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I realized I’d never once seen him relaxed. Happy. At ease.
Babbling sounded from the baby monitor on his dresser.
I shot up as he opened his eyes. “Can I go get her? Will she be afraid?”
He rubbed a rough hand over his stupidly handsome face. “You want to get her?”
Narrowing my eyes, I pretended to study him. “That’s what I said. Hm. Maybe you really are just a pretty face.”
A feral smile spread across his face.
“What?” I cried, alarmed.
“Just thinking of all the ways I’m going to shut you up. You talk entirely too much.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Peering at him over my shoulder, I teased, “At least I’m not an ass.”
He lunged across the bed.
I squealed with laughter as I escaped out the door.
“Inky,” I called softly as I rounded the door to Sia’s room.
She lay with her little feet up on the bars, her midnight eyes peering at me.
“Good morning, sleepy girl,” I greeted her from beside her crib. “Would you like to go see Daddy?”
Her eyes brightened with interest. Her little mouth tipped up in a half smile. “Da Da.”
“Yes!’ I praised her. “Da Da! You want to go see Da Da? Are you Daddy’s girl? Do you look just like Daddy?”
Her mouth pulled down hard at the sides as she strained to sit up.
I reached down into the crib, but she drew away from me. Withdrawing my hands, I smiled down at her and started again. “Hello, Inky. Did you have a good sleep? Are you ready to get up? I need you to come back with me to protect me from the big bad wolf.”
She smiled.
“Yes! The big bad wolf! That’s your Daddy!”
Rolling over, she tucked her knees under her and pulled herself up by the railings. “Da Da.”
I tucked my hands under her armpits, and she raised her arms to be picked up. “Yes! Let’s go see Da Da. You love your Da Da? Yeah?”
Her tiny body, so light in comparison to Brayleigh, made me realize just how much Brayleigh had grown and changed. How quickly the time passed.
Made me miss holding baby Brayleigh.
How much would I miss with this new job? I shrugged away the thought. It was an unavoidable fact of life. It cost to be a working mom. It cost to be a stay-at-home mom. Either way, moms paid.
Thinking of Ares, and Lucky, I amended my statement.
Dads paid, too.
I tucked my nose into her tiny neck. Blew raspberries on her tender skin. Laughed when she laughed as I carried her to the master bedroom.
Ares lay back, one arm folded behind his head.
I twisted so Sia could see him.
