"You look really, really horrible." 

Danielle looked down at her shirt. It was stained food and a lot of other substances I didn't want to name. Her hair was a mess. And it also had food in it. Then there were her eyes. She had dark circles around her eyes that stood out a lot against her light skin tone. My poor best friend looked dead on her feet. 

"You look like a raccoon. A very high raccoon with bloodshot eyes." 

"Did you just come here to make fun of me, Karma? Or do you actually want to help me with the baby." 

Walking around the counter, I grabbed the bottle that Danielle just made. "I want to help. I'm sorry." I took a glance around her living room. It was an absolute mess. And that was saying a lot since my best friend was a neat freak. "So, you asked Harper and Jackson to go home, huh?" 

The answer was obvious by the state of her condo. But I needed to make some kind of conversation; otherwise I would be talking about my concern for her and Ryan. And I know how much she hated when we worried about her.

"Yeah. They stayed a little over a week. I appreciate everything they did, believe me, but we need to get the hang of this." Danielle placed the baby in my arms before taking a seat on the couch. "Although, I do call Jackson for 'emergencies' sometimes."

The air quotes she did around the word emergencies was self explanatory. Basically whenever she couldn't get the baby to settle down or go to sleep, she called Mr. Tall Dark and British, a.k.a one of my friends I was the most closest to and who basically saved my life when my mom passed away.

Yeah...I'd heard all about Jackson being the baby's favorite person. Rumor had it, he seemed to have the magic touch at soothing her. From the few times we've hung out over the past week, I could tell how crazy he was about her. It made me hope that he and Harper would finally get to start a family one day soon. 

It was a different situation for me and Nathan though. Did I want kids? Yes, of course I did. But hearing about how the past week has been for Ryan and Danielle just reminded me that I wasn't ready. Neither was Nathan. 

And honestly...that was okay. 

We missed so much during the twelve years we were apart, that I was feeling selfish and wanted Nathan all to myself for a little while longer. And he was still dealing with his PTSD from the Army and working on strengthening his bad leg. It just wasn't the time for us. 

We had a talk about kids again after Danielle's daughter was born. I could tell he was nervous. He was afraid that I wanted to start trying right away. I could literally see the weight get lifted off his shoulders when I told him I wanted to wait. We both still had a lot of work to do before we earned the privilege of being parents. 

"Is Nate working today?" 

I nodded and glanced down at the baby while she fed. "Yeah. He's working with Ayden tonight. Jackson and Harper are having a date night." 

"Gwen?" 

That made me smile. "She's on a little getaway trip with Noah. She said they were going out of town, but if you ask me, I think they're shacking up in a hotel in the city." 

"Ew, Karma." 

"What? I'm just saying. I mean, poor Gwen has been single for so long. She needs to throw some gas on the fire. Take it from someone who was celibate for nine years. Get it while you can."

Danielle looked at me aghast. Like what I said was completely ridiculous. "I have no idea how you did that. I mean, even before I met Ryan, I never went without sex longer than a few weeks. Wow. That makes me sound like a slut, doesn't it?" 

I chuckled at her question. Danielle might be a lot of things, but a slut wasn't one of them. "Of course not. You're what we call a—"

"Free spirit. Yeah, I know. That's what Lanie always says. But if you look up synonyms for 'free spirit' in the thesaurus, I bet you would find the word 'whore' and a picture of my face!" 

"If you say so, D." 

I couldn't relate to her when it came to being a 'free spirit'. After the breakup with Nathan way back when, I had only been with two other men. And it wasn't even enjoyable because they weren't Nathan.

Then nine years of celibacy until my path collided with Nathan's in that bar. I was so happy it did. Even though we lost all that time together, I wouldn't trade what we had now. Not one fucking bit of it.

When the baby was done eating, I sat the bottle aside before using the burping cloth to catch some formula that dripped from her mouth. She squirmed in my arms, her face starting to turn red from her impending cry session. 

Where was Jackson when you needed him? 

Hoping this worked, I held the baby against my chest and patted her back. She had a full diaper that needed changing. Could be the reason she was fussing. I rose from the couch and turned towards Danielle. 

Who was passed out. That wasn't even the worst part. She passed out sitting up on the couch. She wasn't leaning back or anything. She was just sitting on the edge with her eyes closed. Wow. This little baby was really wearing her out. Last thing I wanted to do right now was wake Danielle up, so I tiptoed to the nursery to change the baby's diaper myself.

"Here we go," I whispered as I gently laid her on the changing table. "Not feeling comfortable with a full diaper, are we?" 

The baby's legs were kicking back and forth softly as I unsnapped the buttons on her pink and white onesie. I pulled one leg out then the other before reaching underneath the table to grab a fresh diaper, wipes, and baby powder. 

"You're going to be good as new once were done. Just you wait and see." 

She continued to stare up at me, and her expression gave me the impression that she was deciding if she wanted to cry or not. I could see why Jackson and everyone else was so smitten with her. She was the most beautiful little baby I've ever seen. Besides little Nate, of course, who was getting so big and so handsome. 

"Ready? This is going to be cold." I warned the baby as if she understood me. I opened the flaps of the diaper and pulled it down. Just as I reached for a wipe, I noticed something odd. 

"I may not know much about babies," I murmured. "But I don't think that's normal. Hey, Danielle!"

There was a clattering sound that came from the living room, followed by something that sounded very similar to a fall and a groan. Maybe I shouldn't have scared my poor friend awake. But this situation had me a little concerned. 

"Karma? What is it?" she called from the living room. By the sounds I heard, she was picking up whatever she knocked over and was trying to get her bearings. 

"We're in the nursery. Can you come here for a second?" 

Danielle entered the nursery a moment later. "Is everything okay?" 

"I don't mean to scare you, but is her urine supposed to be that dark?"

When she looked into the diaper, her brows drew together. "Um, no. I don't think so. Shit. I don't know. I can call the doctor in the morning. It could be nothing. The nurse said it's common if the baby didn't get enough liquid." 

"Definitely call in the morning. Just to be sure, ya know?"

Danielle took over changing her diaper and I took a seat to wait in the rocking chair. "It might be nothing. Hopefully it is nothing. I didn't want to ignore it though."

She nodded. "I'm glad you caught it. I'll give the doctor a call in the morning. Better safe than sorry."

"Agreed. And sorry again that I scared you. And woke you up. You should get some rest. I don't mind staying for a couple hours. Or until Ryan gets here. I can hang out with the little one while you," my eyes roamed over her clothes, "take a shower and change. Maybe even take a nap in a bed."

Danielle faced me with a freshly changed and sated newborn in her arms. I didn't even think she noticed she settled the baby down herself.

"I don't know..."

"D, go shower and take a nap. I don't have anything to do today and besides..." I reached out and stroked the baby's cheek. "I love spending time with her."

My best friend finally gave in. "Alright. She's all yours."