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We'd spent every minute of the months since Dave's birth—and many of the minutes before it, too—putting all of our collective energy into giving him the best of everything. We didn't have to announce that we were actively attempting to right the wrongs of our own childhoods, though there were countless moments when I picked up my son and spoke to him with love because I knew my father never did that tome.
And still, we were missing something. We were missing each other. It was possible that we found each other this afternoon, and we needed to hold ontothat.
Ellie's gaze pinged between us as she shook her head. "I cannot believe what I'm hearing." She crouched down to Dave's eye level. "All right, little buddy. Here's what we're going to do. Auntie El is sending your mom and dad on a date," she said. "Can you believe they've been married for almost two years already? It was the most badass surprise and an epic party, and they need to have that kind of fun. D'you think they can managethat?"
Dave let out a deep belly laugh as he thumped a spoon against the pot. I glanced at Tiel again, and found her staring at me. I shrugged, and she replied with a quick shrug of herown.
"None of that," Ellie said, wagging a spoon at us. "You're going." She pointed the spoon at the staircase. "Go change into something cute. Going-out cute, not 'I teach third graders how to hold a violin' cute. Then you can tell me the seven thousand things you want to tell me about caring for yourkid."
"Where…where should we go?"Tiel asked once we were settled into the car. "Every spot that comes to mind is relatively quiet and child-friendly, and I can't think of anywhere in the city that doesn't fit into thosecategories."
It took her no time at all to change into a cute dress that was technically conservative—high neck, long sleeves, knee-length skirt—but destroyed me every time she wore it. While I drooled all over her, she snuggled Dave, gave Ellie some quick pointers, and jotted down my siblings' phone numbers. My brain was stalled on that dress, and hadn't caught up with thisconversation.
"Anywhere you want, Sunshine," I replied, still eyeing hercurves.
"Yeah—but—that's—I mean," she stammered. "I don'tknow."
"Let me make this easy for you," I said. "Deuxave, L'Espalier, or Bondir. Yourchoice."
She shook her head. "No, Sam, no. That's ridiculous. We don't need the posh restaurant scene when we can just as easily gettacos."
"Not an option, " I said, leveling a stern gaze at her. "You need a night out and I need to spoil you. When was the last time you had a dirty martini? Orfive?"
She gestured toward her breasts. I had no problem dragging my eyes there. "I'll have to pump and dump when we gethome."
"That's okay," I said gently. "You have enough pumped milk in the fridge and freezer to give him a fewbottles."
She bit her lip and glanced back at the house. Dave was born small, and the doctors wanted to see him gain weight quickly. That meant feeding him twice as much as the average infant, and pumping between nursing sessions. He was fat and happy now, all chubby cheeks and baby rolls, but I knew Tiel carried a lot of anxiety about keeping him in fighting shape. She guarded that freezer stash like a statesecret.
"I'm taking you to Deuxave. If you hate it, you can spend the night tormenting me like you did earlier today," I said. "That will make it really easy for me to divest you of your clothes, shred your panties, and fuck you like I paid forit."
"Are you still upset about this afternoon?" sheasked.
"Upset?" I repeated. I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my zipper. "Does this feelupsettoyou?"
One side of her mouth tipped up in a smile, but she didn'trespond.
"Tell me what you're thinking," I ordered, rubbing the back of her hand as she stroked me. "What's going on inthere?"
"Do you want to do this? We don't have to. Really. I know you've had a busy weekand—"
"Yes, I definitely want to do this," I said, cutting her off. I released my hold on her wrist. She liked it when I forced her, just a bit, but she wasn't liking it now. "There's never a time when I don't want you all to myself. You have no idea how much I need my Tieltime."
"I need Sam time," shesaid.
"Then let's go," I said. "We'll see where the night takesus."
We ended up having a simple, civilized dinner outing. We ate, we drank, we talked about our son. There was no suggestion of destroying panties or my dick in her mouth. She knew what I wanted. She was going to come to me when she was ready forit.
"Why don't we go over to Sligo's?" I slipped my credit card back into my wallet and glanced across the table at Tiel. "Or the Middle East. I'm sure there's something interesting going onthere."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why would you want to do that? They don't even dice the cucumbers for you atSligo's."
"Why not?" I asked. "We're out. We have a reliable babysitter. Neither of us have to work tomorrow. Cucumbers aside, why shouldn'twe?"
It looked as though Tiel intended to refute my claims, but then she pursed her lips, nodded to herself, and said, "Let's doit."
We stopped at a number of our old haunts, venues we hadn't visited since before Dave was born, but this wasn't a great night for live music. Either it was the fiercely cold weather or the proximity to the holidays keeping folks away, or we just didn't know the best spots anymore. Eventually, we ended up at the bar we'd visited after that scorching day spent in a stalledelevator.
