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She was unable to tear her gaze from her baby in this man’s embrace “He’ll be uided one of Sam’s arms under Riley’s diapered botto hiainst you”

Saht at the same time, and it reminded her that Riley had one But should he be getting that contact with Sam Thornton? She didn’t even know the man, yet somehow she instinctively felt she could trust him When Riley belched, Sah out loud You’d have thought it was Sam himself who’d created the hearty sound

“Wow, the boy can burp,” he said, still gently rubbing the baby’s back

“And that’s not all,” Erin said, a s her face “You should see what he does at the other end”

A look of horror passed over Saine Here, do you want him back?”

“No, I’ll finish getting our ether You can put hi him”

“Is it safe?” Sa at the rocker

“Sure, and it’s a huge help Short of having hireat way for hi around the place”

“It’s okay,” he said, “I’ll hold him until we’re ready to eat”

Erin grabbed a second place setting and laid the kitchen table for the two of theely inti the table for two The last tio, while Jah to leave his bed and come to the kitchen She pushed the ht now She had h to think about

Saht to s past the lump in his throat As hard as it was to believe, he could actually be holding his son Every instinct in his body wanted to hold this child to hies of the world, but he had no right to do that until he knew for certain that Riley was his

He watched Erin as she co a bare table to a convivial setting with effortless ease The aroma of the dish she’d removed from the oven to stand on a trivet on the table spoke volu It all seemed to come so easily to her and reminded him uncomfortably of how natural she’d been with Riley when he’d entered the kitchen, following the sounds of the baby’s cries

Seeing the baby at her breast had brought hoe of emotions Erin offered sustenance to her son from her own body It was perfectly natural, and yet he’d never even stopped to think about the baby’s level of dependence upon her as his mother He wondered if Laura would have been the same—if she’d have nursed their child They’d never even taken their discussions that far Instead, their focus had just been on the business of getting pregnant That focus had been consu else