Page 37 of The Doctor's Surprise Family

Blake caught my eye over Oli’s head. He cocked a brow, hopeful, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“All right,” I said. “Dad can play tag.”

Blake grinned. “So, I’m it?”

Oli ran off, Buster bounding behind him. Blake gave them a head start, then he let out a bellow. He went thundering after them, across the front yard. I watched from the porch as they wove through the trees, Oli darting like quicksilver from one trunk to the next, Blake pretending like Oli was too fast to see. Buster raced between them both, his whole body wagging.

I meant to head in and clean while Blake played with Oli, but the cheese-crusted saucepan made me feel tired. I set it to soak for five minutes, just five, and stretched on the couch to rest my eyes. Next thing I knew, Oli was cuddled up with me. The TV was on, playing cartoons. I could hear water splashing in the kitchen sink.

“What…”

Oli covered my eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

I shook him off. “Huh?”

“It’s nap time. Dad said.”

“Till I’m done with the dishes,” called Blake, from the kitchen.

I glanced at the mantel, at Dad’s old clock. It read five past one. I’d been napping an hour.

“You don’t have to clean,” I said. “You didn’t even eat lunch.”

Oli laughed. “Yeah, he did. He finished the pan.”

“Not all of it. I put yours in the fridge.” Blake came over and smiled down at us. “Anyway, I’m done. You guys still tired?”

Oli sat up. “Not me.”

“Me either,” I said. Ididfeel restored. I also felt kind of like I might be dreaming. Had Blake barging in made today better?Was he actually helping, not just in the way? When he told me he wanted to be Oli’s dad, I assumed he meant just for the fun parts, birthdays, playing catch. The odd fishing trip. Blake doing dishes… well, it wasn’t that strange. He’d always done most of ours when we’d been together.

“I wasn’t sure when his nap was.” Blake nodded at Oli. “But I read that a lot of moms nap when their kids do, so when I saw you sleeping, I thought it might be time.”

I blinked at him, dazed. “Yeah, about right. You’ve been reading up?”

“Uh-huh. A lot of the stuff I found’s mostly for babies, but I figured I might as well learn it all. You know, to catch up on all that I’ve missed.”

My heart gave a twinge at that. I’d done the same thing. When I’d come home from work and found Oli could read, I’d ordered three books on early learning, like somehow by knowing how his lessons went, I wouldn’t have missed all those little triumphs.

“Anyway,” said Blake. “You’ve got a chair wobbling.” He pointed at Dad’s chair, through in the kitchen. Its leg had been wobbling quite a while now. “I could fix that real quick, if you don’t mind.”

Oli perked up at that. “Can I help?”

“No, hon, it’s dangerous. Nails, and all that.”

Blake chuckled. “Actually, no nails, just a dab of wood glue. And maybe a helper, if that’s okay? To hold the leg steady while I set it in place?” He winked at me and I nodded. That sounded fine.

I hovered as Oli showed Blake where Dad kept the wood glue, and “helped” him pick out the finest sandpaper. I felt tight andnervous, and I wasn’t sure why. Oli was having the time of his life, rubbing sandpaper squares with the pad of his thumb.

“This one’s all rough,” he said. “Like when Gramps doesn’t shave.”

Blake touched his own chin. “Ouch. Touché.”

“What doestouchémean?”

“It means I didn’t shave either, and you caught me out.” Blake handed him another square of sandpaper. “How about this one?”

Oli wrinkled his nose. “It feels used already. See, it’s all white.”

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