Chef Handsome:So… do all the women you meet get desserts named after them?
I stared at the message…then hit send. My stomach flipped. “Oh shit,” I whispered, dropping the phone on my chest. Now I had to see what he said.
Chapter7
Iwoke up to the sounds of my son giggling. I cracked my sleepy eyes open to see him sitting cross-legged on my bed as he watched re-runs of Arthur. That was one of our comfort shows to watch together. I grew up with it, and now my son would too.
It was a weekend habit for my son to wake up early as hell on the weekends and settle in my bed until I woke up. And like clockwork it was usually his giggles or squirming that woke me up. Sometimes if I took too long, he’d lift my eyelid.
"Morning, buddy," I smiled, voice husky with sleep.
Melo crawled on my chest. "Morning, Daddy,"
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his head. We laid like that for a moment, just breathing. This was peace.
He lifted his head after a second, looking up at me with curious eyes. "Did you have good dreams?"
I smiled down at him, brushing my hand down his back. "The best dreams, buddy. Me and you were flying though the solar system and collecting stars. We had a blast."
His face lit up instantly, eyes wide. "I like that dream," he giggled.
“Yeah? We might have to go back tonight,” I teased.
He nodded. "We gotta grab the sun next time. And the moon!"
I chuckled. "The whole solar system, son." Melo kicked his little feet. "How about you? Good dreams?" I asked.
He nodded, slower. "I saw Mommy."
My heart skipped as it always did when he dreamed of Kendrix. She had been visiting him for some time now. Now that he was older, he could describe it better to me. "That's wonderful, buddy. What did Mommy say?"
Melo smiled, dimples sinking in his cheeks. “She said I was getting big,” he said proudly. "And han—" he paused trying to recollect. "I don’t remember that word."
"Handsome?" I filled in gently.
Melo nodded, grinning. "Yeah! What is handsome, Daddy? Is that like pretty?"
My throat tightened a little. "It's pretty for boys, buddy. And mommy was right, you're super handsome. Got that from your old man." I tapped his nose with a smile.
He giggled, scrunching his face.
“That sounds like your mommy. She always used to gush over you,” I murmured more to myself than anything.
He nodded like that confirmed it. “And she said you should make chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup.”
I blinked. Then laughed. “That definitely doesn’t sound like your mommy. Sounds like you.”
Melo grinned and buried his face into my chest again.
For a second, I just held him there, my hand moving slowly up and down his back. Moments like this always came with a strange mix of warmth and ache. Kendrix used to love lazy mornings like this. She’d make coffee while dancing around the kitchen and complain about how I never followed her pancake recipe.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah buddy?”
