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He’d planned something, so I wasn’t surprised when he nodded. “Yes, I’ve got a surprise for our tired boy.”
Ian seemed to have every intention of explaining he wasn’t tired…after his yawn, of course, but Bishop distracted him by coming over and sweeping him up in his arms. “Come here, cutie.”
A nod from Bishop as he walked toward the playroom had me picking up the bottle and following. I was confused for a few seconds until I walked into the room to see the fort ready and a diaper out.
Now the plan was clear.
And I had to admit Ian was too tired to get embarrassed, so it was the perfect time.
“There we go.” Bishop laid him down on the bed, smiling as Ian grumbled, eyes still closed.
“No.” That was the extent of his denial, so neither of us were taking it very seriously.
Getting him completely undressed wouldn’t be possible as floppy as he was, so Bishop started by taking off his socks and shoes. “We’re going to get you comfy, and then Uncle Cohen will read you a book while you have a drink of water.”
I was impressed by the technically correct explanation that managed to leave out almost every relevant detail.
He was definitely a Daddy.
Ian scrunched his face up but stretched his hand out to find one of the stuffed animals that littered the bed. When he was cuddling the toy, he yawned again. “No.”
It just made Bishop smile.
As he worked to remove Ian’s pants, I grabbed the diaper off the end of the bed and got it ready. The weak protests paled in comparison to the cute blushes he’d given me when he’d picked out the patterns with me online.
Ian’s only response to the sound of the diaper was to use the stuffed elephant he’d grabbed to cover his face. “Not tired.”
Hmm.
It was an interesting response.
“We’re just going to read and cuddle.” My answer got a sigh out of him and he reached his hand out, waving gimme fingers around.
Huh?
Even Bishop looked confused, so I took some solace in that as I glanced in the direction Ian was waving.
Bingo.
Binkies.
The small basket of binkies that were sitting on a low shelf were directly in his line of wiggles. Bringing one over to him, I teased his lips with the rubber bulb and was pleased when he smiled and opened his mouth.
Ha.
Best Uncle ever.
The binkie cut off his ability to protest and he just seemed to ignore everything around him as he rubbed the elephant over his face. I knew it had a name, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what he’d called it.
Jorge?
Maria?
For some reason, I had a feeling the damned thing was Hispanic, but that was all I could remember. Had that been the one he’d said was adopted or had that been the giraffe?
I was going to need notecards or a spreadsheet if he kept giving every stuffed animal a detailed backstory.
Pushing the random thoughts to the back of my mind as Bishop finished taping up the diaper around Ian like he’d been doing it for years, I smiled as Ian let out a low sigh.
Book time.
Grabbing his favorite rabbit story, I traded places with Bishop as he gathered Ian up in his arms again and moved him to my lap.
When Ian was snuggled against me, rubbing his face against my chest again, Bishop sat down beside me and wrapped his arms around us. My hands were full of a sleepy boy and the book, so I was glad when Bishop held the bottle and slipped the binkie out of Ian’s mouth.
The quick trade-off between binkie and bottle kept him from telling us no again, and he was soon back to his melty state as he sucked on the bottle, eyes never opening.
He was so cute when he was sleepy and stubborn.
By the time the bottle was done and we’d read the book twice, he was out. Between the two of us, he was fairly easy to move around, but I was surprised when we didn’t wake him up. We’d figure out a good way for all three of us to cuddle next time, but I thought we’d done a wonderful job for our first bottle and nap session.
When Ian was covered up by a soft blanket and snuggling with his elephant, we snuck out the door, leaving it cracked just a bit. The house was quiet as I took Bishop’s hand and led him over to the couch.
“Come here, pup.” He wasn’t as tired as Ian, but he didn’t protest when I sat and pulled him down so he was stretched out along the couch with his head in my lap.
As I stroked over his head, he got a soft smile and finally yawned. “What do you think he’s going to say when he wakes up?”
