Page 26 of Restricted List

“I’ll help,” he says, standing with me.

“Hear that, Lovebug?” I say, pressing a kiss to the top of Sage’s head. “Uncle Cole is going to help get you in bed tonight.”

“Coe,” she says sleepily before we pad down the hall into her room.

I may not be her mother, but I love this little girl to bits. Since I have her with me often, I set up a room for her at my apartment when she was still a baby. I want her to be as comfortable here with me as she is at home with Lane.

With her current obsession with dinosaurs, her room with me is now decked out with all the T-rexes, triceratops, and velociraptors you could dream of.

“Dinos!” Sage says excitedly, lighting up when she takes in her new room decor.

“Mhmm,” I say, tickling her side. “You’re a big girl now, so you need a big girl room.”

Sage gives us a lazy smile, too tired to enjoy everything around her.

Cole and I work together in tandem to get Sage ready for bed. He helps her brush her teeth as I grab her new pink dinosaur footie pajamas from her dresser drawer. Now, with a freshdiaper and cozy jammies, I walk to her bed, ready to lay her down.

Sage looks down as I do. “No bed!” She clings to me, refusing to be put down.

“That bed looks really comfy, though, Sagie,” Cole says, ruffling her hair.

“No,” she replies, shaking her head.

I sigh. “Lane just started transitioning her into a toddler bed instead of her crib. This bed is brand new. He’s also had some trouble getting her down the past few nights.”

“Well,” he smiles, “this is where Uncle Cole can shine. Come here, Lovebug.” He opens his arms, and Sage all but leaps to him. “What we’re going to do, Sagie,” he says, falling to his knees beside the bed, “is sit you on the bed. Is that okay with you?”

Sage looks apprehensive still before he sits her on the edge, letting her legs hang over the side.

“Good job!” He sounds like a proud dad. It’s so fucking cute. “Now, I want you to do what I do.” Cole stretches out on the ground, lying beside the bed, willing Sage to do the same. She hesitates. “Sagie, you can’t leave me hanging like this.”

She giggles as I come to sit beside her on the bed. “You’ve got this, Sage,” I encourage. “Just do what Uncle Cole is doing.”

After glancing between us both, Sage slowly crawls up her bed, laying her head on her pillow as I pull the blankets over her tiny body.

“Thanks, Sagie,” Cole says, smiling widely. “I was going to look silly like this all by myself.”

I love that he thinks Sage lying down on her bed beside where he is on the floor makes him look less ridiculous. The man is six feet tall—his legs fall at least two feet past her bed frame.

He looks completely ridiculous, but in a way that can melt your heart and dampen your panties.

Speaking from experience.

“Are you ready to sleep now, Lovebug?” I ask, rubbing the top of her head. That’s soothed her since she was a newborn, and I always find myself doing it with her when she needs to calm down.

Sage shakes her head, signaling to me that this is going to be a long night trying to get her to sleep.

“This might be a while, Cole,” I say. “I’ll spare you and tell you to just head back home.”

“I have a better idea,” he replies, slipping his hand through the safety bar on the bed and grabbing Sage’s hand. “You like music, Sage?”

“Yes,” she says before yawning again.

“Perfect. I happen to know a lot of music. Prepare to be serenaded into slumber, Sagie.”

I stifle a laugh as Cole eyes me suspiciously. Once I compose myself, he breaks out into song.

And I laugh again.

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