Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Caleb’s side of the bed is cold when I wake up. I check the baby monitor.
The crib is empty.
My stomach drops—then I hear him. The bubbling, shrieking laughter that can only belong to my son.
My feet drag against the ground as I force myself out of bed. I’m exhausted. Hudson is teething. His gums hurt, and he’s sure to let us know. He especially loves alerting us at two in the morning.
We’ve found that letting him chew on cold items helps, so I’ve taken to wetting and freezing small washcloths for him to suck on whenever he’s in pain. He went through three last night.
There’s noise coming from the kitchen. It’s been a little over a week since we brought Hudson home, and every day has been a new adventure.
“Morning,” I say, stepping into the kitchen.
I’m greeted by the sight of Caleb feeding Hudson bites of banana. It’s smeared all over his flushed cheeks, and when Caleb turns to look at me, Hudson grabs Caleb’s hand and rips it back to his mouth.
“He’s an animal,” I tease.
I kiss Caleb’s cheek, then Hudson’s head. There aren’t many spots above the baby’s shoulders that aren’t covered in banana chunk.
“Take a look at this.” Caleb points Hudson toward me, then pulls down his bottom lip. “Another tooth!”
Sure enough, smack-dab in the center of Hudson’s bottom gum is a second tiny tooth. It’s just barely popping through the skin, but it’s definitely a tooth.
“Well.” I frown. “That explains the crying.”
Hudson grunts, ripping his lip out of Caleb’s grip before smiling. I’m going to miss his gummy smile.
But this is good, too.
“What are you doing today?” Caleb asks.
I gesture to the mess that’s still our house. “Hudson and I are going to unpack and clean. Then I’m going to stop by the warehouse and check in on the humans. I intend to remind them that I’m available if they need anything.”
Caleb frowns but doesn’t say anything. Most of the humans are still standoffish. They’ll come around. I’ll make sure of it.
Caleb thinks I’m wasting my time, but he isn’t trying to stop me. He respects my opinion on the matter.
“I’ll probably pay Adam a visit, too,” I continue.
“I had an interesting conversation with Bells that I want to fill him in on.” Caleb raises a brow.
I continue. “I’ll stop at the library if I have time.
” I’ve been avoiding it. I never returned my books.
“Mary mentioned that there’s a fee for late returned books, so you should expect that bill to come through. ”
Mary is going to kill me. She takes her role as the town’s head librarian very seriously.
I press my lips together, thinking. “I think I’d also like to pick up some new pajamas for Hudson. He needs a larger size. His current ones are pulling on his shoulders.”
Caleb’s eyebrows are in his hairline. “Wow.” He chuckles. “Busy day. Anything else?”
I shake my head. “I think that’s it.”
I have a full day ahead of me. It feels incredible.
Caleb stares at me for a long, long minute. “God, I fucking love you.”
Hudson smears banana across Caleb’s cheek.
I laugh.
This…this is mine.