Page 79 of Married into the Mob

“What do you think about this dangling thing, darling? I think we should get one.” I was taking charge and being an equal partner to my mate.

Odell flicked the soft toy. “Do you know what it’s for?”

Oh, this was a trick question, but I had to figure it out. Babies didn’t box, so that wasn’t a thing. But they liked toys, and if this was on my head, my hands were busy doing something else.

“It’s when I’m doing one thing but need to keep the baby occupied.” I was so proud of myself.

“And what’s the thing you’re doing?”

So many questions and I hadn’t studied. Yes, we’d watched videos and read books, but that was for the pregnancy itself.

“You can do it, Hunter,” Dad and my mate chirped.

Damn, they were jerking me around. “I’ve got it.” I swung my head, and Odell, Dad, and the sales assistant ducked. Whoops! “It’s when you’re changing their diaper.”

Everyone clapped, and I bowed. I loved bowing.

“We’ll take it.”

But Dad was right. I wasn’t stepping up when it came to baby prep.I’d been with my mate when he was sick, made… ummm, ordered chicken soup from Uncle Arnie, massaged his feet, and held him while he slept. But he was the one choosing the nursery colors and how many onesies we needed.

I peered over Odell’s shoulder, making a mental note of some of the items on his list. The big-ticket items we’d choose together, but dragging the dolly behind me, I picked up diapers. One then two packets. A quick glance at Dad who was rotating his finger, and I grabbed more and more still. The baby was only going to be yea big. How many did they need? A lot, apparently.

Muslin cloths. Check.

I couldn’t decide on the baby monitors so took three to show Odell.

Pacifiers. I grabbed one of each color and scuttled back to my mate.

I hadn’t made much of a dent in the list.

“We need the crib, stroller, and a car seat,” Odell read from his list.

I’d spent hours reading up on car seats, and I pulled up what I'd written with the top three choices, listing the pros and cons.

“Did you do this?” Dad tapped my phone.

“Yeah. While Odell was sleeping, I researched.”

“I’m impressed.”

My mate took my arm. “You should be. He put a lot of effort into it.”

After choosing the car seat, we wandered over to the strollers. There were so many colors and sizes and basket thingies, and I hadn’t looked into them, as car safety had been my priority.

“Why don’t we go to a café and have tea and cake and I’ll look up each model, summarize what I find, and we can go from there.”

“I always vote for cake.” My mate gave me a smooch, and he whispered, “And you talking about research is hot!”

THIRTY

HUNTER

“I have a surprise!”

Odell had been napping. He opened one eye and grunted. “Is it more room in my belly so the baby will stop kicking my ribs?”

“Sadly, no. I wish I could, Dellie. But you get to sit in a comfortable chair or a lounger—I have both. If it’s cold, I have blankets and a cloak if it’s windy.”