Deedee watched around the nipple as Ron made himself a sandwich and sat down at the table to eat with her. By the time he had eaten his sandwich, she was slurping the dregs of formula from her bottle. Ron unsnapped the plastic bib around her neck and rinsed it in the kitchen sink before laying it on the dish drainer to dry. The hollow sounds of the last drops of formula being sucked from the bottle greeted him as he returned to Deedee’s side. He took the empty bottle from her hands and set it on the counter while he took Deedee out of the high chair. Ron laid the damp dishtowel over his shoulder and held Deedee to his chest, then began to pat Deedee gently on her back. After a moment or two, Deedee belched hugely and lay against his shoulder contentedly. He took the dishtowel from his shoulder, grinning and shaking his head in amusement when he saw the wet stain of regurgitated formula on the fabric. She had spit up her formula on the dishtowel like an infant. It looked like Deedee was experiencing all the nuances of being a baby.
Ron smiled as he carried her back into the living room to play on the floor in front of the TV while he watched the news. If she continued the way she had been going, she would mess her diapers by the time the news was over. Ron took a few of her toys out of the playpen and strew them on the carpet in a short arc in front of her before he sat down. Deedee cooed delightedly and crawled from toy to toy trying to decide which one she wanted to play with first. Finally she picked a toy from the group and sat down in front of it with her legs splayed out on either side of the toy. She grinned at Ron and picked it up to taste the toy with her renewed sense of taste. From time to time, he glanced away from his news show and grinned at Deedee’s antics. She was adorable. There was no way anyone could have known that the body of the infant who crawled in front of him contained the mind of his wife. Her gurgles and coos completed the effect, making her appear like an average, unremarkable baby girl.
