His Best Mistake

Mallory came to her feet and waved a hand at him. “Come with me. I have an idea.”

Whit groaned as Kevin followed his sister out of the den and into the hall. They traveled several feet before reaching a bedroom decorated in shades of yellow and green, twin beds—not cribs—set out on opposing walls. Mallory crossed the room, picked up a doll and two miniature diapers from a shelf, turned and offered them to him. “You can practice with Sally Sweetness, who happens to be anatomically correct. If you’d like, I can give you one of her play bottles. Fill it up with water, stick it in her mouth, and in a matter of minutes, she’ll wet her diaper and you can change it.”

Not at all what he’d had in mind. “A doll isn’t the same as the real thing, Mallory.”

“It’s a start, Kevin. Or you could wait another few weeks for Logan and Jenna’s baby to arrive.”

He didn’t have weeks to wait for the birth of another niece or nephew. Not if he wanted to prove to Leah that he could care for Carly now. He took the doll from Mallory and stuffed the diapers in the pocket of his slacks. “I’ll make do with this.”

“I just remembered something else that might help, so wait here,” Mallory said as she left the room. She returned a few moments later, this time with a book that she held out to him. “You’ll find everything you need to know about babies in here.”

He took the book and flipped through the pages, complete with illustrations. “It’s all covered in here?”

“Yes, but if you have any questions, call me. You can also call Mom. After all, she’s raised six kids.”

Not something he cared to do. “I don’t want to tell Mom and Dad yet. Not until I know for certain if Leah’s going to go along with my plan.”

Mallory inclined her head and studied him for a moment. “You don’t want Mom hovering, which is why you came to me instead.”

His sister knew him too well. “You could say that. I want to do this on my own, or at least for the most part. But I have to admit, it’s pretty daunting.”

She patted his arm. “You’re a smart guy, Kevin. And don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that men don’t have instincts when it comes to their children. All you have to do is listen to those instincts, and love your child.”

The odd thing was, Kevin already loved Carly, even though he’d only held her one time. “I’ll remember that.”

Mallory studied him a few moments before saying, “Believe it or not, I think you’re going to make a good father, Kev.”

Then his sister did something totally unexpected—drew him into a hug. The moment seemed awkward at first, at least to Kevin. He’d built a lot of walls during his adulthood, even when it came to his family. Especially when it came to family. But he welcomed the renewed closeness with his siblings, now more than ever.

After Mallory released him, Kevin smiled self-consciously. “Wish me luck with convincing Leah that moving in with me would be the best thing for all three of us.”

Mallory grinned. “You don’t need any luck, Kevin. You only need to turn on that charm you’ve always used to your benefit.”

Kevin didn’t feel all that charming lately. “That was the old me, Mallory. I’m not sure that person exists anymore.”

“Oh, I think he does. Only he’s a better version of that person.”

Kevin sincerely hoped he had become a better person. More important, he hoped that Leah would eventually recognize that. “Thanks, Mallory.”

“Not a problem. Again, if you decide you need my help with anything else, let me know. Only next time, call before you drop by.”

Kevin could think of one thing he really needed—a miracle. Nothing short of that would convince Leah to move in with him.

“PLEASE go to sleep, sweetie.” Leah recognized how foolish she sounded, pleading with a thee-month-old infant. But she was growing more desperate by the minute, as well as losing what little coherency she had left.

No matter what she’d attempted in order to lull her baby to sleep—from a drive around town, feeding her several times and rocking her for what seemed like hours on end—nothing had worked.

Using all her medical knowledge, she’d examined Carly from head to toe, taken her temperature and determined that her daughter wasn’t in any physical distress. She basically didn’t care to sleep, despite her mother’s exhaustion. She continued to teeter between wide-eyed bouts of glee and fits of nonstop fussiness. Worse still, the behavior had gone on for three nights in a row. Of course, the day-care workers had reported that Carly had been the perfect little angel, napping twice during the day for at least two hours at a time. Unfortunately, Leah hadn’t had that luxury. She did have an impending schedule crammed full of appointments with children who needed her skill and her attentiveness. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to form a complete sentence, much less perform an accurate well-baby check.

When Carly started to cry again, Leah rose from the rocker and strolled around the room, feeling as if she’d lost control of her life. She’d worked so hard to be a competent pediatrician, but she obviously lacked in parenting skills.

If only she could close her eyes for a few minutes, or at the very least take a shower to get a head start on the morning. And morning would be arriving in less than two hours.

On that thought, Leah left the room with Carly in her arms and headed down the hall to seek out her roommate. Macy could at least watch over Carly long enough for Leah to get a quick bath and maybe a nap. Provided Macy was open to the plan.

Once she reached Macy’s room, Leah quietly opened the door so she wouldn’t startle her. Carly picked that moment to let out an irritable howl, as if she sensed her mother was about to foist her off on a woman who didn’t possess one solitary maternal bone in her body.

A sliver of light fell across the bed, illuminating Macy’s closed eyes. “I really could use some help,” Leah whispered.

Macy groaned, lifted her head and muttered, “What time is it?”

“Almost four. Carly’s been up most of the night and I haven’t had any sleep. Could you watch her for an hour or so while I take a nap?”

Macy rolled onto her back and sighed. “I’m scrubbing in on an open heart in less than five hours.”