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Nikki would be here any minute to drop Colin off, and I’d rather not introduce her to my grandmother. For some reason, she’d never approved of my girlfriends, much less my exes.
While I waited, I put on coffee and hauled out Colin’s stuff from the hallway closet. At ten months old, he was a fast little shit, crawling and scooting all over the place. He wasn’t walking yet, but he could stand fine, and he liked to headbang to Uncle Roe’s music.
I couldn’t fucking lie. As overwhelming as it’d been to first come to grips with becoming a dad, and then experiencing the first few months with a newborn…I’d found a love that surpassed all others, that couldn’t be expressed with words, and that filled me with life. Roe had noticed the changes first. How I’d almost become someone else, and I guessed I saw it now too.
I may have been an unengaging boyfriend, but I fucking loved being my kid’s dad.
To be honest, it was a little bit Roe too. No matter how small our apartment was, I was in a good place in life. I’d come out to LA with nervous hopes, and now I had a son and a best friend. Not too shabby. Work was picking up too. Our hopes had morphed into realistic goals.
I tossed some of Colin’s toys on the couch, a couple on the floor, and placed his second favorite blanket on the coffee table. He loved to reach for stuff, and the coffee table was essentially his place to shine. He used it to steady himself when he bounced and eyed the next destination to explore.
When the coffee was ready, I poured myself a mug and double-checked the fridge. Weaning the boy off formula and breast milk had forced me to learn some basic cooking, but he made it easy for me. Everything was overcooked, and then I just threw it all in a blender.
He had no complaints.
Maybe I wouldn’t have to buy formula again. He was down to one bottle a day, and I’d picked up a big box at Costco last time.
The doorbell finally rang, and I stalked out of the kitchenette and toward the entryway around the corner. I smiled as I heard Colin babbling on the other side of the door.
And there he was.
“Bam-ba-ba-bam!”
I grinned and reached out when he did the same. “How’s my bear? Huh? Good to see Daddy?”
He laughed and pushed my cheeks together.
“Is Daddy as adorable as you now?” I snarled playfully and smooched his chubby face.
Nikki smiled indulgently and handed over Colin’s diaper bag. “Brace yourself for a clingy boy. I think he’s entered the separation anxiety phase.”
Oof. We’d read about that.
“Good to know.” I positioned Colin on my hip, dropped the diaper bag on the floor, and accepted the stroller next. She’d folded it together already. “You want coffee?”
“I’m afraid I gotta run. I have work.” She closed the distance between us and pressed kisses to Colin’s cheeks. “You be good for Daddy now, sweetie. I love you so much.”
I smiled as he smooched her back and gave her the cute growling sound that’d earned him my nickname for him.
Then she took a step back and righted her purse over her shoulder. “By the way, do you think we can get together soon and record more bedtime stories?”
“Yeah, of course.” That was a good plan. I was running low too.
The new iPad had released the day after my birthday this year, so I’d splurged. It was our way to stay connected with Colin when it wasn’t our week. We’d filmed each other reading bedtime stories, so Colin would get story time with Mama on the iPad this week.
“When did he eat?” I lifted him up and gave his butt a sniff. No need to change yet, at least.
“He’s good till dinner,” she answered.
“Wo-wa-bam!” Colin babbled.
“I’m in total agreement with you, buddy.” I nodded firmly.
Nikki laughed softly and stepped out into the hall. “I’ll go before my own separation anxiety kicks in.” Yeah, that one was fucking real. I knew the feeling. “We’ll talk, Jake. Bye, you two.”
“Definitely. Have a good one, hon. Wave to Mama, Bear.”
He did like to wave.
Before long, it was just the two of us, and we spent the next hour playing on the living room floor. I plugged the iPad into a charger, too, and read Nikki’s notes for the week. No major developments, though we tended to call each other for those. He’d gotten fussy about mashed bananas, but that could be a fluke, according to Nikki. We’d just have to see.
“Rawr!”
I chuckled and folded an arm under my head as he climbed on top of me and growled.
It was possible I’d fallen asleep right here on the floor a couple times.
Every now and then, he’d tune in to the music playing on the stereo—kept fairly low so it wouldn’t wake up my grandmother—and that was when he started bouncing and bobbing his head.
