Besides, he didn’t feel comfortable staying much longer. His original plan had been to take a few weeks then get started on the search. Except that was before he’d interviewed for a job or thought about Maz and Ry bringing their baby home.
The new addition had been a ‘future’ event for so long Jake hadn’t even connected the dots between Maz’s due date and their arrival in Sunnyville.
Why hadn’t Ry said something? Or Maz?
Surely they’d realized the two of them would be under foot when they brought their baby home.
Too late to change things now. What he could do was move his timeline up. First thing tomorrow, he’d contact the agent Ry and Maz had recommended and see what listings were on offer.
“All right, Madman. Stand here while Daddy grabs your stuff.” He put Maddox on the floor in the sitting area of the in-law suite and ducked into the attached bathroom to get the bag he stored Mad’s bath stuff in. They had to go up and use the main bathroom because the one down here didn’t have a tub.
Jake laughed when he came back out to find Mad had not stayed where he was put. Of course Jake knew where he’d be. Leaving their room, he headed back through the house. Sure enough, there was Mad. Sitting patiently on the bottom step of the staircase. “Ready for your bath, huh?”
“Baff,” Mad said, arms held out.
Scooping up his son, Jake grinned. “Bath.” He emphasized thethsound and exaggerated the mouth movements like he’d seen the speech therapist he’d found on the internet do.
“Baff.”
Chuckling, Jake headed upstairs. “Right. Bath.” That was the other thing the therapist had recommended. Don’t copy the child, repeat the word correctly, and eventually the child would get it right.
“Baff, baff, baff,” Mad chanted.
Jake had learned early on that bath time with Mad was a very wet event, so after stripping his son he stripped himself and once he got the temp of the water just right, he got them both in the tub. He kept his back to the running water, not that it would burn; it was barely warm.
Another thing he’d learned. Mad liked his baths lukewarm. Anything hotter and he screamed bloody murder.
He’d been that way right from the first night Jake had him. It pained him to think Renee might have had something to do with his son’s preference. From what he’d been told, she’d had little in the way of baby equipment. Mad hadn’t even had a crib or stroller. And the small garbage bag of clothes his son had arrived with were pitiful—dirty and worn.
Jake had been so pissed off that first night.
One, because he hadn’t known the baby Renee was pregnant with was his—she’d told him it was Ry’s.
Two, she’d left Ry before Maddox was born, telling his friend who the father really was and hadn’t come to Jake with that information.
And three, she hadn’t given his son even the basics of care because according to the information social services had been able to gather, Mad hadn’t seen a doctor since the day he’d been born.
Six-month-old Maddox had been undernourished and hadn’t had any of his immunizations.
A splash of water to the face brought Jake out of his dark thoughts. Mad sat between Jake’s knees grinning up at him, the squirt gun Uncle Ry had given him aimed at his father.
“Yeah? Is that how it is, Madman?” Grabbing the small bucket with holes in the bottom, he filled it and moved it over Mad’s head. The water showered down in a gentle flow he knew wouldn’t upset his son.
Mad broke out in peals of laughter, his chubby body jiggling he laughed so hard. For the next little while they took turns soaking each other. Only when Mad’s eyelids started to droop and his arm didn’t hold the gun as high did Jake call an end to bath time.
Cradling Mad against him, he pulled the plug before getting to his feet and stepping out of the tub. Normally he’d dry and dress them up here but with no one else in the house they could head downstairs in just their towels.
Which was a good thing because he’d forgotten to grab Mad’s PJs.
It took some maneuvering but he managed to get a towel around Mad and another around himself. Leaving everything behind, he headed back to their room quickly because Mad had put his head on Jake’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
“Stay awake a little longer, Madman. Daddy needs to get you dressed and read a book before you go night-night.”
Jake didn’t expect him to stay awake for a story but he’d read it regardless. It was a routine he’d begun when Mad was still a baby and he was pretty sure he enjoyed it far more than his son.
Those quiet moments with Mad’s warm little body snuggled in his arms were the highlight of Jake’s day.
He knew Maddox would eventually not want to sit in his daddy’s lap for his night time read so Jake planned to make the most of it while he could.
