Chapter 30
“Apparently, my dog and Zane’s baby are in a love affair. Send help.”
Sloane
I wake when I hear Adele cry. Zane groans.
“I’ve got her.”
“You don’t have to,” he protests through a yawn.
“You’re tired. You worked hard last night.”
He smirks. “Keeping you quiet when you come is a full-time job.”
“Whatever,” I mutter as I roll out of bed.
He captures my hand. “Seriously, sweetness, I can get her.”
I kiss his cheek. “No need. I’m awake. Go back to sleep.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I say but he’s already asleep.
I pad out of the bedroom to the nursery. Adele is fussing in her crib. I pick her up.
“What’s wrong, sweet baby? Are you hungry or do you need to be changed? Or both?” I sniff her diaper. “Definitely need a diaper change.”
I quickly change her diaper and dress her for the day before preparing a bottle for her. I sit in the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery to feed her.
While she drinks from her bottle, I glance around the room. There are no longer boxes everywhere. Even Zane’s office stuff is gone – relegated to the garage. It’s a real nursery now.
The cupboard Jaxon put together is against one wall. It’s filled with all the clothes that were in the other boxes and bags on the floor. On the opposite wall is the bookcase Eli assembled. There are some books, but there are also baskets filled with toys.
This is a room Adele can grow up in. I can’t wait to experience it all. Her first tooth. The first time she walks. Her first day of school. I want to be there for it all.
Adele finishes her bottle. After I burp her, I rock her back to sleep. My heart is so full it could burst. I have everything I’ve ever wanted. A man I love. A baby I love. Adele isn’t mine but I don’t care. I love her.
Adele kicks out in her sleep. I sigh. I have to put her back in her crib.
Once she’s settled, I aim for the kitchen. There’s no sense trying to go back to sleep. I’m awake now. Coffee it is.
Coffee made. I grab my Kindle and return to the nursery to read in the rocking chair while Adele sleeps.
But when I check in the crib. Adele isn’t alone. My dog is cuddled up to her.
“Boozer! Get out of there!”
He doesn’t move – the little shit. I grab him by the collar and yank until he’s forced to jump out of the crib.
“I can’t believe you. Zane is going to kill me. And you’re going to the glue factory.”
Boozer whines and lies down in the middle of the room.
“You have to get out of here. I can’t hide what you did if you stay here.”
I pat his bottom and he sighs before heaving himself to his feet and trotting out of the room. Phew.
I clasp my chest as I wait for my heart rate to slow back down to normal.
Zane strolls into the room. Crap. Did he hear?
I force a smile. “I didn’t expect you to wake this early.”
He holds up the baby monitor. I drop my chin to my chest. I’m busted.
“Please don’t kill me.”
“You think I’m going to kill you because your dog jumped into the crib with Adele?”
There goes any hope he missed the entire episode.
“Yes?”
He barks out a laugh and I dare to lift my gaze to his. “I don’t know what’s funnier. How panicked you were when you found Boozer in the crib? Or how guilty you appeared when I walked in here?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “My guilty appearance isn’t funny.”
He throws his arms around me. “Wrong. It’s hilarious. Don’t ever play poker with my brothers. They’ll clean us out of house and home.”
I push him away. “I happen to be an excellent poker player.”
“And you didn’t look to the left just now either.”
“Ugh!” I throw my hands in the air. “I haven’t had enough coffee for you this morning.”
He snags my coffee cup before threading his fingers through mine. “Let’s get you some coffee, sweetness.”
I practically melt. I love how he calls me sweetness. Not babe or darling or some other throwaway term. Zane makes me feel special in everything he does.
“Why don’t I make you breakfast?” I offer.
His eyes widen. “You’re going to make breakfast?”
I bristle. “I can make breakfast.”
He raises an eyebrow. “And you didn’t set off the smoke alarm toasting a bagel?”
“It was a Pop-Tart, not a bagel.”
He chuckles. “Did the smoke alarm go off or not?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Yes, but only because Adele had a blow-out and I forgot about the Pop-Tart.”
