Page 70 of Worth of Waste

Then, the older gentleman turned to Karen, a smile crinkling his features. “His fine- and gross-motor skills are above par.”

Karen couldn’t help but be a little proud about that fact. “Oh?”

“He already has a wide vocabulary of words. It’s impressive. Try getting him to put words together to form even two- or three-word sentences.”

“I will.”

She was already trying to do that with Junior, and sometimes he would put two words together if he really wanted something enough.

But almost always, the only thing he would put together to say or ask was, “Momma, Da?”

It was the boy’s way of asking his mother where his father was when he wanted Dino, and while Karen never had a good answer for him, Junior didn’t really seem dejected when he was given a non-response. If anything, he just waited his father’s next visit out.

“If he keeps this up, he’ll be beyond his learning curve and probably won’t need pre-K at all before starting kindergarten.” The pediatrician looked over Junior’s chart, humming under his breath. “It’s February—his next needles are due at eighteen months. Make sure to have that appointment done before you leave the office.”

Karen nodded. “Thank you.”

The doctor gave Junior one of his gummy treats before leaving the office and giving Karen one last goodbye. She quickly got her son dressed in his winter clothing, avoiding sticky kisses as she tugged on his large hat to get it on his head.

“Ready?” she asked the boy.

Junior smiled widely, his teeth stained red from the candy. “Go!”

Twenty minutes later, Karen juggled her boy in one arm while trying to unlock her apartment door with the other and keep her three bags of groceries from dropping to the floor. She didn’t have to try for very long, because the door swung open, exposing a smiling Dino waiting behind it.

Immediately, J squealed at the sight of his father. “Da! Momma … Da!”

Karen huffed, shifting her squirming boy to Dino’s waiting arms. “Yeah, I see him. A little help getting up the stairs would have been awesome.”

“I was in the kitchen, or I would have come to help,” Dino said.

Her irritation melted away when Dino easily swapped her bags from her grasp to his, all the while keeping a firm hold on the baby. Then, he gave her a quick kiss.

Karen smiled. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“Last minute thing.”

It almost always was.

Karen didn’t mind.

“You were in the kitchen—did you cook?” she asked.

Dino smirked a sinful sight. “I only do other things in the kitchen when you’re in there with me.”

God.

Her cheeks pinked, and Karen quickly moved inside the apartment and closed the door for fear her neighbors might overhear their conversation. She didn’t understand how Dino could say something like that with a baby in his arms and still look goddamn attractive, but he managed it.

“Stop that,” Karen muttered halfheartedly, tugging off her jacket and mittens. “I just want food.”

“Oh, I have that for you, too.”

“Great.”

Dino unwrapped Junior from his winter clothing as well, setting the boy to the floor as soon as he was done. The very second Junior’s sock feet hit the floor, he was off running toward his bedroom, probably in search of his newest toy to share with his father.

It was a game the two played.