Day Two
PROMPT: "Slippery" [one day]
"Ask me to shoot a beretta from a hundred paces, no problem, easy-peasy, but try to bathe a little baby in the sink, and I'm all thumbs," Jada quipped as she did her best to hold the squirming infant upright while dabbing their soapy, bare belly with a soft washcloth. "You're all slippery, Mister, you know that." The baby made a little face. It could have been a smile - or gas. She wasn't sure which.
Rafe walked into the kitchen, pocketing his cell phone. "I checked in at the station. Everything's okay there. How's it going in here?"
Jada shook her head and glanced at her wet clothing. "I am the one taking the bath, not him," she said pointedly.
Rafe smiled and moved over to the sink. He helped hold little Esteban so Jada could finish bathing him. The baby gurgled contentedly and kicked his chubby legs in the warm water.
When the bath was finished, Jada looked at Rafe as he picked up his nephew and wrapped him in a fluffy blue towel. "That was definitely an interesting experience," Jada said. "I can honestly say it was a first for me."
"Really?" Rafe said.
Jada nodded. "I know. Crazy, right? My dad always took care of that kind of stuff with Talia, and I don't have a lot of experience with other children. If I had gone through with my pregnancy, my kid would have been in real trouble, huh." Her eyes swept the floor. It was a rare moment when she allowed herself to think about the pregnancy, she had terminated two years before, or how different her life would have been now if she had decided to keep the child.
Carefully balancing Esteban in one arm, Rafe reached out to rub her back with his spare hand. "Hey, don't say that, Jada. There's always a learning curve, but you would have been an excellent mom. Someday, maybe you will want that chance again and it will be the right time in your life."
Jada looked up at him with a little smile. "Yeah, maybe." Suddenly, she could picture a little boy with Rafe's eyes cradled in her arms and it made her chest ache.
She reached out to lightly feather her fingers in Esteban's damp curls. The baby cooed up at her. "He likes you," Rafe said.
"Does he now?"
"What can I say? My nephew has good taste."
Jada laughed. She arched up on her tippy toes to place a soft kiss on Rafe's cheek and one on the baby's. It would be all too easy to imagine having a family with Rafe one day. All too easy.
