Ocean Eyes - Maddie Poppe and Caleb Hutchinson Series (Book 3)

Chapter 6

Maddie's POV

After a week long honeymoon in Hawaii, I am glad to finally be home.

"I missed home," I sigh, sitting on the couch with Caleb, "but that was an amazing honeymoon."

We came back yesterday, and I was glad we got to sleep in today.

"It sure was," Caleb agrees, before hearing his phone ding, he pulls it out and looks, "oh, it's Bella."

"Is everything okay?" I ask, concerned.

"Yeah. She said the nanny called in sick and she asked if I would mind watching Caroline. I'm supposed to go to the studio today, I guess I'll have to cancel."

"I can watch her," I offer, "I don't have any plans for today."

"Okay, I'll tell her," he says before he starts typing, "Oh, and I still need to paint her room for her."

I smile, "I bought the paint, it's just in the floor in her room."

He smiles back, "I'll paint it this afternoon," his phone dings again, "Okay, Bella will bring her over in a bit. Caroline will stay for a few hours so I'll see her when I'm home."

"Okay," I smile, "you're an amazing daddy."

He kisses my forehead, "I love you."

"I love you," I tell him back.

When he's gone for about thirty minutes, I hear the doorbell ring, so I go to the door. I open it and see Bella holding Caroline.

"Hey, Maddie," Bella smiles.

"Hey," I smile back, "Hi, precious," I tell Caroline, taking her from Bella, "Bella, you can come in for a second if you'd like."

"That's okay," She says, handing me Caroline's bag, "thank you for watching her for me."

"It's no problem," I tell her, "I love Caroline."

She smiles, "I know you do. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I still have a little morning sickness but it's definitely not as bad."

"Try peppermint tea, it helped me," She says.

"I'll try that, thanks," I nod.

"Well, I'll be back later to get her," she says, "and by the way, congratulations again."

"Thank you, Bella," I say softly.

She gives me a small nod with a smile before going back to her car. I shut the door and take Caroline to the couch with me. I set her on my legs and bounce her. She smiles and I smile back at her. I talk to her in a baby voice and she giggles.

A little while later, I wake up, not even realizing I fell asleep. I look down and see Caroline sleeping soundly on my stomach, her little head resting on my chest. I smile at her. She is so precious. Spending this time with my little stepdaughter makes me even more excited for my baby.

I gently move her and lay her on a pillow on the couch. I look at the clock and realize I maybe should start dinner. I keep an eye on Caroline while making spaghetti. I hear little cries, so I go into the living room.

I pick Caroline up and bounce her in my arms, "What's the matter, baby?" I ask her, and then I feel a strong scent, "Oh."

I reach into her bag and get out a new diaper and some wipes. After I get her changed, I snap the bottom of her onesie. I lay her back down on the pillow and find a baby channel on the TV for her to watch. I wash my hands before finishing the spaghetti. Caroline makes a short little whine noise, so I go back to check on her and find her staring at the TV. She's not crying, though. I giggle at her. When I'm giggling she makes another noise and furrows her little eyebrows.

I laugh at her and pick her up again, "What's going on? Huh?" I ask her in a baby voice. She smiles at me again, and I smile back.

I sit on the couch and put her back on my knees and begin to bounce her again when the door opens. I look up and see Caleb come in. He comes over to us and Caroline's eyes light up when she looks at him.

"There's my pretty girl," he says, taking her from me. He then looks at me and gives me a kiss on my forehead, "and my other pretty girl."

I laugh, "she's so precious."

"Yeah, she is," he agrees, and begins to play with her.

"Are you hungry? I made spaghetti," I tell him.

"Oh, yum," he says. Just then, Caroline starts to cry again, "I think she's hungry."

I get her bottle for her, "I'll feed her," I tell him.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yeah," I smile and he passes her to me, "go eat, I'm sure you're starving."

"You need to eat, too," he reminds me.

"I will in a bit, I'm not hungry right now," I say, starting to feed Caroline.

He goes to the kitchen and gets himself a plate of the spaghetti before sitting at the kitchen table. After Caroline is done with her bottle, I sit her up and burp her.

"Good baby," I tell her and she smiles. Her little smile melts my heart.

I get one of her toys out and shake it. It makes a rattling noise and she laughs at it. She leans forward and puts her head back on my chest. I smile down at her and I gently rub my hand through her light brown hair. I kiss her little head before looking up. I look into the kitchen and see Caleb grinning at me.

I hear the doorbell ring, so I pick Caroline up and go to the door. I open it and Bella smiles.

"She was amazing," I tell her, before handing Caroline to her.

"Thank you again for watching her," she says.

"Of course. Hold on, I'll get her stuff."

I make sure everything is back in her bag before I bring it over to her. She speaks to Caleb and he speaks back to her from the kitchen. The UPS truck pulls into the driveway, and the delivery guy brings three medium sized boxes to the door.

"Oh, thank you," I tell him, and he nods before going back to his truck. I look up at Bella, "these are some things I bought for Caroline."

"Really?" She asks.

"Yeah. I'm actually going to make her a room here for when she stays with us."

Bella smiles widely at me, "Thank you, Maddie. That's really amazing of you."

I smile back, "I love her, and I really wanted to do this for her."

"I'll see you later," she says.

"Yeah, see you," I say.

Caleb comes over after putting his plate in the sink, "Here, I'll get those," he says, bringing the boxes in.

I go back to the couch and change the TV channel as he takes the boxes up to Caroline's room. He then comes back and joins me on the couch.

He puts an arm around me, "You were so amazing with Caroline. I loved watching you with her. You're going to be an amazing mom, you know that right?"

"Thank you," I smile, "I'm going to do my best. I can't wait."

"Me either," he says, "With you as their mom, our little one is extremely lucky."