Cutting Scenes - The Fine Line

I pushed her down on the bed and lay poised over her.
“What about me,” I whispered.
Then the baby screeched.
________
“A little fall,” Annie said, holding the snivling Steffy in
her arms.
I looked at the tiny scrape on her knee and kissed it.
“There. All better now,” I said.
Jane took the baby from Annie, but she squirmed and put up
a fuss. She reached for Annie, and Jane gave her back.
“I don’t like this,” she said later. “The baby wants her
more than she wants me.”
“You need to spend more time with her,” I said.
“Changing diapers and wiping muck off her face?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“You need to put her to sleep and be there in the middle of
the night if she wakes up. You need to feed her three times a
day and wipe her little ass. You need to get on the floor and
read Mr. Duckling Goes to Town 40 times.”
“I give her a bath every night.” she said. “Isn’t that
enough?”
“No,” I said. “It’s nowhere near enough.”
“That’s why we hired Annie,” she said.
“Then don’t be surprised when she reaches for Annie instead
of you.”
It was the first fight we’d had over the baby, one of many
to come. Jane was always full of surprises, but her lack of
motherly instincts was one I couldn’t fathom.
She checked her fingernails, made sure the manicure was
perfect.
“Go change a diaper,” she said, and walked out of the room.
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