“Morning,” Bodeclared.
Alex groped for his phone, which had fallen out of his pocket sometime during the night, and checked the time. It was just after five in the morning. Alex wasnota morning person, but for Bo, he decided to give mornings ashot.
“You’re not wrong,” Alex mumbled. “Good morning,Bo.”
“Morning!” Bo declaredenthusiastically.
“Hey, hey, let’s use our indoor voices, okay? Your dad is still sleeping.” Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Bo latched onto his leg and made a sound of delight that almost changed Alex’s mind about not likingkids.
Almost.
Bo, of course, was exempt from his dislike of children. Gage made cute babies, even when those babies did things like stick fingers up his nose to wake himup.
“What do you want to do this morning?” Alex asked. “Youhungry?”
“Yum!”
“Hey, bud, indoor voices, okay?” Alex petted Bo’s golden hair, which was just as soft as it looked. “Let’s see what your dad’s got in the fridge,okay?”
He’d learned better than to promise food that wasn’t in the fridge. As it turned out, babiesdidn’thave the attention span of goldfish… not that Bo was a baby anymore. He was at a place in his development where he was starting to look like a real person, and unfortunately, that meant that he was starting to understand what was said to him like a real person, too, but without any societal filters. Talking toddler was like speaking another language—one where a slip of the tongue could result in a temper tantrum of nuclearproportions.
These days, he chose his words carefully to prevent full Bomeltdown.
Alex walked awkwardly over to the fridge, having to swing the leg Bo was attached to when he refused to budge. There were eggs, toast, milk, and cinnamon, so Alex set about making French toast. Before he left, he’d pop over to the nearest grocery store to make sure that Gage had food in the fridge. It was starting to look a littlebare.
“Toast,” Bo declared as Alex freed a few slices of bread from theloaf.
“Nope. Bread. When you put it in the toaster, it comes out as toast. Do you know what we’re going to do withit?”
“Toast?” Bo asked cautiously. He looked up at Alex with Gage’s blue eyes and blinked inconfusion.
Alex shook his head. “Nope… well, kind of, actually, but not what you’re thinking. I’m going to make something called French toast. Have you ever had itbefore?”
“No.”
“Well, I’ll tell you a little secret.” Alex squatted down so he could whisper in Bo’s ear. “It’sFrench.”
Bo giggled maniacally and unlatched from Alex’s leg. He ran over and hid behind the side of the fridge, presumably to make sure the secret stayed hidden. Alex didn’t mind. As long as he didn’t go stick his finger up Gage’s nose or put himself in danger, Alex didn’t care what Bo got upto.
Which reminded him. “Hey, Bo, come here for asec.”
Bo peeked out from around the fridge. He giggled. It looked like he wasn’t planning on abandoning his post any timesoon.
With a sigh, Alex plucked a hand wipe from the dispenser by the sink and made his way over to Bo. “You know, mister, you can be a real pain in the patoot sometimes… and I shouldknow.”
Bo blinked up at him. “Poot.”
“Yup. Right in the patoot.” Alex cleaned Bo’s hands, paying particular attention to his fingers, then disposed of the wipe, washed his own hands, and returned to preparing French toast. Soon enough, the first few pieces were sizzling in the frying pan. Sweat beaded on Alex’s brow, and he glanced at the stove control dial to see if he’d turned the heat up too high onaccident.
He hadn’t. It sat a notch above medium heat, which was more than enough for what he was doing. Maybe it was going to be a hot day out, and the temperatures were on the rise. March weather wasunpredictable.
Alex fanned his sleep shirt in an attempt to cool himself down. He was pretty sure that Gage’s air conditioner had broken last summer, and the landlord had never replaced it. He’d look into buying Gage a freestanding model. If it was March and already this hot in the rental unit, he could only imagine what July and August would belike.
“I thought I smelled somethinggood.”
Alex looked over his shoulder to find Gage standing in the kitchen doorway. Bo jumped out from where he’d been hiding and ran for Gage at full speed, latching onto his leg. “Daddy!”
“Hey, baby. You sleep well?” Gage smoothed back Bo’shair.
