‘You learn coping strategies,’ she said honestly. ‘You deal with the urgent one first, and the other one gets to wait. It’s normally Libby who waits, because Ava’s got a shorter fuse.’
‘So she’s learned to manipulate you already?’ he said, sounding astonished for the second time in as many minutes, which made her laugh out loud.
‘Of course.’ She gave him a dry look. ‘She takes after you.’
His head jerked back and he eyed her doubtfully. ‘I’m not sure that’s a compliment.’
She chuckled. ‘It’s not. But babies are amazing. They’re such good little survivors, and it doesn’t take them long to sort out a pecking order. They’ll have you sussed in no time flat, you wait and see. Right, girls, time for breakfast.’
‘Not more of that disgusting goo,’ he pleaded, looking appalled.
‘No. They have instant multi-grain porridge for breakfast, and fruit. That’s good and messy. I’ll let you clean them up.’
He looked horrified, and she nearly laughed again. But then she remembered that any normal father of eight-month-old babies would know what their children had for breakfast, and how to change a nappy, and that they were manipulative and very good at engineering the adults around them.
Except, of course, that Max hadn’t had the chance, and that was her fault.
Turning away so he didn’t see the thoughtful frown on her face, she headed downstairs with Ava, leaving him to follow with Libby. And, if she was really lucky, she’d be able to get through breakfast without drooling over the sight of him in that robe which showed altogether too much of those toned, muscular legs. Not to mention the fact that she knew only too well just how little he’d have on underneath it.
And it was absolutely nothing to do with her. Not now, and not ever again, unless they could turn this situation around and find a way to get the two of them back together. Still, at least he’d phoned his PA, as instructed.
She sounded sensible. Nice. Decent, and utterly on her side. She was looking forward to meeting her—but not yet. There was a lot of ground to cover before they reached that point, and she was going to make damn sure they walked over every single inch of it.
‘Right, girls, want some breakfast?’
He had to learn the hard way, of course, not to put the bowl close enough for Libby to slap her little hand in.
And then there was catching it before she had time to rub it in her hair. And on his face when he leant in to clean her up. Oh, boy, he’d need a shower by the time they were finished.
‘Here.’
He looked up and took a warm, damp cloth from Jules, smiled his thanks and wondered where to start.
‘Move the bowl,’ she offered, and he pulled it out of reach and swiped most of the gloop off Libby’s hand before she could stick it anywhere else, conscious of Jules hovering in range just in case he couldn’t manage.
‘Right, monster, let’s try again,’ he said, putting the cloth out of reach on the edge of the sink and settling down with the bowl and spoon. ‘Open wide.’
He got most of it into her before she decided she’d had enough and spat it out at him with a cheerful grin, and he closed his eyes and laughed in exasperation before getting up, rinsing out the cloth and tackling her mucky little face.
Which she hated, apparently, because she screamed the place down until he stopped, then beamed again.
‘You’re a madam,’ he told her, grabbing her sticky hands and sorting them out one by one, and she giggled and tried to squirm out of the chair.
‘What now?’ he asked Jules.
‘Bath time.’
‘Bath—?’ He rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘Sounds messy.’
‘It is. I’ll let you do it.’
‘Bathe them?’ he asked, feeling a little flicker of panic.
‘You’ll cope,’ she assured him drily, but he wasn’t sure. He had a horrible feeling it was just another opportunity for him to make an idiot of himself or do something else wrong.
‘I’ll get dressed,’ he said, and she laughed.
‘I shouldn’t bother. You’ll probably get soaked.’
And her mouth twitched, and he realised she was enjoying this. Hugely.
He clamped his teeth together to hold back the retort, carried Libby upstairs and stopped by the bathroom door. ‘So now what?’
‘Put her on the floor on her tummy so she can practise crawling, and run the bath. Here, you can have Ava, too. I’ll go and find some clothes for them. Don’t undress them yet, though. They’ll get cold waiting for you.’
Cold? How could they possibly get cold? The bathroom was steaming. But they were just little people. What did he know? He’d nearly scalded Ava last night. He wasn’t going to argue.
Run the bath, he thought, and remembered something from his mother’s wisdom: run the cold first, so the bath never has just hot in it.
Wise woman.
He ran the cold, then turned the hot tap on and swished it about until he thought it was hot enough. Was it? Hell, he wasn’t going to risk another scald. He turned the hot off. Hmm. Maybe.
‘Ava? What are you doing?’
He rescued the loo brush from her before she stuck it in her mouth and pointed her in the other direction, then yelled, ‘I’ve run the bath.’
‘Is it hot?’
‘No!’ he retorted with only a trace of sarcasm, and he heard her chuckle.
‘Undress them, then. I’ll be in in a second.’
So he undressed Ava, as she was heading for the brush again, and then Libby, and then he put her back down on the bath mat, rescued Ava yet again from the corner by the loo, and lowered her carefully into the water.
And yanked her out again instantly when she let out a piercing yell.
‘What now?’ Jules had flown into the room and snatched her from him, shielding her in her arms and glaring at him like a lioness defending her cub. ‘I thought you said it wasn’t hot!’
‘It isn’t!’
She bent over and touched the water, then shook her head and laughed weakly, sitting down on the side of the bath and shaking her head. ‘No. You’re right; poor little mite. It’s freezing.’
‘Freezing?’
‘Mmm.’
Freezing. He sighed. ‘I didn’t want—’
‘To burn them?’ Her smile faded. ‘OK. I’m sorry. I just thought it was common sense.’
‘Well, clearly I haven’t got any,’ he retorted, sick of the whole business and wondering what he was going to do wrong next, but she took pity on him.
‘Max, you’re doing fine. Here, look, use the inside of your wrist. It should feel comfortable—not hot or cold. That’s the best test.’
Hell. He was never going to survive this fortnight.
Never mind the rest of his life.
‘How can it be so hard?’ he grumbled gently, retrieving Libby this time from the loo brush and plopping her in the bath beside her sister. ‘Fourteen-year-old girls manage it.’
‘No, they don’t. They manage to get pregnant, but they don’t manage to look after babies without