Knowing her, she’ll be here within thirty minutes, breaking every speed limit to get here. Hearing she is a great-grandmother? Yeah, she’ll be banging down the door within the hour.
“Are you ready to meet your great-grandma?” I ask Caleb.
He gnaws on his fist in response. I don’t know how much time has passed since he was put in my arms, but he’s happy. A smile sits on his face and fuck, he really is cute.
“Daddy’s here!”
Marcus waltzes through the front door with parts of a crib in his arms. Jasper and Dax are behind him, laden down with bags upon bags.
“I grabbed everything. I figured we can take what he doesn’t need home with us.”
“You’re the best,” Harper tells him.
It’s then I notice a smell starting to infiltrate my senses. “Uhh, guys? He’s making a face.”
Harper smiles at me. “Marcus will show you how to change a diaper, and I’ll have the guys start setting up his room.”
“A diaper? Do we even have those?”
“Same day delivery!” Harper shouts behind her. “Everything you need will be here soon.”
“C’mon, buddy. Time to get elbow deep in parenthood.”
Marcus walks me through each step of what he does, and by the time he’s peeling open the diaper, I think I’m going to be sick. Miss Mitchell had a pack of diapers she left. If only she’d left instructions on how to raise a baby.
“Oh my God.” I gag. “How can something so small smell like this?”
Marcus laughs. Asshole. “Get used to it. Now, grab some wipes and clean him up.”
I’m gentle as I wipe up the mess he made. My face is buried in my shoulder as I do my best not to get it on my hands. It’s the most disgusting thing I’ll ever do. I pull out wipe after wipe, dropping the used ones in the messy diaper.
“One will do.”
“Excuse me if I’ve never done this before.”
He shrugs. “You’ll be doing it in your sleep in no time.”
Marcus hands me the fresh diaper and I slide it under Caleb. Opening the tabs, I fasten it around him. “Is that good?”
Marcus nods. “Nice job. I’m going to go check on the guys, but deep breaths. You’ve got this. We’re all here for you.”
“Thanks.”
I choke back the emotion that’s clogging my throat. That’s the first time anyone all day has said I can do this. It shouldn’t mean as much to me as it does.
Whenever I make a decision, I jump in with both feet. It’s how I’ve always lived my life. As soon as Harper told me he would go into the system, I made up my mind.
Honestly, I’m surprised people didn’t try to talk me out of it because I’m not exactly the best father figure. Hell, I’m not even the best uncle material.
“Everyone out of the way.” The front door bangs open, startling the baby in my arms. Great. More noise to add to the chaos of this day. This time, by someone much,mucholder than Caleb.
“Hi, Gran.”
Fierce brown eyes bore into me. This is what I was expecting from her. “Don’t you ‘Hi, Gran’ me, young man. You have a baby and you don’t bother telling me?”
“Gran, you found out about an hour after me. It’s not like I was hiding this from you.”
She waves me off. Her short, cropped gray hair is tucked beneath a hat. Grabbing Caleb from my hold, she coos at him. “We will deal with your father later, you sweet boy. I’m your great-grandmother, but you can call me Gran.”
