Summer Kisses by Theresa Ragan, Laurie Kellogg, Katie Graykowski, Bev Pettersen, Lindsey Brookes, Diana Layne, Autumn Jordon, Jacie Floyd, Elizabeth Bemis, Lizzie Shane Page A

wriggled around on his left side while Jill sat on his right.
    Ryan was a tiny thing, much smaller than his niece, Bailey. “He looks awful small,” Derrick said.
    “Babies tend to be small,” Sandy muttered from the kitchen.
    Derrick ignored her. Satan was not happy to have him inside the apartment. Even now he could feel her angry eyes boring a hole through the side of his head.
    “Are you sure you don’t want to feed him the rest of his bottle?” Jill asked.
    “No, thanks. I’m perfectly happy just watching you.”
    Satan snorted.
    “He’s afwade of rine,” Lexi announced.
    “No, I’m not,” Derrick answered too quickly.
    “Burp him then,” Lexi said.
    Lexi stood on the couch, her pink sock-covered feet sinking into the cushions as she held onto Derrick’s shoulder for support.
    “No, no, that’s okay. I’ll just watch. How do you know so much about babies?” he asked Lexi, hoping to get the little girl’s attention focused on something other than him.
    “I used to be one,” she said.
    Sandy laughed.
    “Here.” Lexi laid a dry cloth diaper on his shoulder and patted it with her hand. “Put Rine’s head right here,” she told Jill.
    The bottle was empty so Jill adjusted herself on the couch so she could do as Lexi said.
    “Oh, I don’t know,” he said nervously as Jill placed Ryan exactly as Lexi had instructed.
    The second the baby’s head touched his shoulder, Derrick froze—he didn’t move one inch.
    Lexi giggled and moved his hand so that the palm of his hand was flat against Ryan’s back. “Now pat him…softwy,” she told Derrick. “You a big guy,” she said with a smile. “Don’t hurt the wittle baby.”
    He gently patted Derrick’s back. “Like that?”
    Lexi’s head bobbed. “Yep. Do it ’til he burps.”
    Within seconds a loud gurgly sound came out of Ryan. Derrick’s eyes widened. “It worked!”
    Lexi clapped her hands together and squealed.
    He smiled at Jill, and then looked at Sandy, which was a big mistake since she was frowning and ruining the moment.
    “Mommy, Rine burped!” Lexi shouted in Derrick’s ear.
    “What did Ryan do?” Sandy asked with a smile, knowing her daughter would shout in his ear again, which she did. Satan was on a roll.
    “Rine wikes you,” Lexi said as Jill pushed herself from the couch.
    Derrick laughed. Despite being the spawn of the devil, Lexi was an adorable kid.
    “He don’t wike his mommy though,” Lexi added.
    Jill blushed.
    “Of course he likes his mommy,” Derrick told Lexi.
    “Nope. He don’t wike her boobies.”
    “Okay,” Sandy said as she swooped in and ushered Lexi away. “Time for your bath, Lexi.”
    “Not now. Howiewood said he’d draw pictures with me.”
    “Maybe some other time,” Sandy told her.
    “Sweet girl,” Derrick said after Lexi and Sandy exited the room.
    “She’s a hoot,” Jill agreed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
    Derrick didn’t know what to do. Ryan was falling asleep on his shoulder. He didn’t want to wake him, but his leg was cramping and his arm wasn’t faring much better.
    It was quiet for a moment while they both stared at Ryan’s perfect little head as he rested on his shoulder. “I’ve never held a baby before today,” he told her. “I mean, not in a very long time. It’s not so difficult, after all.”
    “You’re a natural.”
    Derrick tucked his chin into his chest and examined Ryan further. “He’s got your mouth,” he said.
    Jill sat on the armrest of the couch and took a good long look at Ryan too. “Hmm. You think so?”
    As he examined her mouth for comparison, she felt ridiculously self-conscious and found herself wishing she hadn’t asked the question.
    “Definitely,” he said.
    She looked at Derrick’s mouth. “I hadn’t noticed that before. You might be right.” The thought cheered her immeasurably. “He has your nose, though, that’s for sure,” she added. “And your big brown eyes.”
    “The better to see you with, my