“It’s okay.” I handed him back to Jake. “Thanks for letting me enjoy him for a while. You have a beautiful son, Jake.”
Jake smiled brightly. Then, as if he realized something, he added, “Oh, by the way, I’m coming back to work next month. So Finn’s gonna need a babysitter for the times that Griffin and I are both at work. Obviously, this won’t work if you’re also on a shift, but my offer still stands.”
He winked at me.
“Oh, so you’re officially relieving Uncle Skylar of babysitting duty?” Skylar asked with a laugh.
Jake elbowed him. “You’re always a good first alternate.”
“You would really let me?” I asked, hope bubbling in my chest.
Jake nodded. “Of course. I already know you’re a good guy, since Skylar talks about you all the damn time.”
“Oh, I do not,” Skylar complained, crossing his arms.
“Uh, yeah you do. You’re like Felix’s mother hen.”
Skylar rolled his eyes but didn’t protest.
“And you live close by, right?” Jake asked.
My heart raced with excitement. “Yes. My boyfriend Elijah and I are right down Main street, in the big white townhouse.”
“Great. Then it’s settled.” He winked. “As long as you’re not gonna steal my baby for real, that is.”
I blushed in embarrassment. “No! I swear I was just joking.”
Jake laughed. “I know.”
Finn slapped his hands on the table now, tossing a menu around and saying made-up words.
“I think he wants a, uh--” He peered over to view whatever his son was pointing at. “The Cafe Americano with the dash of liquor.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll get fired if I serve that to an infant,” Skylar mused.
Jake shook his head. “Wow, the customer service here is horrible.”
We continued talking and laughing for a bit before Finn started fussing and Jake decided to get up. He strapped his son back to the harness on his chest and headed for the door.
“In you go, big guy.”
“So you really came in and didn’t order anything?” Skylar asked, crossing his arms. “So rude, Jake.”
“Hey, I came all this way to let you know I’m off paternity leave soon! Isn’t that good enough? Geez, I thought you’d be excited.” Then he glanced at me with a grin. “Oh, and I wanted to meet Felix, too. I’ve been so busy with the baby and Griff and the house and everything that it took me this long to finally show up.”
I blinked. Jake wanted to meetme? I wasn’t anybody special.
I smiled shyly. “I appreciate it. I’m glad I got to meet you, too.”
“I’m serious about that offer, by the way,” he added. “They really weren’t kidding when they said it takes a village to raise a child. This little monkey is more trouble than my cat and her litter of kittens were . . . Oh, yeah, Kaden?”
Kaden, who was standing by the front kiosk, perked up. “Yeah?”
“Speaking of Trouble, how’s he doing?” He turned to Skylar. “And Demon, too. Are they both misbehaving?”
I smiled thinking about the two cats at Skylar and Kaden’s place, the orange brother and black sister. I still didn’t really understand why they had such strange names - maybe it was some kind of inside joke.
But as the three of them talked about their family of cats, my eyes wandered to Finn instead. He’d fallen asleep with his chubby cheek pressed to Jake’s chest, totally oblivious to the world around him. The sight pulled my heartstrings so powerfully that I almost started crying again, but I managed to hold the tears back.
Even if I couldn’t bear children of my own, Elijah and I would find another way. I promised myself that someway, somehow, wewouldstart a family.
