If I Can't Have You || (N.M.)

Chapter 5

Nate left Miracle and I for work, and promised he'd be back no later than six thirty.

"Bye daddy!" Miracle called as he walked out the door.

To my relief, she didn't throw a fit. What Nate told her had really worked and now it'd be a lot easier  to look after her.

"So, what could we do today?" I asked more to myself than to Miracle.

Truth be told, I didn't have much that a one year old would find entertaining. Unless of course they enjoyed reading four hundred paged fantasy novels, but Miracle didn't really strike me as the type.

I looked over at her and chuckled as I saw her spinning in circles with the stuffed rabbit in her hand yelling, "Bunny, bunny, bunny!"

That's when I got the idea.

"Hey Mir," I called her by the name Nate had earlier, "do you like to paint?"

"Paint!" she jumped and nodded excitedly as she said the word, which I took as an obvious yes.

I told Nate before he left that I worked from home, but I didn't tell him exactly what it was I did. I was an artist, and I painted portraits for people who paid good money to have them done. That's why I was so well off, and that's why I had a closet full of paints I was hoping would entertain Miracle for good amount of time.

We walked to the closet together and Miracle's eyes went wide when she saw the plethora of colors organized in neat rows and displayed right before her eyes.

I gave her a while to take it all in and once her astonishment subsided, she began to tell me the color she wanted to paint with.

"Boo like bunny!"

I smiled and pulled out the light blue paint, as well as some paper and a big plastic sheet to protect the floor.

The two of us hurried back into the kitchen so that I could set up and we could blow a couple hours painting silly pictures and making a mess.

The room was filled with laughter and Miracle repeating what little words she knew, making for a greater time than I had expected. I didn't spend much time around kids, but I was really growing to like it - Until it came down to the dirty business.

I was commending Miracle on her paper full of blue handprints when the foulest of odors hit my nostrils. My face twisted in disgust then baby girl herself let me onto what was going on.

"I poop!" she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

I groaned as I was brought back to the reality that babies did in fact shit themselves, and I had to be the one to clean it up.

Having no clue how to change a diaper, I settled on taking a fresh start and giving her a bath. With paint covering almost every inch of her body, she was due for one anyways.

I grabbed the diaper bag from the couch and got to work the best way I knew how. I thought about how Nate did this everyday with no help from a woman and it was probably a breeze for him.

When we had been together he could barely mop a floor, now he was taking care of an entire child. It was crazy to me how much new circumstances could change you.

Once the water started to run clear and all the suds were down the drain, I took Miracle out of the tub and began to dry her off so I could go ahead and get her dressed.

"All clean!" she cheered.

I laughed and repeated after her, "All clean!"

By the time she was all clothed in a pink one-piece with a basketball on the front - typical Nate - it was clear that she was just a tad bit hungry.