Page 49 of Better Than Baby

Two hours later, we finally graduated from the kitchen to the bathrooms, thanks to some FaceTime assistance from Jack. We weren’t totally incompetent, but Murphy was an unreliable assistant. He’d chewed a sock he’d found sitting atop the hamper in our room, then dropped a roll of toilet paper and sent it streaming down the hallway. Cleaning the mess had taken a good ten minutes.

I owed Curt big-time for giving up a portion of his Sunday to do someone else’s manual labor, but that would have to be another day.

I slid a water bottle across the island, chuckling at Curt’s theatrical collapse onto a barstool.

“Don’t get too comfortable. I have to check in with Aaron and find out when the home inspection agent will be here. And I should take another shower. I stink.” I sniffed my pits and winced. “This was more work than I expected it to be.”

Curt sighed. “Yeah, I think we did a decent job, though. Honestly, I think there’re a couple of cabinets no one will ever be able to get into.”

I held a hand up for a high five. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

He snickered, shaking his head in dismay. “I can’t believe you’re a dad. I mean, you have a daughter and a son too.Consider my mind blown. It feels like just yesterday that we were roommates and you were straight and I was the only gay person you knew.”

I couldn’t argue—he was right. “It’s weird to think that if you hadn’t insisted on going to that club all those years ago, I might not have met Aaron that night.”

Curt widened his eyes. “True. Geez, you might have married a girl and?—”

“No. Only Aaron. I would have found him another way.”

“You think so?”

I gave an awkward shrug and looked around the house we shared. The clean bottles lining the kitchen counter next to a how-to-make-your-own-baby-food cookbook and a stack of animal-print bowls. The portable crib in the great room for Mia, and the two shelves in the built-in bookcase filled with primary-colored toys and books for Xander. Murphy’s bed lay near the fireplace with his own bucket of balls and goodies.

We’d bought this house hoping to make it a home for our family. And it was about to happen. But I couldn’t imagine any of this without Aaron.

“Maybe Lena’s mom rubbed off on me. She says the universe puts certain people in your path for a reason. All I know is that I was never going to marry anyone else.” My tone brooked no argument.

Curt raised a brow but didn’t disagree. “You’ve turned into a romantic.”

I laughed. “I don’t know about that, but?—”

Knock knock.

Curt gestured at the front door with his water bottle. “Want me to answer or…oh, shit. You better catch Murphy.”

I did a double take as Murphy raced into the great room, dragging a pink stuffed bunny by its ears.

“Thanks. Uh…grab the door. It’s probably just Todd. I told him I’d bring Murph back to them before heading to the hospital.”

“Gotcha.”

Ding dong.

“Murphy, come. Drop it. Drop it now.”

Murphy didn’t come and he didn’t drop the stuffed animal. In fact, he launched into an epic round of zoomies, tearing around the furniture and sending a pillow flying in his wake. He was in a zone, and the only thing he’d stop for now was a treat.

I didn’t have any on me, so I made a beeline for the pantry, aware of the dog parkouring off the sofa. It was kind of funny. Okay, it was really funny. I chuckled at his hijinks in spite of the destruction he was leaving behind him. The cushions were askew, and on his next pass through the living area he knocked over his toys, scattering balls everywhere.

I called his name again, holding out a treat. Murphy stopped and wagged his tail. He was about to trot to my side when Curt waltzed into the room with a stranger, sending Murphy into a barking fit that echoed off the high ceilings.

“Uh, Matt,” Curt called out above the din. “This is Deon, the home inspector.”

Oh.

Fuck.

Murphy jumped on Deon, because…of course, he did.