Different Circles

He put her down on a blanket on the bed. The hotel staff knew that Celia was staying in the suite with the Kingsleys but they were under the impression that this was Celia’s bed. She had not slept in it a single time, though they went to great effort to mess up the covers every morning and then rumple up the sheets so the maids would think she had been. In truth, the whole room was for Caydee and the bed was her changing table. When they left the room each day to go on their adventures, they always moved the crib back into the main bedroom.

He stripped her out of her onesie pajamas and then opened up her diaper. By this point, he was a veteran diaper changer and nothing that he saw in there crossed his eyes even a little. He expertly wiped most of the poop away with the front part of the diaper itself and then, holding her by her left thigh and elevating her little butt above the diaper, he wiped everything else away with a handful of disposable baby wipes, which he then tucked into the dirty diaper and folded up with it. He did a quick visual inspection for any signs of diaper rash—there were none, and there had been none for a few weeks now, thankfully—and then tucked a clean diaper up under her and plopped her butt back down on it. He folded the front up, adjusted it a bit, and then secured the diaper using the little plastic sticky tabs. He then wiped his hands using another of the wipes and tossed it and the dirty diaper in the garbage can. He kept one hand on her chest as he looked in her clothing suitcase for something to wear (she was a crawler now and could take off like a shot when the mood struck her). He pulled out a little pair of denim jeans with an elastic waistband and a pullover short-sleeved shirt that had a picture of an electric guitar on it and had the motto: I LOVE TO ROCK!. He put her legs in the jeans and then stood her up, her arms around his neck, so he could pull them around her waist. He then sat her back on her butt and told her “arms up.” She lifted her arms in the air. He pulled the shirt on her and then laid her back down and put a pair of socks on her. She fought this a little bit—she did not really like wearing socks—but finally gave in.

“All right, little girl,” he said. “You ready to face the day here?”

“Do!” she told him happily. “Do, do, doooo, do do!”

“Understood,” Jake said. “You’re hungry. So am I. I worked up an appetite last night, truth be told. Breakfast will be served shortly. And today’s a travel day, so you’ll get lots of sleep.”

“Do!” she said agreeably.

He carried her back into the living room and set her on one of the couches. He then opened her bag that was sitting on the table and quickly mixed up a bottle of powdered formula and bottled water. He shook the concoction until all the powder was dissolved and then handed it over to Caydee. She no longer cared if her formula was room temperature or not. She grabbed it eagerly and stuck the nipple in her mouth and starting sucking on it, making little coos of contentment.

Jake walked over to the blinds (keeping a close eye on Caydee and ready to dive toward her if she looked like she was going to start mobilizing and possibly fall off the couch) so he could open them. The view out their window was nothing short of spectacular. Their suite looked out over Swiftcurrent Lake and several peaks of the Rocky Mountains rose just on the other side of it. The alpine lake was sparkling blue and the rising sun was shining brightly off the glaciers and granite rock of the mountains. Jake believed Glacier Park to be one of the most beautiful places he had ever gazed upon, even better than Yosemite.

He walked back to the couch and sat next to his daughter, stroking and playing with her foot while she drank her first bottle of the day. She took the bottle away every now and then to smile at him and to gaze at him with that look of love and contentment that always made his heart feel warm. And then she went back to drinking and kicking his thigh with her other foot.

He sat there with her for the better part of thirty minutes. She drank down the entire bottle in about fifteen minutes. She then gave him a resounding burp while he patted her back. He then put her on the floor, where her play blanket and toys were located. She played a little bit and then assumed the crawling position and headed off to explore. Jake watched her carefully as she went from place to place, making sure she did not get into any trouble like playing with electric outlets or pulling over end tables or tugging on cords.

Celia emerged from the room. She was freshly showered and dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a spaghetti strap top. Her hair was damp and loose. She was barefoot. She looked at Caydee playing on the floor near the television counter and she smiled down at her. Caydee looked up at her, gave her a little “Do” of greeting, and then went back to her exploration.

“Good morning,” Celia greeted, walking over and sitting on the couch next to him.