She laid her index finger under Kim’s chin and lifted his head until their eyes met. “Do you understand this time, Baby?” she demanded. Kim nodded meekly. “Okay, good.” As she reached behind his head to untie the shoelace that held the pacifier in his mouth, Kim was smothered against Mandy’s soft chest. “There,” she said at last. The pacifier fell from Kim’s mouth and hung loosely from the shoelace around his neck. Before Kim could even catch a breath, Mandy thrust the nipple of the baby bottle into the space the pacifier had vacated. “Drink up, Baby,” she coaxed as she tilted the bottom of the bottle toward the low basement ceiling. Kim sucked eagerly as the cool liquid flooded his dry mouth and throat.