Page 9 of The CEO

She placed warm water in the bottle, then added the formula. Covering the tip of the nipple with an index finger, she shook it until all the formula was mixed with the water. “There you go. Now, pick her up and try to calm her. She’s just hungry. And now you can feed her.”

“Me! I don’t know how to?—”

“You’re about to learn. Go sit with her on the family room sofa and I’ll bring you the bottle.”

He needed to learn how to do everything for his daughter. He would approach this just like a business takeover. He’d do research, in this case, watching Bree as she interacted with the baby, and then he would do it on his own. He put his phone in his pocket, picked Lilly up from the car seat, and leaned her against his shoulder, patting her back as he walked over to the sofa.

The family room furniture, including the two sofas and two recliners, was covered in a cream-colored, soft fur like material. There was a large screen TV over the river rock fireplace.

He sat down with Lilly, keeping her on his shoulder and patting her back. He was doing his best to calm her and maybe himself, too.

Adam could hire a nanny to take care of her, but he didn’t want that for Lilly. It would be a lot easier if he did, but he wanted either him or Bree to be responsible for their daughter.

That thought made him smile.Their daughter.She was already in place in both of their hearts. He knew he would fight to the death to keep her safe and thought Bree felt the same way.

She approached with a bottle. “Okay, lay her back on your arm, so her head is nestled in the crook of your arm, so you can feed her. Like this.” Bree positioned her arms like she was holding the baby to feed her.

He did as she asked, looking down at Lilly.

Her face was screwed up, tears running down her cheeks as she cried pitifully.

Adam didn’t know what to do to help her.

Bree handed him the bottle. “This is what she wants.”

He accepted it.

Lilly immediately reached for it and was practically shoving it in her mouth before he could tilt it toward her. Then she settled in and drank, alternately holding the bottle and grabbing Adam’s shirt in her little fist.

Bree sat at the other end of the sofa and watched him with Lilly.

The more she drank, the more her eyes closed.

Adam looked over at Bree. “She’s going to sleep. Should I let her or keep her awake?”

“If she wants to sleep and stops drinking, then you can burp her and put her to bed. I’ll get the playpen ready.”

“Okay.” He looked up from where Lilly lay in his arms. “Thank you, Bree. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You’d be in a world of hurt, my friend.” Then she laughed, grabbed the sheets and blankets before heading out to retrieve the playpen.

Fifteen minutes later, she quietly entered the room.

Lilly was asleep.

“Did you burp her?” asked Bree.

Adam shook his head. “I don’t know how. I just now took the bottle out of her mouth. She had quit drinking…for the most part. She would stop and every time I tried to remove the bottle, she’d start sucking again.”

“For the most part, that’s a reflex action. She’s not really still hungry but isn’t willing to not have something to suck on…when she wants it, of course.” Bree retrieved a dish towel from the kitchen, placed it over her shoulder, and plucked Lilly from Adam’s arms. “This is how to burp her.”

The baby barely awoke, even as Bree placed her against her shoulder and thumped her back.

After she’d burped Lilly, Bree handed the still sleeping baby back to Adam. Then she picked a pacifier from one of the bags, washed it and gave it to Lilly.

The baby took it immediately, even in sleep.

“The pacifier will give her something to suck on and then she won’t drink more formula than she needs and give herself a belly ache.”