Page 55 of Absolution

He drags in a deep breath and begins. “First, I need you to remain calm. If you can’t find a way to be, the baby will be scared to death by the time you’re done.”

“And what in the hell do you think I am?”

“Again, calm is the operative word here.” He chuckles. “You need to get her undressed and clean her up.”

I nod, moving into action as he guides me. “I’ve done that, but her pull-up is still on.”

“Run some warm water in the tub, and put her in it.” He’s so at ease, I wish I could be. “And Hatch, her pullup too.”

“Wait… no one said anything about seeing a naked baby! Can’t I dunk her in with it on?” I grimace, cutting my eyes at Emmie.

He sighs heavily. “No, little girls tend to have problems… down there, if you don’t clean them properly.”

“I really didn’t need that visual, all you had to say was yes.”

“Sorry, man. But you needed to know, you have to be careful with girls.”

“I suppose the good news here is, I don’t need to find the duct tape. Emmie wears pull-ups instead of diapers.”

“They break away too.” He laughs. “You might want to keep it handy.”

I turn the water on, checking its temperature. “Alright, the water is nice. Not cold or hot.”

“It’s time, just do it fast, and it’ll be over soon.”

I close my eyes, pushing her training panties down and putting her in the tub. “Okay, she’s in.”

“Now, I need you to take a deep breath because you have to bathe her.” He says reassuringly, hoping to not cause an alarm and not realizing that thing went to DEFCON One some time ago.

“Don’t leave me, man.” My voice quivers.

“I won’t, I’m here for you until the end.” There’s a sound on Liam’s end, and finally a click.

“Liam? You said you wouldn’t leave!” I growl into the phone.

“You’re on speaker.” Liam’s words echo.

“Dumb ass, what in the hell are you doing with a little girl? Is this woman affected in the head like you or what?”

“Mark, I’m not in the mood for your shit.” I close my eyes, trying to regain a shred of peace, but no, I can’t even have that in my most dire need of assistance. Instead, I’m going to be subjected to the biggest pains in my ass anyone can have.

“She’s going to have the most colorful vocabulary by the time her mom gets home.” Jackson’s voice of reason breaks through the insanity. “Hatch, you need to get her cleaned up before she starts getting cold. Keep it simple, girls are sensitive to soap, so I suggest keeping it to wiping her down for now.”

I slump over the side, running a cloth over her back. “So, I can just clean her where she has puke on her?”

“Yes,” Jackson chuckles. “and if she can stand on her own, wrap her in a towel before picking her up, or she might be slippery.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake! You’ve got to be kidding me! She has…” Bile rises in my throat. “chunks in her hair. How in the hell did she have so much food in her tiny body? Like, it’s stockpiled or something!”

“You’ve got this.” Liam’s reassurance is helpful, but I’m far from having this be okay. Besides, I can hear every one of them snickering in the background. Fuckers!

I run the cloth over Emmie’s head, removing most of the lumps of food and debris. Once that’s done, she appears to be pretty clean. I follow Jackson’s instructions and only pick her up after wrapping her in a towel.

“Alright, I have her, and we’re on our way to her room.”

“Roger that!” Mark’s boisterous laugh rings through the receiver. “You’re almost there, sailor. The checkpoint is just ahead.”

“I hate you,” I grumble. “I can’t wait to have Charlie in my arms again.”