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“But I didn't mean to hit Mommy!”

“You threw something at her.”

“I was mad!”

“You're allowed to be mad. You're not allowed to throw things at people.”

His bottom lip trembles. “I want Daddy.”

Fuck.

Every cell in my body wants to go to him, but if I walk in the door and immediately scoop him up because he's crying, what the hell does that teach him?

That Mommy's consequences disappear when Daddy gets home?

Absolutely not.

“You can have Daddy when your time-out is done.”

He cries into his knees again.

I cross to Blaire and pull her into my arms. “You okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“That's not what I asked.”

Her shoulders slump. “No. I'm fucking exhausted.”

I rub her upper arms. “How long has he been like this?”

“All day. It's like every request turns into a battle.”

I've noticed it too.

Bedtime takes twice as long. He suddenly wants one of us sitting beside him until he falls asleep again. He's clingier with Blaire. Clingier with me. If I come home later than usual, he asks me twelve times the next morning whether I'm coming home after work. He threw a fit two nights ago because I went to the grocery store without him.

A month ago, he wouldn't have given a shit.

“You think it's all the routine stuff?” I ask quietly. “Us living together. Me getting home late some nights because of lawyer appointments and doctor visits?”

“Probably.” Blaire glances toward him. “His whole world changed. Good changes, mostly, but he doesn't know that. I went from living somewhere else to living with you. We're engaged. Our routines changed. You're gone at random times for things he doesn't understand. And he knows something is going on because we're constantly having kicking him out of the room to talk.”

“Kids notice everything.”

Blaire looks over at him. “I've been thinking after Christmas we should go back to therapy with him.”

I nod. “Okay. Whatever helps him.”

Her shoulders relax slightly. “I just think he has a lot going on that he doesn't understand. Especially if the baby turns out to be yours.”

My stomach turns. “Yeah. Speaking of that, the appointment went okay.”

Her eyes immediately return to mine. “She agreed?”

I nod. “Yeah. DNA test after Christmas.”

Blaire exhales. “Okay, good.”