He reentered the kitchen, and the room suddenly quieted at the sight of him with the baby in his arms. Cards were forgotten in hands as Jeremy’s eyes widened and Tori...ah, damn, Tori gave an emotional sniff, and he found his own emotions raw and hovering right at the surface.
Then Jess was there, getting up from her chair and pasting on a smile. “Oh, there’s my girl! Look at her all sleepy and snuggly.” She went to Bran and didn’t take Rose from him, but put her hand on the baby’s back. “Tori, do you want me to change her?”
Jess’s interference seemed to jolt the others into action, and Tori put down her cards. “Oh, sure, that’d be great! I can get a bottle ready while you do that. Thanks, Jess.”
“It’s okay. I know where your bag is.”
She retrieved a diaper and wipes from the diaper bag in the kitchen, and then motioned for him to follow. He did, following her into the bedroom, where she put down a soft flannel blanket and then took Rose from his arms.
“Unless you want to do the honors?” she asked.
“I, uh...”
She looked up at him, a blinking Rose in her arms. “Baby steps?”
He nodded, unable to say anything more. But he watched as she deftly undid Rose’s soft pajamas, changed her diaper and dressed her again, talking softly to the baby the whole time.
“You’re very good with her,” he observed, his emotions once again riding very close to the surface.
“I like babies.” She picked up Rose and set her on her arm. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?” And then she met Bran’s eyes. “I’d like to have my own someday. But that option hasn’t really presented itself. And I’m not at the point where I’m prepared to take things into my own hands.”
“You’d like a family, then.”
She nodded. “I would. Figuring out how that would fit into my life is another story.”
With Rose tidied and dressed, there was no reason to linger, and Jess headed back to the kitchen. But Bran hesitated a moment.
She wanted a family. Babies of her own. If he’d ever thought that this could work between them at all, the idea just died a quick death. He never wanted to do that again. No matter how sweet Rose was. Or how adorable Jess’s children would be, with their sunrise hair and blue-green eyes, and a healthy dose of freckles.
Back in the kitchen, he watched while Jess, Jeremy and Tori played out their final hand. Jeremy was over the skunk line, and Jess gave Tori a run for her money, but Tori won by three small points. Rose was in Tori’s arms, the bottle braced up so she could eat, and Jeremy pegged the last points for his wife.
“Well,” Tori said, sitting back. “That was fun. You’re a fast learner, Jess.”
“You’re a good teacher. Another drink? Anyone want more snacks?”
“We should probably be going,” Jeremy said, looking at Bran briefly.
Bran wanted to say that there was no need, that he hadn’t come for a specific reason, but the truth was, he had. To test the waters, so to speak. Hoping that Jess’s silence wasn’t her being angry at him. That she’d been just as busy as he had.
“Yes, and once Rose is fed, she’ll go back to sleep. If I can put her in her crib for the night, I might get some good sleep, too.”
“Or, you know. Pay attention to your husband.”
“Or that.” Her grin was teasing but their gazes held, and Bran knew that look. They were so in love. Despite having a baby, they were still in the stage of not getting enough of each other.
He looked at Jess, whose cheeks had gone pink as she picked up dirty glasses from the table.
A few minutes later, Tori and Jeremy said their goodbyes and the house was quiet again. Bran cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I interrupted tonight. I should have called first.”
Jess put the glasses in the small dishwasher and shrugged. “It’s fine. We were just playing some cards. Tori hasn’t gotten out a lot since Rose was born, and doesn’t want to leave her with a sitter yet. I think Jeremy was getting a little worried.”
She closed the dishwasher and turned to face him. “Was Jennie like that? How old was Owen before you got a sitter?”
He frowned and turned away. “Don’t ask me things like that.”
But she stepped forward. “Was tonight the first time you held Rose?”
“Jess. Stop.” His voice was firm. “I didn’t come over to talk about babies, okay? I just... I realized that it’s been three days and I didn’t call, and I was feeling like a heel about i