. “Can I do that on the floor?”
“The floor is perfect, Kase. You can leave her diaper off too for a bit, as long as it’s not chilly. Is she on a rug?”
“Yes. And the house is warm.” I knelt at Posie’s feet, balanced the phone between my shoulder and ear, and started undoing the snaps on her little suit. “So, no diaper at all?”
“Yes. She’ll love having a kick around,” Mom assured me. “You can also pop her on her stomach, but I wouldn’t do that straight after a feed or she’s likely to spill.”
“Spill… okay. Uh, what does that mean?”
“Spit up some milk, honey. It’s likely to happen if she’s got a full belly.”
“Oh. Gross.” I tucked that info away for later. I was so out of my depth it wasn’t funny. “Okay, then what?”
“Show her the toys, or does she have a little book you can hold up? She’ll enjoy you cycling her legs too.”
I nodded while mentally taking notes. “Okay—toys, books, cycling legs… Anything else?”
“Not unless she gets hungry again. Or tired.”
Connie’s advice came back. “Then I’ll give her another small bottle and put her back to bed.”
“That’s perfect,” Mom praised.
“Thanks, Mom. If I have more questions, I’ll call back.”
She scoffed. “I may as well stay up then, right?”
I snickered. “Put a pot of coffee on.”
“One step ahead of you, Kasey. Let me know how it goes.”
“Okay. Bye Mom.”
“Bye, honey.”
I disconnected and put my phone down, then bit my lower lip. Diaper-free time seemed easy enough to orchestrate…
After separating the Velcro tabs of the disposable diaper, I set it aside and smiled down at Posie kicking like mad.
Her little fists batted the toys hanging above her, making so much noise each time she knocked the shaker I worried it would wake Reed. Not wanting that to happen, I quickly ran to the hallway door and softly closed it, then returned to Posie. As I knelt, my knee met soaking wetness. I glanced down just to catch Posie finishing peeing on the floor rug.
Gasping and immediately having an oh shit moment, I moved the play gym aside then rolled Posie onto her stomach before rushing to get paper towels.
It only took ten seconds, but I returned to a disaster zone. Not only had she spit up a little, but she’d somehow sprayed yellow poop down her legs and merrily kicked it into the rug along with her pee.
“Oh no, no, noooooo,” I whisper-cried, carefully rolling her onto her back again and beginning to unbutton the rest of her suit.
I had it removed and in a filthy pile but didn’t know what to do next.
“Uh… okay, up you come, bubba,” I calmly murmured, lifting her by the armpits as I rose to my feet. There, I halted. I had a baby covered in her own poo, a messed-up rug, pee on my knee, and no fucking clue of what my next move was.
The hallway door opening made me panic. So much for Reed sleeping in this morning. He’d woken to a shit-fest. Literally.
“Morning, ba—” He cut off and squinted across the living room. “Why are you holding her like that? And why is she naked?”
“Uh… we had a bit of a mishap.”
Reed rushed over and relieved Posie from my hands, then hopped on one foot. “Argh, what is that?” He looked down, then straight back to me. “Is that shit on my rug?”
I bit the inside of my mouth to stop myself from laughing. “Um, depends on where you stood… there’s also pee.”
He lifted his foot again, revealing yellow sludge. “This ain’t pee, Kasey,” he exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, that’s the poop,” I said through nervous laughter.
“Christ on a cracker,” Reed hissed, propping his heel on the floor for balance. He then also realized he was cupping her poopie butt.
A little gag escaped his mouth. “Grab the wipes for me, babe. I can’t touch anything right now. You’ll need to clean my foot before I walk through the house to shower us.”
“Okay, wipes…” I rushed over to the supplies he had stored on the TV cabinet, then back to the crime scene. “Here you go.”
Reed’s eyes widened incredulously through the early morning shadows. “You’ll need to wipe it. I’m holding her.”
My chin tucked back. “Eww, I don’t want to touch your foot!”
“For fuck’s sake, Kasey, just do it already.”
“Fine.” I huffed and dropped to my knees.
But seeing Posie’s poo mushed between Reed’s toes made me gag. Then again when the sickly-sweet smell assaulted my nostrils.
“I can’t,” I cried. “Nope. I’m out.”
“Dammit, Kase,” Reed laughed. “Just wipe some off so I can walk to the bathroom.”
“I can’t. It’s so gross.”
“It’s not between your toes!”
“She peed on my knee,” I threw back, pointing to the small patch that had now dried.
Reed snorted. “Shit, you’re an absolute mess. Let me help you clean that patch of non-existent urine,” he drawled sarcastically, still holding Posie up Lion King style.
When I didn’t move other than my eyes slamming into slits, he rolled his while huffing, then wiped his foot on the soiled rug.
“It’s gotta be washed anyway,” he reasoned.
I followed him through the house, snickering each step of the way as he limped along on the heel of one foot, all the while apologizing for having Posie go rogue in my care.
Reed, bless him, grinned and shook his head while he waited for the shower to heat.
“Darlin’, it’s fine. No one got hurt. I’m just gonna have to burn the floor rug and buy another,” he teased.
I pressed my hands to my face. “Oh my god. Mom said it was a good idea. That Posie would enjoy diaper-free time.”
“Oh, she does, but I always put a towel down first.”
“Fuuuck, I’m so sorryyyy,” I groaned.
Reed laughed and kissed my forehead. “Thank you, Kase.”
I tucked my chin back in surprise. “For what?”
His caring eyes met mine as Posie kicked more of her poop onto his bare stomach. “For tending to her. This has been the best start to my day in a very long time.”