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I wasn’t sure what genes he got from me. As soon as I went to slip Devin’s picture into the family album, I noticed the resemblance to Damon. Actually, they looked identical when I compared their baby pictures. Fingers crossed he possessed my brains, even though Damon was the genius techie kid.
“Karly,” Alexis yelled from the nursery. “Devin smells again.”
I stood up from the bed and made my way to the nursery. It was a quaint room, and not knowing the sex, we had decorated in blue and pink. We’d covered both options, and it made choosing colors a hell of a lot easier than trying to match weird yellows or greens.
Alexis would grow up to be “the bestest big sister in the whole world.” She adored Devin and always made sure to alert me if he wanted anything. What a difference almost a year and a change in schools had made in her. Now a first grader, she was so mature. Clara had been on the shelf without an opinion for about three months, but when I cleaned Alexis’s room, she still gave me that same stitchy smile we’d all grown so fond of.
“How come you never shout out for Dada to do this?” Alexis asked curiously.
“He gets so busy!” I said.
“I’m grown up and in first grade. I’m not a kid anymore,” she replied, holding her nose. “I reckon Dada should do poo too!”
I removed Devin’s diaper. Alexis pushed her hand harder against her nose and mouth. She handed me a plastic bag and a packet of baby wipes. Then she stepped back out of harm’s way. Eventually, she pulled her hand away from her face.
“Just wait until you do this,” I commented.
“No way! He smells bad.”
“You were the same when you were Devin’s age,” I said. “We all go through the same thing. We all stink.”
“Karly, I’m never having children when I grow up.” Her insistence was too funny. I giggled at her cuteness. “It’s just awful.”
“I need a clean diaper now.”
Alexis opened the backpack and pulled out a clean diaper and handed it to me. She looked at Devin’s face. He waved his arms and legs when he saw her.
“Devin, stop smelling.” After a few goos and gaas, Alexis was satisfied he understood what she meant.
After being called by Alexis, I noticed Damon wasn’t upstairs, and it seemed quiet downstairs. I buttoned Devin’s romper suit and picked him up. I put him over my shoulder and rocked him a few times before he started to nap again.
“Where’s your daddy?” I asked Alexis.
“He went out.”
“Out where?”
“He said not to say anything apart from that he’s gone out.” Alexis picked up the baby mat and folded it. She placed the baby wipes and cream back into the bag. She pointed to the plastic carry bag on the floor, the one containing the soiled diaper. “That’s your job.”
I chuckled. Alexis was so determined at such a young age. God help us when she was the back end of being a teenager. Devin slumped on my shoulder. I laid him in his cot and started his musical mobile. Alexis stood gripping the bars like a small prisoner in jail. She peered through and gazed at her little brother. We washed up and grabbed the baby monitor. We left the door to the nursery slightly ajar as we walked along the upstairs hallway.
“We better find out where your dad is, don’t you think?” I asked.
Alexis agreed. I heard the door close downstairs and the patter of Damon’s shoes on the tiled floor. With two thuds, his shoes hit the floor, and he called up to us from the living room.
“We found him, and we never looked,” Alexis said. She pulled on my fingers and dragged me into her bedroom. “Look, I’ve made Devin a book.”
Alexis sat me on the large play mat by her window. I crossed my legs, and she started to open the book she’d made for her little brother. “What does Clara think of Devin?” I asked.
“Do you want to know a secret?” Alexis asked.
“I do. Tell me,” I replied.
“Clara’s only a doll. She isn’t real, you know.” She gave a big smile. “Devin won’t play with dolls, will he?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Probably not. He’ll be into soldiers and aliens, things like that.”
After we looked through her special Devin book, Alexis said she had nothing he might want to play with. They would have to buy some new toys for him.
“Shall we go and see your dad and ask him?”
“Yeah!” Alexis stood and offered me her hand.
She groaned as she pulled on me as hard as she could. We held hands and exited her bedroom. The baby monitor now emitted little gurgles and strange noises. Devin was pleasantly amusing himself or sleeping and dreaming of something wonderful.
