Maybe she’d be lucky and get a table this time seeing how it was between the lunch and dinner hours. She could have a snack and a coffee while she worked on marking the essays her students had handed in over the day then, when she was ready, she could order dinner.
With one final glance at her phone, she shouldered her bag and walked out the door, shutting it soundly behind her.
7
Jake shut the dishwasher and held his finger over the start button while he made one last scan of the counters to check he hadn’t missed any dirty dishes. Satisfied he’d gotten all of them, he pressed the button then grabbed the packet of disinfectant wipes to give the counters one more pass.
He would still have to run a second load of dishes after they ate dinner but for now he’d cleaned up all he could. He wasn’t normally a clean-as-you-go cook but he didn’t want Ry and Maz coming home to a messy kitchen. Or house.
The sound of Maddox playing in their room could still be heard over the hum of the machine and he seemed happy for the moment, so after trashing the wipe, Jake ducked into the utility room to check the load of laundry in the dryer. Taking note of the time left, he went to see how Mad was doing.
Mad hadn’t protested about beingcagedin but then again, with all the giggling and chatting coming from their room, he was obviously too busy to realize there was now a gate blocking the doorway.
They’d made a quick stop at the baby supply store on their way home so Jake could purchase a couple of baby gates. He hadn’t planned on unwrapping them but thought it might be a good idea to give them a test run before they moved into the new house.
Until recently it hadn’t been an issue to put Mad down and leave him to go do something elsewhere in the house. And Jake didn’t think Maddox would freak out over the barriers but he wanted to ease his son into the changes that would take place over the next few weeks.
Mad had been fine with the move to Sunnyville although he’d gotten to spend a lot of time with two of his favorite people which probably went a long way to smoothing over any distress. Plus they’d visited so often over the last eight months that Mad was used to being here with Maz and Ry. Their house had become Maddox’s second home in such a short time. It still amazed Jake that his son had accepted two new people without batting an eye.
Of course now he’d have to compete for their attention with a baby.
Now he thought about the baby, maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to set up the barricades right before Ry and Maz brought baby Zane home.
Dammit.
He was overthinking this shit again. Ever since Jake had gotten Mad back he had been a dithering, indecisive, panicked, helicopter parent. Even when his gut told him he was doing the right thing, he questioned it. Googled it. Asked someone else about it.
It needed to stop. One thing he did know was that if Mad thought for one second his father wasn’t sure about something, he’d be pushing boundaries, and while doing that was natural, Jake knew for his time in the army that an unsure leader led to chaos.
And possible disaster.
No, he’d done the right thing putting the gates up on their suite doorway and the bottom of the stairs. They both needed to get used to them and while he would have to remove the one on the stairs when Maz and Ry got home, he’d put it up because he wanted to see how it fitted and how easy it would be for him to get over without removing it.
There were a couple of spots in the new house where he’d have to install them semi-permanently to keep Mad safe. The stairs to the second story and the ones to the basement—although he could keep the door shut on the second one. His boy might not have tried to climb the stairs here yet but Jake didn’t think it would be long before he attempted them.
And he would need to work out something for the sliding door that led to the backyard; the three steps to the ground weren’t far but Jake would prefer to avoid any falls if he could help it.
Mad might be behind on getting around on his feet but he was doing it faster every day and the next step—literally—would be climbing stairs. He’d managed to go down the single one at the front of their new place when they left today and Jake didn’t want to discourage him, although he would prefer he tried a single step, two at most, not the flight that went to the second story or the basement.
Maybe once they moved in they could spend some time practicing on the back steps.
He checked the kitchen once more, then glanced through the oven door at the ready-made lasagna he’d put in to heat before making his way toward his giggling boy in the other room.
“What are you—?” Jake stopped in his tracks.
On the other side of the gate Maddox had pulled the pillows off the small sofa and piled them on the floor. He was presently doing belly flops onto them; the whole time he pushed up to his feet and fell forward again and again. He laughed sometimes to the point he toppled over, making himself laugh harder.
Jake smiled. Mad had never done anything like this before. Up until now he’d been content to play with whatever toys Jake set out for him. It seemed as though his son had discovered his adventure and daredevil genes.
Leaning against the doorway, he watched Mad for a few minutes before his son noticed he was being observed. Normally he’d rush to Jake which would give him a good idea of how Mad would deal with the gate except he didn’t. Instead of charging over, he grinned and threw himself on the pillows once more.
Chuckling, Jake watched his boy another minute when he heard the unmistakable grind of the garage door opening.
Pushing off the doorjamb he said, “Sounds like Uncle Ry and Auntie Maz are home.” At six-four, Jake easily stepped over the gate and entered the room to grab Mad, only for him to race off toward the bedroom. “Hey, come back here. We’re not playing chase now, Madman.”
When he caught up, Mad was attempting to wiggle his way under the bed. With a laugh, Jake grabbed him by the waist and lifted his squirming little body high above his head. “Ha-hah, I’ve got you now.”
Mad threw his arms out like wings and chanted, “Plane, plane, plane.”
