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I laugh. I assume this means that she knows all about how going to the hair salon works because of visits she’s taken with Marissa. I wonder though if Marissa gets away with simply holding her hand out to Mark and saying "more."
Probably.
It would work for Danielle.
And though Mark pretends to be put upon and run down by his beautiful younger wife and their little family, I know he’s completely smitten with them all.
"More barrettes?" I ask Gracie. "Your head is almost full."
She shakes her head this time. "Cupcake!"
I glance up at Michael. He’s standing behind the couch watching. He’s got Gracie’s baby brother up on his shoulder. Michael’s hand cradles the tiny body as he pats the boy and sways, trying to get him to go to sleep.
He’s been fussy ever since his mom and dad left though.
When Mark and Marissa mentioned on the fourth that they’d love to have a night out, Danielle and Michael practically tripped over one another offering to babysit anytime.
I have to admit that it’s probably good practice for us.
I haven’t been around kids much and certainly not infants, but I know Michael has. He has a number of nieces and nephews and he just exudes competent, confident ‘Dad vibes’. That's what Crew calls it, anyway.
I know initially Hughes’ calm composure in any situation was what drew Danielle to him—well, that and his eyes and mouth and brain and love of books and dirty talk.. believe me, she’s gone on and on about all of that. But I’ll admit now that the way Hughes is so hard to rattle is one of my favorite things about him, too.
But I was in on the babysitting because seeing Danielle with the baby at our party had made me soft and hard at the same time.
I felt as if my heart was melting in my chest and I could so easily imagine her holding our baby. She seems like a natural and I know our child will grow up believing his or her mother is the sweetest, most loving, supportive woman they’ve ever met. They’ll worship her.
But it had caused a primal reaction as well. I’d thought my reactions to simply knowing she was pregnant, seeing her belly grow and her body change would be the end of it, but it seems every milestone that takes her closer to motherhood makes me want her more and more.
Right now, as I’ve been watching her fasten tiny plastic barrettes into the hair of a sweet little three-year-old, I want to throw Danielle over my shoulder, climb the stairs, throw her on the bed and fuck her senseless.
I wonder if this is ever going to go away.
I’m starting to understand why some families have so many children. Some of us men never quite got past our Neanderthal era.
"Cupcake!" Gracie demands, pulling me back to the moment.
I hand her another dollar. "See if Danielle has any cupcakes in her hair shop."
Gracie carries the money to Danielle. "Cupcake," she tells her.
Danielle pretends to get a cupcake out of the box of hair accessories. She holds her hand out. "Here you go," she tells Gracie with a smile.
But Gracie frowns and points at Danielle’s hand. "Eat cupcake."
Danielle looks at me. "Uh oh."
I look at Michael. "Uh…"
"He better not have any—" She glances at Gracie then spells, "C-u-p-c-a-k-e-s in this house that I don’t know about."
He taps her on top of her head. "I don’t. And if I did, you and Crew would have cleaned them all out by now, just like you did the c-o-o-k-i-e-s Crew supposedly got for me and Nathan."
"I can’t deprive your baby of the sweets he or she so obviously wants," she says, resting her hand on her belly.
Her words work exactly as she anticipated and Michael’s little frown softens at the words ‘your baby.’ God, we’re all so easy for her. We always have been but now that she’s pregnant and wearing our rings, she can do absolutely no wrong.
"Well, something else," I say, lifting my shoulder. "Are you sure she even knows what a c-u-p-c-a-k-e is?"