“You’re using our baby girl as an excuse.”
No fair. He can’t say our baby girl. It’s cheating.
I glare. “Do you want breakfast or not?”
“What are you making? Burned bagels or burned Pop-Tarts?”
“I was going to make eggs and sausage, but I guess I can burn you a bagel.”
“You can make eggs and sausage?”
I roll my eyes. “Who do you think made breakfast for Mom and all her boyfriends? It wasn’t Mom.”
He catches my hand and draws me onto his lap. “I’m sorry your mother didn’t care for you the way she should have.”
“It’s okay. I’m over it.”
“You’re not, but you will be.”
“What are you going to do? Snap your fingers and – voila! – I’m over it.”
“Nope.” He brushes my hair from my forehead. “I’m going to show you how real families act.”
I want a real family. More than anything. But I’m afraid to reach for it.
Adele babbles over the baby monitor. “Baby girl is awake.” Zane sets me on my feet. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
He kisses me quick before strolling down the hallway toward the nursery. For someone who was scared of babies a year ago, he’s a great dad.
Time to make some breakfast and show Zane I don’t burn everything. I gather eggs and sausage from the refrigerator.
“Good morning, baby girl,” Zane greets Adele over the baby monitor and I pause to listen to him as he begins to sing.
Rise and shine, baby mine. It’s time to wiggle that cute behind. The sun’s up high, the day’s brand new, and Daddy’s got a song for you.
I hear him making his way down the hallway and hustle to the stove to start on breakfast before he catches me eavesdropping.
“Here you go, baby girl.” Zane lays her down on her playmat in the corner with her baby gym.
Boozer prances into the room and zeroes in on the baby. I wag my finger at him and he pauses. I return my attention to making breakfast.
Zane makes me a coffee and hands it to me with a kiss on my hair. “Smells good.”
“I went with scrambled eggs since I didn’t know what kind of eggs you prefer.”
“Sounds good,” he says before sitting at the table with his coffee and pulling out his phone.
I sigh. This morning is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. No one fighting. No one snarling at me. No one claiming I’m trying to steal her boyfriend.
Just a nice, peaceful, relaxing morning with the two people I love most in the world. I could get used to this. Fear tries to rear its ugly head but I shove it down. I refuse to ruin these moments because I’m afraid of the future.
I’ll live in the moment. That’s one good thing Mom tried to teach me. I never listened, though. It’s hard to enjoy a good moment when you don’t know if you’re going to be homeless in the next one.
I shove thoughts of my childhood away and finish breakfast. As I’m bringing the plates to the table, I check on Adele.
I gasp. Boozer is laying next to her.
“Boozer,” I growl.
Zane chuckles. “Your dog loves Adele.”
“A little too much,” I mutter.
I open the sliding door and motion to Boozer. “Come on. Go outside and do your business.”
He barks before rushing outside. Adele cries and reaches for him.
Zane stands to pick her up. “It appears she loves Boozer as much as he loves her.”
I grasp his hand to stop him. “Wait.”
“What?”
I point to Adele. She’s now on her front, trying to follow my dog. She grunts with frustration before pushing up and crawling.
I gasp. “She’s crawling!”
Zane stares at her with his mouth gaping open. “My baby girl is crawling.”
“Quick. We need to capture this moment. Where’s your camera?”
When he doesn’t move, I grab his phone from the table and begin snapping pictures. I probably take a dozen before Zane snaps out of it.
“I was in a group chat with my marketing masterclass.” He frowns at the phone. “You’ve sent everyone the pictures of Adele.”
“Oops. You can delete them.”
“Oh, wait. Everyone is now sending pictures of what they’re doing.” He cringes. “I didn’t need to see a man in a muscle shirt and white underwear this morning.”
He drops his phone on the table and picks Adele up from the floor, where she’s nearly made it to the door.
“Guess it’s time to babyproof our home.”
Our home. Those words slam into my chest before spreading warmth throughout my body. I have a home.