Page 23 of Manny Included
Instead of throwing it again.She brought the toy to him, pushed it in his face.“Kisses?”
Was she aware of just how germy this little panda was?Who knew how many times it had been chewed on or snotted on.He bit back his sigh and gave the panda a quick kiss.Then he kissed her cheek, too.
She flushed and squealed, then ran off waving her panda, heading back to climb up on the sofa and grab her blanket.
He met Little Flynn’s eyes, the baby still chewing on a cow leg.“Girls, huh?”
That earned him a baby wave, little Flynn’s fist opening and closing rapidly.
They were adorable kids, when they weren’t crying; then they were just scary.And he supposed it was a good thing he thought they were good because they were his responsibility now.He shook his head; if he went down that line of thought again, he might wind up crying, and he wasn’t going to do that because it wouldn’t help anyone.Not him, not Pete, and definitely not these babies.
Speaking of Pete, where was he?
Like thinking about him had summoned him, the door flew open and Pete came walking in, hands full of bags and two big cups of coffee.“I brought fancy coffees and some pastries!”
Bay’s stomach growled.They’d had cereal for breakfast this morning—not at all his favorite, but pastries?Yum.He forgave Pete for being late back.
“I love you,” he said, holding his hand out for a coffee.
Pete chuckled.“You’re welcome.I wasn’t sure exactly what you liked, but I saw that you put yummy stuff in your coffee.So I got you a mocha latte with an extra shot.I also have a cinnamon dolce latte here with an extra shot.If you would rather have it, I like both.And then I got all sorts of different pastries plus a couple of little things for the kids to munch on so they could feel like they were being fancy too.”
“Nice.The mocha latte sounds good—smart move, by the way, putting an extra shot in each.We need the caffeine infusion.”He accepted the coffee Pete handed over and hoped it wasn’t too hot, because he was going right in.
“Well, and I always worry that it’s too sweet without that little extra bounce.But yeah—” Pete grinned at him, shook his head, “The kids were well, Eric was excited to go back to school again today, Belle’s getting better—she was a little sad today, but the teacher says she’s doing well.”
“Good.I think the routine is good for them, eh?”It certainly had always kept him on an even keel.He did his best work when he had a routine going.It kept him sharp.
“Yeah, I mean…” Pete sat down next to him, opened up the box of pastries, and let him choose.They smelled like heaven, and it felt amazing that Pete had thought of him.“Part of me wants to just make life stop, but it can’t.The best thing for these babies is to let life move forward and remember their parents and just do the best we can, right?”
“You’re the expert, so I bow to your decision, but that sounds right to me, too.Hell, are these two even going to remember Tony and Cindy?”he asked, nodding at Merida and Flynn.
Pete shook his head.“No, not a chance.There’s a very slim chance that Eric will.Belle will be the one that remembers, and even then, that’s gonna fade, and I’m afraid gonna become a problem.It’s going to make her hurt and sad when she realizes that she can’t remember what her mom looked like and what her dad smelled like.I’ve been talking to my friends who are therapists, and I’m going to do my best to make this easiest on them, but—” Pete grabbed a bear claw and started tearing it into bits.“I can’t fix everything; this is just hard.”
“You don’t have to fix everything, Pete.That’s not your job.We’ll get them to therapists and shit.Shit.Stuff!Stuff!I mean stuff.Damn it.”He slapped his hand over his mouth at the last swear.He was never going to remember not to do it, and the kids were going to have the pottiest mouths at school all because of him.
Pete stared at him for half a second, and then the laughter started, low and soft at first, and then it just seemed to bubble out of Pete’s mouth, getting louder and hard enough to shake the lean shoulders.By the end, it was a little hysterical, but not too much so, and Bay assumed it was just a release of all the pent-up tension.
At least he wasn’t getting his hands slapped and reminded—for the eight hundredth time—not to swear.
He grabbed a dutchie.These were his favorites, but a lot of bakeries didn’t make them anymore.
“So do you have any plans for the weekend?”Pete asked, looking at him curiously.
“No, would you like the weekend off?”Because he would hate that.He wasn’t ready to have all four children by himself.He wasn’t ready to have two children by himself for twenty minutes, much less four for two days.
“Oh no, I just thought we might go to the park.Something fun, but not too much pressure.Just an outing.”
He nodded slowly.“I’ll make sure Will keeps my calendar clear.”Doing things with Pete would be easier, he thought, than having to do them on his own.And then he’d have done it.“Will has more candidates for a part-time nanny for us to look at.”But he really meant for Pete to look at.
Pete shrugged and kind of stole a look at him.“Not sure I’m comfortable with this yet.I mean, there’s so much change.I’m their one constant.I don’t know.I don’t think I could have days off and enjoy them.This is my family.More than my job.”
“So you’re saying we should stop looking for now?”Bay frowned.Pete was going to burn out.“You’re not going to be there for them if you have a breakdown from never taking any time off.”
Pete ate a bite of pastry, rocking a little in his chair.Then he looked at Bay, dead in the eyes, and said, “What would I do if I took time off?I’d worry about the kids.I’d think about the kids.I’d worry about you.I just want to be with my family.I just love knowing that I’m helping.”
“Okay.I’ll tell Will to stop looking.For now.If you change your mind, let me know, all right?”
“You have my word.”Pete glanced at him.“You’re not angry with me right?”