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Reaching into the bed, I picked up Jagger. “Hey, little man,” I said, then yawned. “Baby Doll is getting the bottle. It’s okay.”
When he continued to wail, I stood up with him and did that swaying thing that I’d seen Genesis do with him. That seemed to work. He stopped crying, and his eyes went wide. Maybe I was swaying too hard. I slowed it down, and then he started crying again. Okay, hard it is.
“Here I am,” Genesis said as she walked back into the room. I reached for the bottle, and she frowned. “It’s my feeding time.”
I nodded toward the door. “You have company. I’ll handle it.”
I tried to take the bottle, and she snatched it back.
“I’ll do it. Bowie is asleep. Go back to bed.”
I wanted to argue with her, but the more time she spent out of that bed with Bowie, the better. She held her arms out for Jagger. I moved to ease him into her hold when a shadow appeared at the door. I looked over Genesis’s head to see Bowie standing there. He wasn’t happy. I didn’t give a shit. He could go home.
Genesis raised her eyes to me when I didn’t hand over Jagger.
“Bowie,” I said simply, then tilted my head in the direction of the door.
She turned to see him standing there, looking pissed off. “Hey, it’s my feeding time. I’ll be back to the room soon.”
Bowie didn’t say anything. Genesis reached for Jagger again, and I figured, what the hell? She wanted him, and if she was going to choose him over Bowie, I couldn’t stop her. This wasn’t my fault.
“Hey, buddy,” she cooed. “I’m gonna feed you.”
I watched her as she put the nipple in his mouth, then glanced back at Bowie, who hadn’t moved. His eyes locked on her feeding my son.
“Let’s go to the living room,” she told him then.
Bowie stepped back and let her walk out of the room, and I expected him to follow her. He didn’t. Instead, he watched her walk away, then finally looked back at me.
“He’s your kid,” Bowie said accusingly.
“Yeah, he is. Glad you figured that one out,” I replied sarcastically.
I watched as he clenched his teeth.
“Do you always dress like that in front of her at night?” he asked.
I was in my boxers. Only my boxers. I wanted to say, I sleep with her, dressed like this at night, but I wasn’t about to hurt her that way.
“Do you have a problem with it?” I asked him. “She’s never complained.”
He stayed there, glaring at me for a moment longer, then spun around and stormed back to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
I smirked as I stared at it. He felt threatened. Good. Maybe he’d go back to where he had come from and leave us alone.
Twenty
Genesis
“It’s been over two weeks since he brought home the kid, Gen. I want to see you, but I don’t want to stay in the house with a baby. I want time alone with you. Can’t Kye stay here alone with his kid and you stay with me at a hotel?”
The edge in Bowie’s voice made me wince. Last night had been rough. Jagger woke up more than usual, and I knew Bowie hadn’t gotten much sleep either. My getting up and down had hindered his sleep. But I didn’t want to talk about this in front of Jagger.
Kye had gone to the store to get more formula, diapers, and some items I needed for a couple of other recipes I wanted to try. The moment he’d stepped out of the door, Bowie had started in on me about last night. He hadn’t liked my getting up to help with Jagger, which I didn’t understand at all. I looked at Jagger, watching me from the bouncy seat that had been dropped off this morning early by one of Kye’s friends. Maddie Hughes had sent it over for us to use, along with a baby monitor, a swing, and a bottle sterilizer.
Bowie was waiting for me to respond, but what did I say? How was I supposed to just leave them here? Jagger was still waking up three times a night to eat most of the time. Last night, he’d woken up five times. Bowie had witnessed it last night, and he had to have seen how hard that would be on one person. Kye was great with Jagger, but the idea of him having to do it all seemed impossible.
“I don’t know,” I finally replied. “That is asking a lot.” More than I was willing to agree to.
“Why don’t you know? You’re aware this is his kid. Not yours. Is he even looking for parents for the kid? Every time we’ve talked lately, you two seem to be fully involved in playing house. And now that I am here to see it, that is exactly what it looks like. I feel like the odd guy out. It’s like you have a family that I’m not a part of. And you’re my fiancée. Mine.”
