“Oh, she doesn’t mind. As long as she gets to spend time with her grandbabies, she doesn’t care what they call her. Point is, her sleep training method works. It takes a few nights for it to stick, but once it does, babies start sleeping through the night and don’t stop unless they’re sick or some idiot wakes them up.”
“Really?” I arch a skeptical brow.
“I can show you how it works.” Nash takes a pull on his beer. “We could even start tonight if you want.”
I cross my arms, hope flickering to life inside me, even as the voice of doom insists that my daughter is the worst sleeper ever and will probably flunk out of Mee-maw Sleep Training School. Still, I can’t help being curious. It feels like eons have passed since I last slept through the night. The thought of tucking Felicity in and going to bed and not having to get out of it again until the sun rises is…dizzying.
It would be like my birthday and Christmas and half a dozen orgasms all rolled into one.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” I say. “What’s Mee-maw’s secret? How does she work this dark magic?”
Nash grins. “Nothing magical about it. Just, when the baby cries, you go to the door of their room and say ‘hush now, hush,’ real soft until they get quiet. Then you say, ‘I love you, Skeeter, I love you so much, but it’s night-night time,’ and then you go back to bed for fifteen minutes. If she’s still crying after that, you go in and do the same thing.”
I blink. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“But what if she’s hungry?”.
“Babies Skeeter’s age—”
“Felicity, please,” I cut in. “If Skeeter sticks as a nickname, I may have to kill you.”
Nash grins, a dimple popping grin that makes my blood feel fizzy again. “Fine, babies Felicity’s age don’t need to be fed in the night. If she stops getting her bottle after bedtime, she’ll adjust her eating during the day to make up for it.”
I wrinkle my nose. This still sounds wrong. “And I’m not supposed to pick her up? Or rock her, or anything?”
“Raleigh would rub my nephew Jason’s back or tummy every once and awhile,” Nash says, before adding in a confidential whisper, “But Mee-maw frowns on that. Shows weakness.”
“Dude, I’m weak,” I huff, propping my elbows on the counter and resting my chin in my hands, feeling defeated before I’ve even started. “There’s no way I’ll be able to resist picking her up. She’s so pathetic. I swear, she cries like someone is pulling out her toenails one by one.”
Nash laughs, but I shake my head.
“No, seriously. It’s like she’s being tortured.” I shudder. “She’s so loud. She’ll keep you up all night if I don’t grab her within the first few sniffles.”
He shrugs. “So, she keeps me up for a night or two. I don’t care.”
I frown. “But you have work on Monday.”
“You’ve had to work since she was born and you’ve managed,” he says, the admiration in his voice surprising me. “I’m at least half as tough as you are.”
“I’d say you’re probably a little tougher.” I shoot his bare chest a pointed look. “Just a hair or two.”
“Doubt it.” He rests his forearms on the counter and leans in, bringing his face closer to mine. “Mamas are tough, but I’m sure I’m better rested than you are. And have more experience with babies. Why don’t you let me back you up tonight? I’ll get up with you and rub your back while you rub Felicity’s, help you resist the urge to pick her up.”
Nash rubbing my back. The thought is way more exciting than something so innocent should be.
I clear my throat. “That’s a very sweet offer, but—”
“No buts,” he cuts in. “It’s okay to ask for help, you know. Or to accept it when it’s freely offered.”
“I really don’t want to put you out.”
“Put me out. It’ll make me feel useful. Men like to feel useful.”
“Not all men,” I mutter, thinking of Liam’s pinched expression every time I asked him to watch the baby so I could take a quick shower. Even that was an inconvenience to my ex, let alone helping feed or change the baby or, God forbid, get up with her in the night.
“Well, I’m not all men,” Nash says in a soft drawl that makes it feel like someone is brushing a feather down the hollow of my spine. “Come on, let me help out. What do you have to lose?”
I peer up at him through my lashes, but he seems sincere. Sincere and…hopeful that I’ll let him be part of my support system. “All right,” I say, feeling like I’m making another dangerous bargain, but unable to help myself. I know it isn’t smart to lean on Nash, but I’m in desperate need of a full night’s sleep.