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As blasé as he was about the edge of the table, he wouldn’t let her hit her head on it without trying to stop the fall. No matter how much Angel teased him about being a helicopter parent.
“Hey, Justin, I thought you were making dinner.” Patrick ambled into the living room from the kitchen, running his hand over his bald head. The grin on his face pulled slightly at the scar running across his right eye. His best friend had given it to him when they were kids. This past Halloween, his fiancé, Lexie, had finally convinced him to dress up as Nick Fury, and he’d made a damn good one. Adam was pretty sure Angel and Lexie were plotting an entire Avengers group for next year.
“Yup, on it.” Justin tore his gaze away from Melody and jumped up to head into the kitchen while Patrick took his spot on the couch.
“Hey, Adam, Olivia mentioned to me you might be interested in a room at Marquis next weekend. There was a cancellation in the Dungeon Room if you want to take it.”
“Oh, did she?” Adam murmured, shaking his head as he deftly caught Melody right as she tumbled. He shook his head at his friend’s interference but couldn’t blame her. It was an offer, not a requirement, and a damned good offer at that.
Marquis rooms were often booked way in advance, and there was a waiting list for cancellations. He’d be getting to jump to the head of the line, which wasn’t fair, but… hell, sometimes it paid to be the friend of the club’s owner.
“I’ll have to see if Angel’s mom can babysit overnight again.”
“If she can’t, we can take her,” Chris offered, leaning in to make a silly face at Melody, who laughed and tried to grab his hair. “It’ll give us some practice.”
Latching onto Chris’ hair, Melody stared at him as she scrunched up her face. A couple moments later, an appalling smell emanated from her diaper. Everyone in the room laughed at Chris’ expression.
“Want to practice now?” Adam teased, pulling his daughter away and carefully lifting her to his shoulder, making sure not to squish the diaper against her. She giggled, pleased with the smell she’d made.
“Might as well.” Chris grinned. “I’ve never changed a diaper.”
“Neither had I before this one was born.” Adam bounced her a little as they walked out of the room. “You’ll learn fast.” He did his best to change all the diapers in the evenings and on the weekend days since Angel was the one doing it all day long during the week. And often in the middle of the night. She’d insisted on the latter once he’d had to go back to work, not wanting him to have to get up to do diaper duty when he had to be at work in the morning.
“Something else to look forward to.” Chris chuckled, but there was real excitement in his voice.
Adam got it. Yeah, diapers might not be a ton of fun, but they were part of the experience, and with his baby girl growing up so quickly, he knew her time in diapers was already limited. When she was out of them, she wouldn’t be a baby anymore, so he cherished these little moments, even as part of him couldn’t wait till she could do the really stinky ones in the toilet.
The dichotomy of parenthood.
Angel
Leaning her head on Olivia’s shoulder, Angel sighed happily as she looked around at her friends. They’d decamped to Olivia and Luke’s place after dinner, although Luke wasn’t there. He was at Adam and Angel’s.
“Doing okay down there, Miss Sass?” Olivia asked, sounding amused as she shifted, trying to see Angel’s face.
“Just happy. I’ve missed this.”
“Me, too. I think we all have.” Olivia turned her head to give Angel a little kiss on the top of her hair, making Angel giggle. “Not that we don’t all get together on our own, at times, but you out of commission made us all realize you’re the instigator for most of the group stuff. Especially the ladies’ nights.”
Huh. That was true. It made Angel feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She hadn’t realized it until now, but part of her had assumed everyone had been living their lives the way they’d always had, and she and Adam were missing out. She’d definitely felt she was missing out every time they’d had to leave an event or Stronghold early to put Melody to bed.
“I feel like me again,” Angel admitted. “A new me, but closer to the old me than I have in ages.”
“Well, soon you’ll have more parents to commiserate with.” Olivia smiled, tilting her head toward where Jessica and Hilary were sitting and chatting. Jessica’s hand was on Hilary’s stomach, waiting to see if the baby moved or kicked. Angel remembered how that had been. Equal parts disturbing and miraculous. And often very uncomfortable. “We’re all changing.”
“Getting old, you mean,” Angel said, sighing. “Does that mean the days of kink are over?”
“I don’t think so.” Olivia nudged Angel with her elbow. “I don’t think you believe that’s true, either.”
“My libido has been pretty dead,” Angel admitted what, so far, she’d only told Leigh. Not that Olivia was surprised. Even someone far less observant would have noticed her and Adam’s visits to Stronghold had been platonic for months. “It’s been hard to think of being kinky when I’m struggling to feel sexual.”
“How are you feeling right now?” Olivia asked.
“Better.” Angel laughed, shaking her head. “I practically jumped Adam when he suggested I do a ladies’ night. Apparently, thinking about hanging out with all of you makes me horny.” She was only half-joking since it had worked. Though it hadn’t been thinking about her friends that turned her on so much as feeling as if she was getting back another piece of her old self. If she kept adding pieces, maybe she’d be back to being her again. A new her, with the added piece of a mom, but still her with all the pieces she’d been missing for so long.
“Makes sense to me.” Olivia grinned. “We’re pretty hot.”
“Damn straight.” She leaned in and gave Olivia a squeeze. “Now, I need to pump, so I’m going to be extra sexy.” Raising her voice so everyone could hear her, Angel looked around the room, pretty sure she already knew what the answer was going to be but wanting to make sure everyone was comfortable. “Anyone mind if I pump in here?”
“Nope.”
“Bring it on!”
“Yay, titties!” That was Sharon.
“The milk must flow!” There was Ellie, the secret nerd, coming in with a Dune reference.
God, she loved her friends.
