"Monster Mash" began playing, not too loudly and not so softly that one couldn't hear it. An hour had gone by, and Catherine was still chatting happily with Heather. They had just gotten started on relationships when Lindsey approached the two.
"Um, Heather, I think she may be hungry." The teen carefully handed the fussing infant to her grandmother. "She just started crying. I was being gentle and everything, I swear," Lindsey explained.
"It's okay, honey," Heather calmed both the teen and the infant at the same time with her words. Once Audrey had been quieted down, she refocused her attention on Lindsey. "She's been rather fussy lately," The brunette told the blonde teen. "You did nothing wrong, okay?"
Lindsey nodded, reassured that she hadn't hurt the baby. The teen told her mother she was going to call some friends on her cell, and that she'd be at their table. Catherine nodded, not wanting to argue with her daughter in front of Heather.
Heather gently patted Audrey's back to soothe the crying infant. The effort was fruitless and overtop the cries of her infant granddaughter, the brunette told Catherine she'd be back in just a moment; that she needed to go out to the car and get Audrey's bottle. She hummed to the infant in her arms as she strode out of the building to the spot where Gil had parked his car. It wasn't really a song, just a little something she had made up.
Smiling down at Audrey, Heather seated herself in the front passenger seat. She somehow managed to reach into the back and pull the diaper bag containing the bottles out of the back seat and up to the front, all the while, keeping Audrey cradled safely in her left arm. The bottles didn't really need heated; with the help of Gil, the two of them had come up with a small contraption to keep the bottles at just the right temperature. Their invention consisted of a few small dish towels and three packets of Instant Heat. The instant heat packages were small things hunters and people who worked outdoors in the cold often used to keep their feet and hands warm; they didn't get too hot or too cold, and they kept the formula in the bottles at just the right heat. It was ingenious, she had to admit.
Heather pulled a bottle out of the diaper bag, popped the top off and the look on Audrey's face was priceless. She knew it was time to eat and she was obviously happy about it. The tiny infant kicked her legs as she happily accepted the bottle. Heather watched with a mild fascination; the child in her arms looked unmistakably like Zoe. Yes, Audrey was Zoe's child, but Heather hadn't ever imagined that a child could look so much like their mother.
"Is everything okay?" Gil's voice scared Heather and she jumped.
"Jeez!" She pressed her free hand into her chest and was shocked to feel her heart hammering so hard it was as though she was holding it in her palm. "Oh, yes, everything's fine. She was hungry."
Gil smiled. "Are you enjoying the party?"
Heather wiped a bit of spit up from Audrey's cheek with a rag she quickly pulled from the diaper bag. She grinned down at the baby before answering. "Yes, the party is great. Catherine and I were talking; it was rather fun." She paused briefly as if she was going over something of dire importunacy. "Do you think Catherine would watch Audrey so you and I could spend some time together?"
With a raised eyebrow, Gil wasn't sure how to respond. He knew Catherine would of course watch the infant, but he shocked that Heather wanted to spend time with him. The past months had just been about finding Audrey. Gil and Heather had grown closer; they knew practically everything about the other and vice versa. He hadn't really considered the chance of a relationship between them, although it did seem like a nice idea. Gil realized that while he had been going over everything in his head, he had left Heather's question unanswered.
"Sure," He hastily replied. "I'm sure she'd be happy to keep an eye on Audrey."
Heather smiled happily. Gil helped her place a rag on her shoulder so she could burp the infant. As they strode back into the building, Heather gently patting Audrey's back, they talked quietly and occasionally laughing.
Just inside the door, Gil deepened his voice and said "I must say, my dear, out of all these people, you are the most delectable looking specimen in this room."
Heather laughed for a moment. With her fabulous since of humor she replied, "Gil, let's see if Catherine can watch Audrey. I don't want you hitting on me in her presence; it could scar her for life."
They walked off to find the blonde, and while Gil was still chuckling softly, he agreed completely. And he did not want to be responsible for scarring a child for life. He made a mental note to refrain from any comments that could be misconstrued as "hitting on Heather" comments.