Page 98 of Rome
“She’s slobbering all over everything, Daddy. She even got it on my pillow a few minutes ago,” Ethan told him disgustedly.
He was right. I’d put Ev down in the middle of his bed for a minute so I could help him fold his clothes to pack them, and she rolled over onto his pillow and promptly drooled all over it. Ethan hadn’t been too happy about that, and I’d already stripped the pillowcase and tossed it in the hamper to be washed.
“You did it too, when you were her age, E-man. That’s what happens when babies get their teeth.”
Ethan just gave Caleb a major case of side-eye, supremely unimpressed with his explanation. I hid my smile at how much he looked like his daddy when he did that. Caleb always wore the same expression on his face when he was calling bullshit on something.
I caught Caleb’s eye, and he gave me a wicked grin.
“Hello, baby girl. You’re looking beautiful this evening.”
I snorted as I gestured to my shirt. “Oh yes, everyoneis accessorizing with drool this year, darling. It’s been all the rage on the fashion runways,” I joked, giving my best impression of a snooty socialite.
He chuckled, then cocked his head to listen as my parents’ car pulled into the drive.
“Go grab your bag, kiddo,” I told E, and he jumped off the couch and pounded up the stairs.
“Don’t run on the stairs,” Caleb called after him, something we had to remind him of multiple times a day. I was fairly certain that I’d even mumbled it in my sleep a few times.
I crossed the room to open the door, just as my parents stepped onto the porch. Dad greeted me with a kiss on my cheek and I stepped aside for him to come in. He stopped suddenly as he caught sight of Caleb, who had just risen from the couch. I eyed my father warily, then figured he wouldn’t try to shoot Caleb since he was still holding our daughter.
“Rome,” Dad ground out, glaring at him so hard that it looked like he was trying to shoot death rays from his eyes in the hope that Caleb would burst into flames.
“Randy,” Caleb greeted him respectfully. They had gotten along pretty well once Caleb and I had gotten married, and I knew it really bothered him to lose my dad’s respect. I also knew that my dad would come around when he realized how hard Caleb had worked to earn my forgiveness and trust again.
“Oh, Rome, it’s so good to see you, honey.” I smiled as my mom greeted Caleb with a hug, which he returned gratefully. Mom was a lot more forgiving than my dad was. As far as Dad was concerned, Caleb had hurt his little girl, and he wasn’t the type to get over that easily.
“I’m ready,” Ethan announced, trying to heft his full backpack up onto his shoulder as he stomped back into the room. After a flurry of hugs and kisses, and a gruff command from my dad to Caleb to “take good care my girls,” they were off, leaving Caleb and I alone with Everly.
I had worried that things would be awkward between us, but our evening was surprisingly relaxed. There was sexual tension there, certainly, but I felt more at ease with him than I had since before that awful day that our marriage imploded.
We worked together to make a simple stir-fry for dinner, then I put Everly on a blanket on the living room floor so she could move around and get a little play time. Caleb got on the floor with her as I quickly cleaned up the kitchen.
I returned to the living room to find him lying flat on his stomach, face to face with a giggling, drooling Everly, who was up on all fours. She had been doing that for a couple of weeks now, but she hadn’t actually tried to crawl yet.
“Come on, sweet pea,” Caleb encouraged. “Just move this hand forward a tiny, little bit.” He tried to nudge her hand to prompt her to move it, but she just lifted it and tried to shove it into her mouth. Unfortunately, holding herself up with one hand didn’t work well at her age, and she started to topple forward. Caleb scooped her up before she could land on her face.
“Careful, Ev, you’ll smash that cute little nose of yours,” he told her. She responded by swiping her drool-covered fist at him, and he dodged his head out of the way.
“Careful, Ev, you’ll smash Daddy’s cute little nose,” I teased, and he looked over his shoulder at me and grinned.
“Why thank you, baby girl. I think your nose is cute, too.”
I sat down on the couch and Caleb joined me, leaving Everly to roll around and play with the various baby toys I had laid out on the blanket, most of which she tried to chew on.
We curled up together, neither of us saying a word as we watched Ev play. Finally, I took her upstairs for her bath while Caleb brought his suitcases inside and started unpacking.
I smiled happily as he carried his toiletries into the bathroom. Everly was startled when he walked in, and responded by smacking her hands in the water, splashing it everywhere, including on me. Caleb laughed as he handed me a towel, then went into the bedroom to hang his things back up in the closet.
Once Ev was in clean pajamas with a fresh diaper on, I settled down in the rocking chair to nurse her. Caleb joined us and took over burping her and putting her to bed while I headed into our room to take a shower.
I’d been particularly thorough with my morning shower, taking time to shave all of the important bits until I was silky smooth, so now I really just needed a quick wash to feel nice and fresh. I pinned up my hair to keep it dry and was in and out of the shower in under five minutes. I quickly dried off and applied my lotion, then brushed my teeth and brushed out my hair until it was tangle-free. I slipped on a pretty nightie that I hadn’t worn since my baby bump with Everly had grown to the point that it no longer fit. Now that I was a little more toned than I used to be and had dropped down a size, it actually hung a bit loose on me, making me wish I’d taken time to buy something new.
I didn’t bother slipping on panties, since I never slept in them. I had a feeling that they wouldn’t last long tonight even if I did put some on.
I stopped suddenly as I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the bedroom. Caleb was standing next to the bed and had just taken his shirt off.
My eyes widened as I stared at him in shock. I hadn’t seen him without a shirt on since right after Everly was born, and he’d held her against his bare chest for skin-on-skin contact. I knew he’d been working out a lot as one of his new methods to cope with stress and aggravation, butholy shit!
