AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 2
TANK
“Holy shit,” I mutter to Sophie as we let ourselves into Dani and Miller’s home. The place is a mess. Baby clothes and toys are all over the place, and there are piles of laundry covering the couch. The trash can is overflowing with takeout containers, and the kitchen sink is filled with baby bottles and other objects I can’t identify. It’s as if the baby patrol came and ransacked their house.
“Yo?” I call out. “Are you fuckers here?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Dani yells, rushing around the corner of the kitchen. “We’re here.”
Miller follows behind her, his eyes glued to a baby monitor clutched in his hands, looking nervous as shit. “Please don’t go,” he begs Dani. “What if something happens? What if . . . what if she cries or needs something . . . or . . . I don’t fucking know. What if she doesn’t want me?”
“Miller,” Dani says, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face him. “You’ll be fine. She’ll sleep for the next hour, and I’ve stuck her schedule to the fridge. All you have to do is follow it and everything will be okay.”
She gives him a forced smile as if not believing a word she just said before turning back to continue on her way. “And if she cries?” Miller questions, following behind his wife as she continues ducking around the house, collecting her things.
“It depends,” Dani says. “If she cries after she’s had a bottle, then she probably has a sore tummy and needs a burp. You know how to do that. But just remember to put a towel over your shoulder because she’s been projectile vomiting a bit lately.”
His eyes widen in horror before nodding, as if accepting the inevitable. “Okay, but what if it’s not a burp?”
“Then she probably needs to take a shit,” Dani says, flatly. “Rub her tummy and keep her active. It’ll work its way out.”
“Right,” he says with a cringe. “And if she does shit?”
Dani groans, getting frustrated with him. “Then change her diaper, Miller. You’ll be fine. You’ve done all this before. You’re a great dad, and you know what you’re doing.”
He lets out a sigh, walking over to the dining table and placing the baby monitor down. I glance at the screen, seeing little Mia fast asleep in her bassinet. Some weird plastic thing above her head is spinning and making music, and I’m completely dumbfounded by it. That thing is fucking awesome. I’ll have to get Soph to pick one up for our little guy, but I’ll make sure it won’t play this girly shit. It’ll play commentary from the ice hockey championships. Something for the kid to aspire to.
“What the hell happened to this place?” Sophie asks, grabbing the scattered laundry and putting it back into the basket as Dani gathers the rest of her things and jams them into her bag.
“We lost Mia’s pacifier last night,” she explains. “Hell froze over and took up residence in our home. It was fantastic.”
Sophie’s eyes widen, slightly horrified for what our future will hold. “Wow, you make me look forward to having this baby so much,” she jokes as she rubs that perfect little bump.
“No, I’m sorry,” Dani says, still slightly frazzled. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I swear, the good outweighs the bad, but we’re still adjusting. We’ll get the hang of it. Being a mommy truly is amazing. It's exhausting and the house generally looks like a bomb went off, but it’s amazing. You’re gonna love it, and when you have your sweet little boy in your arms, you’ll realize that every little bit of it is all worth it.”
Sophie gives her a warm smile as Dani steps into her and looks down at her belly in awe, making me wonder if she’s already considering baby number two. She lets out a calming breath before meeting Sophie’s stare again. “Are you ready to go?”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” Sophie tells her.
Miller comes up and threads his arms around Dani’s waist before pulling her right into him. “Try and enjoy yourself,” he murmurs against her neck. “You deserve this.”
“I’ll try, but your endless worrying all morning has messed with my vibes,” she says, turning in his arms and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Remember, the schedule is on the fridge, and if all else fails, call me and I’ll come home.”
“Okay,” he says, though we all know that’s a lie. He’ll never call her to come home, not unless there was an emergency. He's right, Dani deserves a day off from being a mom. Even if all they plan on doing is driving down the road and sleeping in the car.
“You’ll be fine. You have Tank here and he’s great with babies,” she says. I have absolutely no idea where the hell she got that information from, but I try not to blanch so she doesn’t freak out.
