But Jeff was changing the diaper as though it was totally and completely natural for him.
Leah watched him with a critical eye, but he managed it without any problems at all. He knew enough to have the fresh diaper at the ready before the old one was taken away, and he clearly knew what he was doing with the wipes and the baby ointment. He taped Emily up just as she was starting to squirm and fuss.
“Here, I think this is yours.” He handed Emily up to Leah.
“I think you’re right.” Emily was starting a full-on cry now, and Leah looked down at her. “You’re all done, honey. Everything’s okay.” Because apparently they had a diaper-changing, lost-family-rescuing genuine hero on their hands.
“Guess I didn’t quite stick the landing.” Jeff stood up, holding the taped-up used diaper, with a rueful expression on his face.
“You did great.” Leah bounced Emily on her lap, looking up at him. She practically had to crane her neck, he was so tall. “She’s got no reason to complain, do you, sweetheart?”
Maybe it was time to reassess some of her assumptions about men and babies. Although if Jeff had a lot of nieces and nephews, it made sense that he might’ve been stuck with diaper duty now and then. Rob had been an only child, and had never even held a baby before Emily was born.
He hadn’t believed Leah at first when she told him she was pregnant. That had probably been a red flag, too.
And, of course, he hadn’t paid a dime of child support. She hadn’t seen him once since the night he disappeared without even leaving her a note.
But none of that was important anymore. Leah breathed deeply, turning her attention to her daughter, and the present, instead of the useless past.
Jeff had gone to get rid of the used diaper, and by the time he got back, the kettle on the fire was starting to hiss, so he turned his attention to that. There was a whole process with a hand towel to keep him from burning his hand, finding a bowl in the cabinets, and testing the water and adding more cold water to keep it from being too hot.
Leah had her hands full with Emily, who had decided she wasn’t happy with the situation and was really crying now. “Shhh, hey, shhh,” Leah soothed, keeping one eye on Jeff. He didn’t look irritated at the noise, though; he just kept moving smoothly through setting up the water for her feet.
He came over with the bowl, setting it down on the floor. “You’ll need to roll up your cuffs for this.”
Emily picked that moment to try and fling herself off the couch, and Leah grabbed for her and pulled her back. “No, sweetheart, you can’t go exploring, I can’t come with you and there’s a fire literally six feet away.”
“I can take her,” Jeff offered, “or if you want to keep her for now, I could just roll up your cuffs for you, if you’re comfortable with that.”
Oh, God, when was the last time she’d shaved her legs?
It doesn’t matter, Leah, the man’s trying to treat you for frostbite, not get into your pants!
“That’s fine.” She kept her voice steady with an effort. “I’ve got my hands full up here.”
And she definitely did—she had to deal with a wiggly, unhappy Emily while Jeff knelt down in front of her.
She felt his fingers on her ankles after a moment, and she had to focus hard on keeping Emily under control to distract herself from the warm, rough feel of his hands. He had callouses on his fingertips, and the touch made her shiver.
At least until something else took her attention away. "No," she told Emily. "Mama's hair is not a toy. Ow!" The yank made her eyes water, and she tugged her hair away from the baby, gathering it over the opposite shoulder.
Jeff chuckled from somewhere to the south of her vision. "Hair's a classic."
He was rolling her cuffs up slowly, his fingers traveling up her ankles to her calves, sending tingles of sensation up her legs to center between her thighs. She shifted awkwardly, trying not to betray how his hands were making her feel.
She hadn't had a man touch her like this since...well, ever. Rob had never touched her like this. Either this delicately, or just to help her out. And Rob would definitely have made a suggestive comment or two by now, no matter which woman he was doing it to.
"I keep meaning to get my hair cut so that it'll stop being such an easy target," Leah said to distract herself from her thoughts.
Jeff sat back on his heels, so they could see each other again. His eyes traced the fall of her hair over her shoulder to where it rested on her breast. "That'd be a shame, it's really pretty."
Leah full-on blushed. She could feel her face turning tomato-red. Her nose tingled and stung a little, the tip of it still warming up from the cold.
Her hair was long and curly, and a complete pain to deal with. Back before she'd had Emily, she'd used to straighten it to keep it under control, but once the baby came, she just hadn't had the time anymore.
The silence stretched out. Leah was scrambling for something to say when Emily yanked at her shirt and made a demanding noise.
She knew what that meant. "Um," she said, trying to figure out how she was going to navigate this. Diapers were one thing...