The Guy Named Harrison: Book Two

36

Harrison came upstairs with more food for Carrie. After the adrenaline of having Riley wore off, she almost passed out again. Although the power was out, Harrison did have the small generator that was part of the air conditioner running to keep the fridge and freezer cool. It couldn't power much, but it did have enough extra power for them to use the portable grill to cook Carrie a burger.

He closed the bedroom door behind them, as Luke and Todd went back to bed after the excitement. With the burger in one hand, he made his way over to their bed. Debbie and Shannon lay beside her, trying to help her breastfeed for the first time.

"This isn't working," she muttered with a sigh.

"Keep trying. She'll latch on."

Carrie leaned against headboard with the covers pulled up to her waist. She held Riley like a football in her right arm with her left hand supporting her body. Her right arm was out of her shirt as she attempted to breastfeed Riley.

"What do I do if this doesn't work?"

"It's going to work Carrie. Just keep trying."

"I can't even remember if we bought formula."

"We did," Harrison answered.

Carrie let out another sigh and Shannon suggested they try the other side. Debbie held Riley for her mommy as she pulled her shirt off her left shoulder.

Riley was placed back in her arms. "Come on Riley. You need to latch on so momma can feed you."

Harrison sat at the end of the bed for another ten minutes as they tried to get Riley to latch on. "This isn't working."

Shannon spun around to face him. "You said you have formula?"

He nodded. "Can you go get it along with a bottle and Carrie's pump?"

"Yeah."

➄➈

Harrison came upstairs a few minutes later with everything requested. He handed everything to Debbie and took his spot at the foot of their bed with Gary and Wilson.

As her mom got the pump ready, her eyes settled on him laying down there and petting the dogs. He looked like he wanted to help, but she was already crowded by her mom and Shannon.

"Hey Harrison, I could use a back massage while I do this."

He was immediately on all fours crawling over. She sat up enough for him to sit behind her. He slipped his hands under her shirt and massaged her lower back, before moving them up to the middle.

While Carrie pumped, he rubbed her back. After she's finished pumping, he helped her hold Riley as she fed her with the bottle mixed with formula and breast milk.

Riley, being only four hours old, crushed that bottle. She drank the bottle like Harrison ate his dinner. "That's my girl."

They said goodnight to Shannon and Debbie. Then Carrie turned around and handed Riley to him. "I want that burger now."

She crawled off him to grab the cheeseburger that had been sitting on the nightstand for 20 minutes now. "Sorry it's cold. I can go heat it up again if you want."

Carrie leaned against his shoulder with the plate in both hands. "You don't need to. Thank you."

As she ate her burger, Harrison rocked Riley in his arms. She slowly fell asleep as he rocked her. Her little eyes got heavy before opening again to look up at her daddy.

"You look so much like your mommy."

Little Riley looked like a mini version of Carrie. All of her facial features resembled Carrie. She had dark brown hair just like her mom. But she got her hazel eyes from her daddy. Before Carrie started breastfeeding, she said Riley's eyes looked so much like his. She had so many different colors blended in with the hazel, that they almost perfectly resembled his eyes.

By the time Harrison looked back over at his wife, the burger was gone. "Woah."

"I was hungry."

"Looks like Riley gets that from you, not me," he teased with a smile.