“Thank you, Daddy!” Addie squealed as she wrapped her arms around my legs and rocked back and forth on her rain-booted feet. With that, she grabbed my hand and began marching down the street toward home.
A little over half an hour later, we were headed back toward the downtown of Highland Falls as Addie told me her latest version of the Little People stories. Jake had started them when he and Ivy began dating. Apparently they were stories his parents had told him and his siblings. Addie loved to create her own and share them with me. I adored her imagination; it was something to behold. Sometimes I thought of my own parents and how little they’d seemed to care about what I was thinking or dreaming up as a kid. After having Addie, I recognized there was something wrong with them, not me. How they didn’t appreciate the beauty of parenting would never cease to astound me.
Addie walked down the sidewalk, singing the sound of the Little People’s drums. “Da da dum dum du, da da dum dum dum… And you know what they were, Daddy?”
I knew my part here after a year and a half of stories. “They were bug-eyed?”
“Yes!” Addie squealed. “I saw them walking into the basement through the missing brick, with their music instruments and everything.” Jazz hands accompanied that last bit.
“Interesting. What were they doing in our house?” I asked, curious where she was going to take this.
“Daddy.” Addie gave me a serious look and waved me closer. “They were checking out if you would be a good home for a doggy.”
Well, shit. It had been several months since Addie had been on her last kick of telling me I needed a pup. I’d thought she might have forgotten about it.
“Sweetheart, we’ve talked about this. I travel one weekend every month and then to Africa at least once a year. I’m not sure my house is the best for a puppy.” My inner eight-year-old was shouting at me that Addie was right. Lord knows I was never allowed to have a pet when I was young.
“Well, Daddy, the Little People told me they thought you were ready.” And before I could put forth a counterargument, she saw the man of the hour. “Chief!”
I laughed and watched the back of her head as she ran up the drive to Jake and Ivy’s backyard. She was through the gate and racing the lab around the fenced-in perimeter within seconds. I shook my head and headed in the back door.
Jake Spencer looked up from his spot in front of the open fridge. “Hey man, beer?”
I nodded, and he passed over one of his brewery’s cans, Black Hole Sun, which was a great IPA.
“Glad you texted.” Jake pulled out a chair and sat at the farmhouse table in their kitchen. “Chief will be thrilled, and God knows we can always use Addie to wear the old guy out and give him an earlier bedtime. Sometimes that crazy pup wants to go on a walk at eleven p.m. But when he and Addie hang, he’s ready to head to dreamland by ten at the latest.”
I gave him a second glance and took note of the shadows under his eyes. I did some mental calculations as to Lorelai’s age and the little I knew about babies as I moved to sit down with him. “Lorelai not sleeping through the night yet for you?” I cracked open the beer and took a sip.
He shook his head.
“Is that typical?” I felt like a colossal idiot for not knowing the answer to that question when I had an almost-six-year-old daughter, but that was my reality and Jake was well aware of it.
“Ivy says the average baby doesn’t sleep through the night until six months, which isn’t till June, so time will tell.” A noisecaught his attention, and he looked toward the front of the house. “Speaking of…”
I followed his smile and saw Ivy walking in with their baby in a sling strapped to her chest. Baby Lorelai’s dark hair just poked out, but she was clearly snoozing.
Jake quickly moved to Ivy and kissed her cheek, then ran his hand over Lorelai’s head and back before the two of them headed back to the table. I was struck by the connection between them, just as I had been the first time I’d met Jake a year and a half ago.
Others struggled to understand how I could be around my ex and her husband and not be jealous. What Ivy and I knew and couldn’t seem to explain was that we were friends first, and even though that dynamic changed for a bit, our friendship was what felt right. It was like our brief romance was trying on a pair of pants that didn’t fit. They might look good, but you knew you didn’t want to wear them often.
I wanted Ivy in my life as a friend—she was my oldest one at this point and for sure my most loyal. I’d never regret our relationship, and I knew she felt the same because Addie came out of it. And I was damn grateful that Jake understood and had become someone I could turn to as well.
“Hey Noah.” Ivy turned toward me and kissed my cheek before sliding into the chair next to me. “Ads just had to see Chief, did she?”
I shook my head and gave her a rueful smile. “You know our girl. And now she’s on me to get a dog of my own. Says the Little People have spoken.”
“Oops, sorry,” Jake murmured. “Not that I told her to hit you up for a pup, just introduced the stories.”
“Not your fault, man.” I looked over my friend, who had matching shadows under her eyes. “You all want me to take Lorelai for a bit tonight when Addie and I go? She was fine lastmonth at my place. Well, at least she was for a few hours.” Man alive. I remembered when the baby realized Ivy wasn’t there. She sure did have a set of lungs for a tiny one, but I’d been happy to babysit for them.
Ivy gave me a tired smile. “You are too kind. And no, we’ll make it. Last night was just a rough one—she’s teething and pissed about it. However, we’ve had a brainstorm and were just talking about having dinner at the brewery because she sleeps better when we’re in noisy spaces before bed. Harder for her to snooze through dinner, you know? You and Ads want to join us?”
Hmm, the brewery hadn’t been my plan for dinner, but some time out with friends sounded great. “Let me ask her, and we’ll go from there. She planned on English muffin pizzas.”
“With American cheese for jack-o’-lanterns?” Jake was aware of Addie’s favorites. Hell, once I’d come back, he’d taught me everything he learned about my own kid. Seeing her less than ten times by the age of four hadn’t allowed me to really gain any knowledge of my own. Now, though, I’d become an expert.
“You know it.” I headed to the back door and opened it, sticking my head out to yell at Addie. She and Chief were having a conversation over by a swing set that Drew, Jake, and I had spent hours, and I do mean hours, putting together last fall. “Ads, how about we switch to Homestead for dinner with Momma, Daddy, and me?”
