Page 25 of The Rough Ride (Sanctuary, Inc. #3)

N atalie popped out of her SpongeBob trance and said, “Uh-oh,” She leaped off the chair and grabbed his hand, Precious at her side.

“Ollie’s awake, Mr. Nick.”

He listened a second. She was right. The faint sound of baby chatter came from the monitor. The security scan was almost complete.

“Okay, let me finish this, and we’ll go get him.”

“Nooo, Mr. Nick. Now. Ollie climbs up his crib and falls down ‘cause he wants to get out. Mommy says she needs to make his crib a big-boy bed soon. He gets a bloody lip when he falls.”

What? Nick broke into a run, taking the stairs two at a time, passing Natalie on the way. Which bedroom? Which bedroom? Closest to the master.

He caught the kid with two hands as Ollie swung his second leg over the crib rail. It was too close for his comfort. Hell. The boy was solid as a brick and had some weight to him .

Natalie climbed on a little stool in front of a table. Nick couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t afraid of that stool. He tossed the little blanket and pillow from the floor into the crib and headed out the door, Ollie in his arms.

“Mr. Nick, come back. We gotta change his diaper.”

Nick stuck his head back into the room. Oh, the table. He laid the little linebacker down and searched for buttons or whatever kept the kid’s pajamas on, unsnapped the crotch, and wrangled the gurgling, happy, surprisingly fast-moving baby.

Natalie stood on the stool next to him, peeled back the little tabs, pulled out a new diaper from a shelf underneath, and set it to the side.

You can do this. How hard could it be? Like wrapping a hot dog.

Nick pulled the diaper back, slid it from under Ollie’s butt and dropped it into a garbage can nearby, keeping a firm hand on the kid’s wiggling torso.

A steady stream of pee shot out. Natalie screamed and ducked out of the way as pee soaked his shirt and new tie.

There was no way to stop it. It just kept coming.

Natalie ran out of the room yelling, “Linzee, Ollie’s peeing on Mr. Nick, and there aren’t any peepee-teepees, Linzee—.” The rest was a blur. Nick dodged right and the left side of his shirt got soaked, he dodged left and the right side got soaked. How could one little kid pee that much?

Lindsay stumbled into the room and tossed a wad of tissues over the offending member during the last blasts and dribbles. She bent over with laughter, still half-asleep, her eyes alight with humor.

“You ever do this before, Mr. Nick?” Another giggle lit her face.

“Never in my life. ”

“No brothers or sisters?”

“Nope.”

“No cousins or babysitting?”

Nick shook his head. He had cousins, but he’d refused to babysit them because, you know, he didn’t want to hurt them, and he wouldn’t leave his mother for too long in case his dad came home lit-up.

Lindsay moved closer. “Let me in there, I’ll show you how to change a diaper. One time, and you’ll never forget. Ollie’s a real pee king. Half the time his diaper’s dry until you take the thing off, and then he goes all over the place. Hand me the dipey-wipeys.”

Nick moved aside and looked around. Natalie handed Lindsay the wipes she was looking for and took a long look at Nick.

“Your shirt’s ‘izgusting, Mr. Nick.”

“Yep.” No kidding. Reinforcements were in his gear bag.

“First, you put the baby belt on and snap it shut. Ollie’s a mover.

Before you peel the old diaper down, make sure you have a peepee-teepee in your hand to put on top of his thing.

I guess Hilde didn’t bring the bag back after washing.

We have like a hundred of them. They’re probably in the laundry room.

I’ll look when we go downstairs. But if you don’t have a teepee, Mom says to place a couple tissues over him.

Slide the old diaper out, use these wipes to clean him off, slide the new diaper underneath his butt and fasten just like this.

Tight but not too tight. Too loose, it falls off. Too tight, he gets a rash.”

Lindsay shot him a sideways smile. “Got it?”

“Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate the lesson.”

“Might as well get him dressed now, too. Clothes are under here. He hates shoes, so he has thick socks with grips on the bottom. He’s been trying to walk for a few days.

If he starts walking while the ‘rents are out of town, use your phone and get it on video for Mom.” She pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, worked the pajamas over Ollie’s head, slipped on the new clothes as she instructed Nick to bend the fabric, not the baby and finished with a pair of bright, red-striped socks.

She picked Ollie up. “I’ll carry him downstairs. You’re soaked.” She giggled one last time. “Where’s Hilde?”

“She’s not feeling well today and isn’t coming.”

Lindsay’s face fell. “I hope Mom doesn’t ask me to babysit. I’ve been really counting on this weekend at the Benson’s. We’re going crabbing and waterskiing with an inner tube.”

A pang of memories hit Nick’s chest. How many times had he stayed home as a teenager working out on the bag in the basement, refusing to leave in case the old man wandered in and started on his mother? He’d missed sports, dances, and just hanging out with the guys. All to babysit his parents.

He took a deep breath. “Tell you what, Lindsay. You help me figure out how to make sure these two don’t get hurt, and I’ll talk to your mom.”