Page 126 of Pelvic Flaws

“You cooked?” I asked, following him into the apartment.

“Hah, not as such. It’s soup and warm bread. I was gonna make us pasta, but I just lost track of time.”

Savannah peeked over his shoulder at me, four little fingers in her mouth. I gave her a smile and a wave, but she buried her face in Dex’s neck.

“Hey, you remember Katie don’t you?” Dex asked as he put Savannah down on the floor next to a pile of toys.

She nodded, without looking at me and reached for some Lego.

“She’s been a little clingy,” Dex explained in a quiet voice. “Wouldn’t even stay in here while I was in the kitchen.”

He pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger and I could see he was absolutely shattered.

“How’s bedtime going?” I asked, taking off my jacket and hanging it and my bag over the back of one of his dining chairs.

“It’s not,” he groaned “She starts off okay, but then wakes after about three hours. It’s a constant battle putting her back into bed, her getting up again, me putting her back again. Last night, I almost gave up and let her stay up and then put her in with me.”

I looked at him warily. I didn’t want to start preaching to him, but knew that if he started like that he’d have an even bigger mountain to climb getting Savannah into a proper sleep pattern.

“I didn’t though,” he said, with a small smile. “I know it’s hard not to give in, but I have to make her realize that I’m the boss.”

I grinned at the way he almost recited it, as though he’d been told it many times and he was trying not to forget it.

“Have you tried not letting her nap in the afternoon?”

“But, Allison said she always had one.” He looked to Savannah who was playing happily and then back to me.

“I don’t know, Dex,” I shrugged. “It’s a different time zone, she’s had a big change in her life; it might just be time to start a new routine.”

“You think?”

His eyes begged for help and everything in me wanted to tell him to come and stay with me, and we’d do it together, but…well we weren’t really at that place.

“When does she start nursery school?” I asked.

Dex moved over to the dining table, beckoning me with his head to follow and picked up a letter, handing it to me.

“They say she can start next term.”

I read the letter and nodded. “That’s only five weeks away, after the one week holiday. It gives her time to settle in and for you to get her into a better pattern. Once she starts nursery she’ll expend more energy and be more tired.”

“About that, she needs a uniform and I have no fu-.” He glanced across to Savannah and rolled his eyes. “I have no idea where to get it from.”

I grinned at his slip up and cupped his cheek. “We’ll go shopping the week before she starts, or I can take her,” I said hesitantly.

“Really, you would?”

I nodded.

“Do we need to go a little sooner, won’t everywhere be sold out if I leave it?”

“No, love, they won’t. We can get what she needs from most shops.” I looked down at the list, it was all pretty basic – grey skirt, white polo shirt, red jumper or cardigan. “Plus she might grow in the next four weeks.”

He looked up at the ceiling and groaned. “There’s just so much to think about.”

“Yes, there is.”

His eyes met mine. “Do you think I’ve made the right decision?”

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