I dip my head back into our bedroom. “Is there a bottle in the fridge?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then we’re good.”
“But I—”
“Duchess, I don’t care if you go back to sleep or get ready for your call, but I’ve got this. Give Mommy a kiss, little monster.”
I walk back over to Elizabeth and lean in with Knox tucked under my arm like a football. She gives him a sleepy kiss on his mouth.
“Love you, peanut.”
Turns out that allowing him within a few feet of his mother was a bad idea because our new little master manipulator cries as soon as I pull him away.
“Give him here,” she commands.
Elizabeth holds her arms out for me to hand him over.
“No.”
2
ROMAN
“Just give him here, Roman.” She makes the “gimme” sign with her hands. “Aww, peanut, don’t cry. Maybe I should just nurse him instead.”
I see the tears of mama guilt swell in Elizabeth’s eyes.
This shit has got to stop.
“Duchess, babies cry, especially this one. It’s what they do. He’ll stop once I give him the bottle.”
“I don’t think it’s just that he’s hungry. He misses me. I bet it’s because I don’t spend enough time with him.”
Withhim? Shit, she doesn’t spend enough time with me, but this isn’t the time for that conversation.
“I am familiar with having a shitty mother and you are not that. You are a fantastic mom who runs her own business, which means you’re busy, not negligent. We will figure it out and Knox will be fine. He’s got the both of us.”
I rub my hand down the front of Knox’s face to wipe the tears and snot away and he giggles. I think Elizabeth and I have made the happiest or craziest boy on the planet. He flips from crying to laughing in a fraction of a second.
“See, he’s fine.”
Elizabeth smiles and I feel her sense of relief deep in my chest. It’s my job to protect her in every way, physically and emotionally, so when I’ve done my job right I feel a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I think the responsibility of taking care of her and Knox are the only two reasons I get up in the morning; like they’re the only two things that stop me from becoming my baser self and breaking a man’s neck when somebody inevitably pisses me off. They are my life and keep me grounded and motivated. Everything I do now, I do for them.
“So what have you decided to do, beautiful?” I ask her.
“I know it’s a Saturday, but I’m going to take the call.”
“So go brush your teeth, take a shower, then handle your call. Me and the little monster are going to have a long conversation about how Cookie Monster handled Elmo like a boss in the last episode we watched.”
“What are you talking about, crazy man?”
“It was a good character building episode. Cookie Monster is the only Muppet that is always sure of what he wants. A monster after my own heart. He wants cookies and that’s it. If you’re not talking shit about cookies, then he isn’t interested.”
Elizabeth lets out a laugh at my commentary, a genuine laugh, and my dick damn near gets hard as a rock as I watch her full tits bounce in her tiny, white tank top. It’s been forever since I’ve been able to make love to my girl the way she really likes it—hard and nasty. That’s because there are a myriad of time constraints, two leaky breasts, and one crying baby that gets in the way all the damn time.
I try to remember my stepmother’s words at times like this, “this too shall pass” but right now Juliette’s words don’t hold any comfort for me. All I can hear is the annoying voice in my head whenever I take a whiff of Elizabeth, much less look at her.
