Hold (Gentry Boys, #5)(36)
I put my finger to my lips.
Truly set her purse down and shut the door. “Mia?” she mouthed.
I shook my head.
Jacob might have received some subconscious message that we were discussing his mother because he jerked, opened his eyes and then let out a wail.
“Hey now,” I soothed, moving him to my shoulder, a move he thanked me for by opening his mouth and unloading a few ounces of curdled baby formula.
“Stay right there,” fussed Truly, running to the kitchen for some paper towels.
The baby was in a full state of unhappiness. He cried and unleashed more liquid from his mouth while I tried to avoid getting the brunt of the spray.
Truly held out her arms to take Jacob and I handed him right over.
“Oh honey,” she cried, not even caring that her shoulder was getting covered with baby vomit. “Shush, sweetheart. Auntie Tru is here.”
While I mopped up the vomit that had landed on my shirt and started seeing to the mess on the couch, Truly patted the baby’s back and he let out a colossal belch.
“Did you feed him?” Truly asked me.
I balled the wet paper towels together. “Yeah, I fed him,” I said, pointing to the empty bottle that was still sitting on the coffee table. “He sucked back that whole damn thing and then passed out.”
“And you burped him?”
Fuck.
“Uh, no.”
It had been on her list of very pointed instructions but I hadn’t remembered.
“It’s all right,” whispered Truly and I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or to the baby.
As I got up to toss all the dirty paper towels in the garbage, I felt a yawn coming on. It seemed I’d been awake for two days instead of less than four hours.
“Aren’t you supposed to meet Cord?” called Truly.
I found her already in full control of the situation, getting Jacob all cleaned up and changed. I glanced at my watch.
“I can stay if you need me.”
She pushed her hair out of her face and smiled up at me. “Go. We’re fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t too broken up about getting outside where there wasn’t any puke or shit that was calling my name. I gave my wife a kiss, tickled Jacob under his chin and ran out of there.
As I navigated the streets of Tempe I wondered how the hell my truck had come to smell like vomit and baby powder. Jacob hadn’t even been in here. I shook my head and figured my senses were just working in overdrive. I wondered what Cord would think of the whole thing. I turned into the parking lot of Scratch and cut the engine, figuring I would find out in just a few minutes.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHASE
Camp was only a half-day today but I’d completely forgotten until Bastian came around and told me to wrap up the mixed media project the kids were working on.
“Let’s pack it in,” I announced to the busy room. “You know the drill. Materials stored in the cabinet and please leave the place how you found it. We’ll pick it back up on Monday.”
“No we won’t,” called a voice from the back.
I closed the lid on some red paint. “You got better plans, Arun?”
“Course I do, Mr. Gentry. Gonna go watch fireworks at Tempe Town Lake and eat six pounds of red meat.”
“Ah, Fourth of July. I forgot.”
Indeed I had also forgotten the reason for the camp’s half day. It was the kickoff to a three-day weekend honoring the unique American holiday famous for noise, flashing lights and artery-choking junk food.
The kids were full of restless energy, eager to spill out into the searing Phoenix heat and start the weekend. I didn’t scold them when they threw their materials haphazardly into the cabinet and floated out of there. I had plenty of time to rearrange it all.
Bastian poked his head inside the room as I was organizing the shelves.
“You heading out soon, Chase?”
I didn’t turn around. “Few minutes.”
“Something wrong?”
I forced myself to smile and waved him away. “Nah, everything’s great. You have a good weekend.”
Bastian nodded. “You too, man. We’ll be back on Tuesday. We’ll meet here as usual and then head over to the Science Center.”
“Sounds good.”
Once Bastian had retreated I returned to my cabinet organization project. The long afternoon loomed ahead but I couldn’t think of a damn thing worth doing. Steph had told me this morning that she expected she’d be stuck at work well into the evening. Some kind of quarterly budget crap. We’d said our stiff goodbyes and then went our separate ways for the day. I knew by the time she got home tonight she’d be too weary to talk, which might not be a bad thing because it seemed every serious discussion as of late had a way of going south. It didn’t take much mind scrolling to recall the moment everything changed.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Jesus, Chase. Yes, I’m sure.”
“Well okay then, we’ll get married.”
It was not at all how I pictured things would go when I proposed to Stephanie. Actually I’d never come up with a solid plan for how the grand event would happen but it should have been a damn bit better than blurting out my intentions on the futon with my spent dick hanging out of my pants.