They’d just sat down, Oliver in a booster that was strapped to a chair, when his phone started blowing up. “Sorry. Usually I wouldn’t have my phone at the table, but that’s the family group chat and there’s no reason why they should all be on right now.”
She shrugged, that playful smile flirting with her lips again. “No problem.”
That’s when he realized hers was vibrating, too, almost in time with his, and he unlocked his screen to find a ton of messages that seemed to have come throughafterSiobhan posted a video link. He clicked on it and was treated to watching Oliver sitting up in bed and yelling for him. Then it sounded like a tornado swept through the downstairs, destroying everything in its wake—and oops, he hadn’t meant to say that word out loud—before he stumbled into the camera frame. And it ended with his cute son telling him he was awake.
Realization struck that she’d taken so long upstairs because she’d figured out how to rewind the video and then captured the playback with her own phone. He lowered his phone, staring at his betrayer. “What did you do? How are you in the family group chat?”
Siobhan shrugged one shoulder, a sly smile curving her lips as she scrolled. “It’s a new one with basically just your immediate family, so we can share Oliver updates. Like waking up for the first time in Daddy’s house.”
Brian opened a video message and immediately regretted it as he watched a video—taken from the doorbell camera at the campground—of Rob watching the video and then laughing so hard he dropped his phone and had to start it all over again.
He put his hand over his heart and sighed. “I can’t believe you would do this to me. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
She snickered. “Oliver has some catching up to do when it comes to being a Kowalski. He’s still little, but I can give him a head start.”
He laughed. “Brutal.”
“Yeah, I know. Kowalskis can hold a grudge forever. Blah, blah, blah.” She pointed her finger at him. “Be honest. How long would it have been beforeyousent the video to the family group chat?”
He tried to scowl, but he couldn’t hold it and chuckled. “I would at least have finished eating my breakfast in peace first.”
Scrambled eggs weren’t great cold, so they both silenced their phones and concentrated on breakfast. Once she realized toddlers weren’t the cleanest of eaters, Stella fell even more in love with the small human. Unfortunately, Oliver figured out very quickly that the dog loved snatching up dropped bits of food and it became a game. Siobhan had to break out the mom voice to put an end to it.
“So that’s a thing,” Siobhan said once Oliver went back to munching on his toast. “I know you’re going to want everything to be happy and fun because you’re getting to know each other and you want him to love you, but youwillcreate a monster if you don’t set boundaries. There will be times you have to tell him no. He might cry. He might pitch a fit and need to sit quietly on his bed for a few minutes. But a no has to be a no, and he will still love you. I promise.”
“Okay.” He wasn’t looking forward to that. “I know there’s going to be a learning curve, but I have way too much respect for you to put us in a fun parent versus the stern parent situation with him.”
Once they were finished, Oliver went back to hanging out in the dog bed with Stella, and Brian frowned. “Should I get one of those little stuffed couches for him? A beanbag? A little rocking chair?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Don’t bother. He’llstill hang out on the dog bed. That’s money better spent on lint rollers.”
They were laughing together as they cleared the table, and he started filling the sink with hot, soapy water. He imagined starting every day this way—or at the least the weekends—and smiled as he dropped the plates and silverware into the water and turned off the faucet.
“That appointment’s only like ten days away,” Siobhan said, sounding serious again. “Should we just meet there?”
“It would probably be easiest because we can’t meet at your place without you driving north and then turning around and going back into the city. But maybe we can take Oliver out after to celebrate?”
“That sounds great.” She handed him the sponge she’d used to wipe the table down. “I’ll be so happy when it’s done, not just because we’ll be settled with regard to Oliver, but I can’t keep taking time off of work. Just the week of the wedding was a big ask because it was short notice, and since then, I’ve had to take multiple days and half days off, plus even when I’m there, I’ve had a lot on my mind. Obviously. But I’m going to lose my job if I don’t get it together.”
“You know, you and Oliver could move in here.”
The words fell out of his mouth and they felt so natural to him, but Siobhan stared at him for a long moment as his heart pounded in his chest. “What?”
“If you think about it, it makes sense.”
“It makesnosense.”
Panic welled up in Brian’s chest. He was blowing this. “You can get out of the city. Oliver will have a yard, and Stella. And you said you hate your job and the commute. You could find a job you want around here, and the childcare is so much less expensive. And he’d have both of his parents.”
“Stop talking.”
He stopped talking. Siobhan was so still, except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he heard Stella’s nails on the floor and then Oliver giggling. Siobhan’s expression gave him nothing and the blankness on her face made him realize what a terrible error he’d made.
“I think you have everything under control here,” she said quietly. “I’m going to go talk to Oliver and explain again that he’s sleeping here, and then I’m hitting the road.”
He sucked in a breath, his brow furrowing. “You’re not staying?”
“I don’t think so.” She inhaled sharply through her nose, her lips pinched together. “Brian, Oliver doesn’t come with a ready-made family. He’s your son. You’re going to spend time with him and have a hand in raising him. But us? Our job is to co-parent him and what we did last night makes that messy and we absolutely shouldn’t have done it. And I’m going to go home so it doesn’t happen again.”
