Page 46 of That Baby (That Boy 3)
"Maybe. Yes. What?"
"Lori doesn't respect you. To me that's the problem in your marriage. She doesn't even speak nicely to you. And every time she snaps at you it makes me mad."
"Why does it make you mad?"
"Can I quote Phillip on that?"
He laughs. "Sure."
"It's like you've lost your balls, Danny. Why do you let her talk to you that way? Why aren't you speaking up when she does something with Devaney that you don't agree with? You're a born leader. You can talk just about anyone into anything. Why does she make you back down?"
"I don't know. Phillip chewed my ass for not standing up for you when Lori's been mean. "
"You said you would go down with the ship."
He hangs his head. "I just might."
"So maybe you need to fix the ship instead of letting it sink."
"So we're back to the same question. What should I do?"
"If it weren't for Devaney, what would you do?"
"Leave Lori's ass and go fuck Jennifer for days. And if it was as good as I imagine it would be then I'd probably marry her. On the spot."
"Marry her?" This is serious. "At least I wouldn't have to worry about her marrying you for your money," I joke, trying to make light of it.
"Lori also blames me for her not going to medical school. Which pisses me off, because I encouraged her to go. She acts like she made this big sacrifice for me. I told her just the other day she should stop bitching about it and go to school if that's what she wanted. And my connection with Jennifer was different. The way we were together reminded me of you and Phillip. I invited her to come to a Husker game this fall. You'll get to meet her."
"Danny, I'm not sure . . ."
"That it's a good idea?"
"Yeah."
"I can have friends right?"
"Yes, you can have friends. But the fact that you wanted to be more than friends is the part that makes this tricky. It sounds like you need to reconnect with Lori. What if Phillip and I babysit tomorrow night? You can go out for dinner. Talk. Go home. Have uninterrupted sex. Pick Devaney up late or even let her spend the night."
"That's what Jennifer said I needed to do. So, yes, I'll take you up on that."
"Okay, but, can I make another suggestion?"
"Sure."
"I think you need to talk to someone who has been married for a while. Your dad. Mr. Mac. Someone on your team maybe? Someone you can ask if this is normal after having a baby."
"Actually, someone spoke to me about it. Dirk Nathaniel. He and his wife have four kids. He asked how I was doing after mini camp-- said I looked exhausted--and it caught me off guard. I sort of spilled my guts to him. Want to know what his advice was? Get a nanny."
"That's actually not a bad idea, Danny. Maybe if Lori felt like she got a break, she wouldn't be such a bitch."
"That's what he said."
July 28th
Figured it wouldn't hurt.
Phillip and I are watching TV, Angel is upside down asleep on the couch next to us, and Devaney is sleeping in her swing.
Around midnight, Danny texts that they are home. Phillip saw them pull into their garage a couple hours ago, so we're hoping that means they had some adult time.
Phillip takes Angel to her kennel in our bedroom and then lets them in.
Danny and Lori come downstairs, holding hands and looking content, which makes me happy. I was pretty worried when he told me how Jennifer made him feel. He should feel that way about his wife.
"We had a great night," Danny says. "Thank you so much for watching her."
"You look relaxed," I say.
"We are," Lori agrees. "It's been a while since we've had time to just talk."
"And we decided to hire a part-time nanny. That way Lori can get a break each day, even if it's just to go to the grocery store or work out," Danny adds.
"That's awesome. I'm happy for you guys," Phillip says.
"So how was my little monkey?" Danny peeks at his adorable sleeping baby. "Do you hate us for leaving you so long when all she does is cry?"
"She really didn't cry that much," Phillip says.
"She didn't?" Danny's eyes widen in surprise.
"No, she was good. We played patty cake, and she's enthralled with the dog."
Lori sits down and stares at Devaney. "I figured she'd be crying since she usually nurses around this time."
"She actually went to sleep really easily," Phillip tells her.
"She did?" Danny looks perplexed. "What did you do?"
"Um, well, when she started crying, we listened to some music. I figured maybe she was getting sick of baby Beethoven, so we listened to my running playlist. Some rap, dance, pop. We danced around. She's going to be a party girl, I think. She doesn't want to go to sleep and miss out on the fun."
"I still can't believe you got her to go to sleep without eating," Lori says.
"Oh, well, the dancing only kept her happy for about an hour," Phillip says.
"Yeah," I agree. "So around eleven, I fed her."
"How did you do that?" Lori asks. "I didn't give you enough milk."
"I know and I didn't want to interrupt your date, so I gave her some of the sample formula the doctor gave me."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Lori yells. "Why would you do that? You know I'm nursing!"
"I know that, so I made Phillip look it up online," I explain. "We read on a nursing site that it's perfectly okay to supplement with formula at her age. It was just a few ounces and then she conked out."
"How could you do that?!" Lori yells at me like I fed her baby tequila.
"Because she was hungry," I say. "She loved it. Sucked it down, burped, fell right to sleep. It's not a bad thing."
"Are you serious?" Danny asks. "She didn't cry. Not at all?"
"Not one bit," I say. "This is probably a stupid question but could there be something you're eating that's upsetting her tummy?"
Loris eyes bug out. "How dare you even suggest such a thing! Breast milk is always best!"
Phillip interjects. "She's suggesting it because after we fed her the breast milk she cried for an hour. Maybe she was just tired, but she didn't cry after the formula."
"Maybe Jay's onto something here," Danny agrees.
"Oh sure," Lori spews. "Take her side, like always."
"This isn't about taking sides, Lori. Let's just talk to the doctor about it." He sighs and I feel his pain. No matter what he says, she thinks it's wrong.
"You should of called me!" Lori snatches the baby carrier, grabs the diaper bag in a huff, marches toward me, and gets in my face. "You're going to be a horrible mother!"
Phillip immediately steps in front of her. I've never seen him look so angry. His body looms over hers. "You need to take that back and apologize to Jadyn."
"No," Lori says, clutching the carrier and shaking her head.
"All we did for the last six hours was take care of your child, so you could go out. Your baby is asleep and safe. Tell Jadyn thank you or you will never step foot in this house again."
She grits her teeth, turns to me, spits out a thank you, and then marches up the stairs, slamming the door on her way out.
"Go Phillip," I say with a smile.
"Where the fuck does she get off?" Phillip says to Danny. He's still pissed.
Danny shakes his head in embarrassment and gives me a hug. "I'm sorry for what she said, Jay. For what it's worth, I think you're going to be a great mom. And thanks to both of you for letting us have a night out."
Phillip looks Danny in the eye. "You should have been the one to say something to her. Not me. Time to be a man, Danny."
"Yeah, I know. I'll see you guys later."
July 29th
Always playing.
My morning wake up consists of getting jumped on and given sloppy, wet kisses.
"Morning, Angel," I laugh. "You're not supposed to be on the bed. Get down."
"I told her to go find Mommy and she took off," Phillip chuckles, fol
lowing her into the room. He snaps his fingers. "Angel, down."
The dog obediently jumps off the bed.
"How'd you do that?" I ask.
"Do what?"
"Make her get off the bed."
"I just told her to get down."
"Yeah, but you snapped. Then told her."
"Oh, I don't know," he says. "I was just getting her attention."
"Hmm. She never listens to me."
"That's because your voice is high, and she thinks you're playing."
"So if I lower my voice, you think she'll mind me?"
"Yeah, maybe," Phillip says.
