Page 39 of Instant Bond

Glancing at the time on my phone, I realized I’d been out for a half hour or so. Had they been looking at Ty’s toys for that long? Karter had to be bored out of his mind.

“Ty, baby, why don’t you go play? Karter probably doesn’t want to hear any more about your toys.”

“But I’m done talking about my toys!” He protested. “Now I’m going to show him Epic Power Squad! Can you believe he’s never seen it!?” The absolute shock in his voice was genuine. I was pretty sure he probably thought most adults were like me, so someone having never seen Epic Power Squad was a totally foreign concept in his little mind.

“Ty, he doesn’t want-”

“I don’t want to wait another minute, so go get it started for us,” Karter cut me off, giving Ty an encouraging grin. When my son bounced off to comply, I gave him a dry look.

“Really excited to meet the gang, are you?” I asked, sarcasm evident in my voice.

“Of course,” he answered smoothly. “Fighting evil and defending justice is the coolest. Haven’t you heard?”

“I think I heard that somewhere. You know you really, really don’t have to do this.”

“I saw bubble bath in your bathroom the other day. Why don’t you go run a bath and relax? You look like you’re ready to drop dead.”

“I… I can’t just leave you with him.”

“I won’t give him any sharp objects to play with or let him turn on the stove,” he said, which made me snort out a laugh.

“The two main rules of parenting.”

“Sounds easy enough. Just go, and we’ll be here alive and well when you get back.”

So I did. I closed the door so I could relax, but the walls were paper thin and I could hear Ty giving Karter a full rundown of the team, even though it sounded like they were starting all the way back on episode one. We had all the episodes on DVD, so it was easy for him to rewatch.

Before I knew it, my body slumped down into the bubbles and I’d fallen asleep again. By the time I woke up, the water was room temperature. I dried off in a rush, throwing my clothes back on.

The scene in the living room was pretty much exactly as I’d left it, only there were open boxes of pizza on the coffee table and greasy plates and napkins scattered around. Ty was commenting on the villain of the episode, how awful and mean and dastardly they were, and Karter was agreeing with him wholeheartedly. I felt my heart knock up into my ribs as I noticed they were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor. I realized in that instant that I’d never seen another man interact closely with Ty. It gave me butterflies in my stomach like I’d never felt before.

Sinking down next to them, I plucked a slice out of one of the boxes, practically devouring it whole.

“Feeling any better?” Karter asked me in a low voice.

“So much better,” I whispered back to him.

I let another episode play before I told Ty it was time to take his bath and get ready for bed. He protested, loudly. I knew he was having the time of his life explaining all the lore of his favorite show to a brand new person.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be back to keep watching with you as soon as I can.”

“You promise?” He asked, his dark little eyebrows furrowed.

“I promise,” he said. “I’ll be back before you even have time to miss me.”

“Okay,” Ty answered. “Well, see you later, then.”

Still looking a bit dejected, Ty made his way into the bathroom to take his bath. He knew the routine and could do it all by himself now, so I didn’t follow him in just yet. Giving Karter a sheepish look, I sighed.

“Thank you so much. You’re really good with him.”

“It was easy,” he said honestly. “I… Really enjoyed it.”

“Really?” I asked, uncertain. “You weren’t bored?”

“No,” he said. “He’s great.”

“Yeah. He is.” I paused, hesitating. “Well… I’ll walk you out. I’m sure you want to get home.”

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