Page 42 of Manny Included
Pete shook his head, “No, of course not.I mean, there were lots of times that we split the kids up if I didn’t have any other plans, or where they would want to do things just themselves, and I got the weekend to just sleep or I didn’t have to do any nighttime things because, well, they enjoyed parenting.”
“Well, then, I think we should take turns doing the overnight things.”How bad could it be?A water here, a diaper change there, right?
Pete blinked up at him.“Really?You mean it?”
“Yep.I do.”He nodded.He could do this.He fucking hoped he could, anyway.“It’s only fair.”
“Well, it would be nice to get just one night’s sleep, that’s for sure.Just like 8 hours in a row…”
“I didn’t know it was that bad or I would have offered earlier.”Would he have, though?It had taken him a while to get comfortable with the kids.Still, he knew he’d offered, more than once, to get a night nanny, or a weekend nanny, so that Pete could have some actual time off.
“It’s not bad.I swear.I’m just tired tonight, you know?”
“Well, if you can’t remember the last time you had a full night’s sleep without interuption, that’s not good.I’ll take tonight and I will do my best not to have to wake you for help.”He wasn’t promising, though.Because he really had no idea what to expect.
“You should be fine.Besides, we’re supposed to be watching a movie.Movie first, then night.”Pete plopped down and handed him the remote.“Your turn to pick.I picked the disastrous Lord of the Rings movie.”
“I don’t think it was the movie that was disastrous,” Bay murmured drily.He took the remote, though, and turned on Netflix, scrolling through the movies.“Stop me if you see something you like.”
They ended on a some goofy comedy, and true to Pete’s word, he was asleep twenty minutes into the film, one hand curled under his chin, the other propping himself up on the couch.
Bay found himself watching Pete sleeping more than the movie.He was cute in a sexy way.And one of the nicest people Bay had ever met.Keeping those thoughts to himself was going to be trouble, he could tell.But he would do it, because they all needed Pete more than he needed to get laid.
ChapterTen
“Pete.Pete.”Bay shook him a little, and he sat up with a startled look.
“What?What’s the matter?”
“It’s the baby.He won’t go back to sleep, and I don’t know what to do.He won’t stop crying.”Bay looked like he was going to start crying himself.
“Okay, okay.I’m coming.I’m coming.”He slipped out of bed, padding across the hall to the nursery where he found little Flynn just furious.“What’s wrong, baby?Does your?—”
He checked the diaper and then ran one hand over Flynn’s belly, and oh it was tight and hard.
“Aw, somebody has gas.Here, Uncle Pete can help.”He picked the baby up, started rocking him where he stood, patting him gently, trying to encourage that bubble to let go.“If you just relax, buddy, if you just breathe, it’ll come out, and you’re gonna feel so much better.”
“Is this really all he needed?”Bay asked.“I woke you when all I had to do was bounce him?”
“Well, there’s a fifty percent chance he’ll either poop or puke when the air comes out…”
Bay made a grossed-out face.“I probably could have dealt with that,” he admitted, though.
The fart that sounded was like a bugle.
Bay’s lips tightened, then the laughter burst out of him, unstoppable.
Pete chuckled, kept on patting for a few more minutes until another gigantic poot sounded, then the baby just relaxed and started snoring.Just boom.
“And there you go, gas pains.”Pete shook his head.“I freaked the first few times that happened with Belle.I thought we were all going to go crazy.By number four, you know what it is.”
“Well, next time I will give that a go before I wake you up.So much for a peaceful night for you—sorry about that.”Bay looked honestly sheepish.
“No, no, it’s horrible when they’re in pain.It’s absolutely just awful.It’s panicking, especially if you don’t know what to do.”
“Yeah.I was worried there was something really bad wrong with him,” Bay admitted.
“I think you did great.You checked the important things—food, diaper, the next thing always is the belly, especially with this one.He has a lot of gas issues.That’s why we have to spend so much time making sure of his food?—”