AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Always.”
9
* * *
COLTON
“And if he starts carrying around his Pooh Bear, he’s probably about to get fussy or need a nap,” Eris was explaining, and he was jotting down notes as quickly as possible, trying to keep up with the crash course on parenting that he’d begged for not five minutes ago.
It hit him like a ton of bricks that he was going to be alone with a three-year-old who barely spoke intelligibly, still used a diaper, and he had no inclination of what to do to keep him entertained. She whirled around and looked at the two of them.
“Colton, you are going to be okay, and one thing I’ve learned is you won’t break him. He’s just a little person that wants to be with you. If you watch television, he’ll be right there beside you,” Eris smiled gently, and while normally he would have given his eyeteeth to have her look at him like that – it sent a shiver down his spine because he didn’t want to disappoint… and her eyes turned to Zane. “And you, little man… you be good for your daddy today. Okay?”
“Wuv you, Mama,” Zane smiled, sticking his finger in his mouth from where he stood next to the couch watching them. Colton was sitting nearby, trying to get him to climb up on the seat beside him… and failing. “Go bye-bye?”
“Yep. Mama is going bye-bye, and Zane gets to play with Daddy all day long…”
Oh mercy, Colton thought, smiling bravely. I’m utterly screwed today.
“We guys will be just fine today – won’t we, Zane? We’ll watch some TV together, maybe take a nap, or play with something. Um, maybe when I’m gone, you could take him out shopping and get a few more toys so he has a variety of things to entertain him?”
“I think that is a good idea – but if all else fails, let him play with pots and pans…or plastic cups. Seriously, Colton, don’t look so panicked. You’ll be okay, or I wouldn’t be leaving for work.”
That statement gave him a slight measure of confidence. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, and he was unsure if he was supposed to kiss her, hug her, or just wave ‘bye’ because they weren’t exactly on the greatest of terms right now. Instead, he took the easy way out and used Zane.
“Okay, buddy. Say bye to Mama,” he said simply and scooped up Zane as he started to fuss. “Hey, look. Pooh Bear is gonna getcha…”
“See you, Colton…” she called out nervously and left quickly, shutting the door as he hollered ‘bye’ over his shoulder – only to turn and see Zane’s face.
A very unhappy face.
“Mama go bye-bye?”
“She’ll be back in a bit,” he replied quickly, seeing his little mouth turn downward and his lip wobble. “Here, let’s play with Pooh Bear or – oh hey! How about drums? Your mama mentioned it, and I think I saw somewhere you could bang on pots with wooden spoons and it would keep a kid occupied. Let’s make music together, okay, Zane?”
“Moosic?”
“Yep. We’ll make music and play – okay?” Colton got up from the couch and ran into the kitchen only to hear a thud followed by a scream. Cursing, he ran around the corner and saw Zane on the floor, sobbing pathetically, and rubbing his chin that now had a bright red circle on it.
“Awwww, crappola,” Colton muttered in disbelief. “Like two seconds, buddy! I literally walked away for two seconds, and you hurt yourself? Your mama hasn’t been gone five minutes, and she’s going to think I’m an idiot.”
“Idj…it?” Zane repeated curiously. “Zane idj…it?”
“What?!” he yelped, horrified. “No! No, little man, idiot is a bad word, and I shouldn’t have said any of those bad words – although, out of all of them that I just said aloud, I’m kinda glad you picked up that one instead of the others.”
“Zane bad idj…it?” – and there was the wobble of the lip.
“Mental note – don’t describe anything as B-A-D…” he muttered and then tried smiling brightly. “Zane is such a good boy, and Daddy is the idiot.”
“Zane bad and Daddy idj…it?”
“No and yes… oh gosh, I’m messing this all up. Zane, let’s not say idiot anymore because we can use other words – and Zane is a very good boy. I promise.”
“Good boy?”
“The best,” he said tenderly, wiping a tear from his son’s face. “Is that little chin okay, buddy? I’m really sorry and didn’t realize you might fall off the couch.”
“I falled down, Daddy… and got an owie!”
