Page 22 of Mad Love

“Oh, you think that’s funny, huh,” I say, unable to resist smiling at him. “You’re all happy now…now that you’ve exorcised all that is foul and stinky.”

He lets out a hiccupy laugh, and I’m laughing now too.

“Yeah, you have a powerful stank, but you sure are cute,” I tell him.

I manage to get his diaper and jammies back on him without having any other bodily fluids touch me, so I call it a win.

“Is he always this bright-eyed at midnight?”

She nods. “Pretty much. I usually get home from work between eleven thirty and midnight, and if he’s not awake then, he usually is by one. His days and nights are still mixed up.”

“How do we switch it around?”

She lifts her eyebrows. “I wish I knew.”

I pick Caleb up and move to the couch. Sadie stays on the floor nearby, pulling the throw I keep on the couch over her long legs.

“Where do you work?”

“Hanson’s Steakhouse.”

“Oh, I like that place. My family used to go there for special occasions sometimes.”

She nods. “I alwayswantedto go there for special occasions, so when I got a job there, I was stoked.”

I glance at her, wanting to ask questions, wanting to know more about her and her family, but it still feels like too much, too soon. It’s already weird that she’s here, that I have a baby I didn’t know about. It’s not going to be comfortable between us overnight.

“I can sit up with him if you want to get some sleep,” I tell her.

“Aren’t you tired? We didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Yeah, but this is nice. He’s being super chill at the moment.” I smile down at him. “Oh, I was supposed to swaddle him. Maybe he’d like that.”

I try to do it a couple times and get it close but not as tight and perfect as those nurses in the hospital. Once he’s swaddled though, his eyes drift closed and Sadie looks surprised.

“We could try laying him back in the bed,” she whispers.

I nod. I like holding him, but maybe he’ll sleep better in his bed. We go into her room and I carefully lower him into the bed, easing away so slowly. He squeaks and then he lets out a wail. Sadie and I look at each other in defeat and I pick him back up.

He quietens instantly which I’m not gonna lie, it does something to me.

“Sorry, I guess that wasn’t my best idea,” she whispers.

“Sleep. I’ll take him,” I say.

She looks worried. “Let me know if you need help…”

I nod. “I will.”

She watches us walk back into the open space and when I stretch out on the couch with Caleb on my chest, she finally shuts the door.

“Come on, kiddo. Let’s try out this sleeping thing. What do you think?”

He yawns and makes little noises, and it’s not long before he closes his eyes and we sleep.

For maybe an hour.

By the time seven rolls around and we’ve been up and down more times than I can remember, I’m more exhausted than a brutal day of training and playing an intense gamecombined.

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