Page 59 of Facet

“You think this is funny? He went under the kitchen table and shit his pants again!”

“Shit!” Cassian shouted and giggled. Then he twisted on the bed again, fighting to get free and run around the house naked.

Willow slapped her hand over her mouth to hide her smile and probably more laughing.

I shot her a glare that was supposed to be quelling but didn’t affect her one bit.

Our son had just turned three and we’d been struggling with potty-training. He would pee in the toilet like a champ but the little turd would go off and hide somewhere to take a shit. Every. Damn. Time. The pediatrician assured us this wouldn’t last, and he would eventually figure it out, but damn.

Finally, my gorgeous but provoking wife came in and picked our son up. She lightly smacked his bare butt. “Cassian? Don’t you want to go see Mimi and Pappy?”

“Mimi! Pappy!” He tried to jump up and down while she held him.

“Then you need to get your underwear and pants on. No nakie boys allowed at the park,” she calmly explained to him.

“Park! Cashee go to park wiff Mimi and Pappy!” he excitedly shouted.

“That’s right. But only if you get dressed. Okay?” Willow reasoned with our three-year-old like a master negotiator. It wasn’t fair.

“Okay.” He wiggled to get down, and she gently set him on his feet. He ran to me and snatched his clothes from me. Then he sat his little bare ass on the floor and struggled to get one foot at a time in his Mickey Mouse underwear.

“You want me to help you, buddy?” I asked.

“I do it mysewf!” he insisted. Then he continued to work at it with the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. It was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen, despite him being a little terror.

The doorbell rang. He tried to jump up with his underwear halfway up.

“Whoa, there. Let Mommy get the door, and you finish getting dressed so you can go to the park.”

My mini-me scowled at me but went back to what he was doing.

Shannon and Gary had flown up to watch Cassian for the weekend so Willow and I could celebrate our anniversary. Willow thought we were going down to Des Moines, but little did she know, I booked a flight to Austin, Texas. I was taking her to see the Austin Amurs play. They were her favorite team now. At least ever since we’d gone down to see her parents after Cassian was born and she’d met a bunch of the players.

Willow’s brother Cale had gotten out of the Marine Corps and had joined the Demented Sons MC down there. One of his brothers in the club had an in with the team—his baby brother was one of the star players. He’d gotten us tickets and the rest was history. She’s been a diehard fan ever since.

Part of me was positive it was because she liked to look at the players, though she swore none were hotter than me. I’d simply rolled my eyes. Truthfully, I wasn’t worried. I knew she loved me as much as I did her—correction—almost as much.

Once Cassian had his pants on, he hightailed it out of the room and I heard him squeal in excitement. I followed and observed their reunion from the archway.

“Look how big you’ve gotten!” Shannon was saying as she kissed Cassian’s cheek. It had only been a few months since they saw him last, but Cassian still beamed.

“I big now! We go to park, Mimi?” he asked as he nodded his head.

“How about if we go have some lunch first, then we go to the park?” his Pappy asked.

“Wunch! We haff wunch! We haff wunch!” he happily chanted. My chest literally ached at how much that little boy meant to me. I loved every single thing about him—even when he was being a little demon-spawn.

“I’m sorry that we won’t be here when you get back, but someone would go a bit ballistic if we L-E-A-V-E while he’s aware,” Willow apologized. She chewed on her bottom lip, and I could see the indecision in her emerald eyes.

“Aww, honey, it’s fine. You kids go have fun in Des Moines. We’ll still be here for another week after you get back,” Gary assured her. He shot me a sly wink when she wasn’t looking. They were both onboard with my plans.

She kissed his cheek. “I can’t thank you guys enough for this.”

“Anytime, honey. We will take any chance we get to spend with this handsome little devil,” Shannon assured us before kissing his cheek.

Willow and I looked at each other and she hid her grin. I knew we were both thinking,not devil, demon, but who was splitting hairs?

“How’s Cale doing?” Willow asked her mom.

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