Page 52 of His Innocent Omega
He glanced at me sharply, “I know! It’s not that. I trust you with her, I do! It’s just…”
“It’s weird right, this co-parenting thing?”
He huffed out a short breath, his chest shaky, “Yeah. I know it’s stupid. Because I let Bash and Jamie watch her last week while I shifted and we–” his cheeks turned a lovely rose color, and I quirked my mouth at him in a small, knowing smirk, “–did what we did, but this is for longer. And it just feels different.”
“Tell you what,” I bounced Jules with my arms, because she had that look on her face she got when she realized she was no longer in motion and was about to put in a complaint with management, “feel free to check in with us when you come back to go on your shift. Get some baby cuddles in. I don’t mind.”
“But it’s technically your time with her,” he hesitated, uncertain.
“How about we don’t look at it as your time or my time?” I suggested, “It’s just our time. Both of us, just doing whatever wecan to help each other out, and take care of our daughter. And in the process, we get to know each other better. You go run your errands, have a shift, and we’ll have a nice lunch together.”
He mulled over my suggestion for about thirty seconds, and I could almost see the wheels inside his head moving rapidly, analyzing everything I had said and coming up with scenarios and outcomes. Someday, I’d like to play a game of chess with him, just to watch the sheer brilliance I imagined his playing would be.
“Okay, that actually sounds really good.” Wyatt reached into the diaper bag and pulled out some folded pages. Probably instructions for me to follow for Jules’ care, no doubt.
Taking them from him, I asked, “What’s this?”
He gave me a trembling smile, looking unsure of himself again. “I wrote these down. I usually keep them in my head,” he shrugged, looking flustered.
He was adorable when he was like this, and I found myself liking both sides of Wyatt. One minute he was all aloof self-confidence, the smartest person in the room and he knew it. The next he was all shy innocence, looking at the world with wide eyed wonder. It was charming, and I found myself wanting to uncover all of the hidden sides to his personality.
“It occurred to me that we don’t know each other that well. Not really.”
Looking at the folded papers, I asked, “And this will help us do that?”
Jules, at her limit for being ignored, finally put up a fuss, her little arms jerking in a new baby version of an attention-getting wave. Crooning to her, I sympathized softly, “So sorry we weren’t paying you enough attention, princess.”
Wyatt gave us a wan smile, his hazel eyes shrouded. “You’regood with her.”
“So are you,” I assured him. He’d come a long way in the last three weeks, and he and Jules were both much more relaxed with each other now.
“Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair now,” he kissed Jules on the top of her head, then hurried to the door. “I’ll stop in when I get back before I go for my shift.”
Smiling at his awkwardness, I took Jules’ little hand and moved it in a waving motion. “Say bye to Papa.”
Wyatt gave a little wave then was out the door. Smiling at the baby, I sank down onto the sofa cushion and unfolded the papers he had all but shoved into my hands.
Lists. They were lists. But not just any lists. Lists of things Wyatt wanted to do and experience. Two separate lists. The first one was titled ‘Sexual Experiences’.
Reading it, I smiled at the crossed off items, noting they were things he and I had done together. More than a little pleased that theonlyitems crossed off were the things he and I had done. Folding that one up, I made a mental note of a few on the list that I’d be more than happy to help him cross off.
The second list was of things he wanted to do or experience, and my heart fluttered reading this list. There weren’t as many things crossed off this one, mainly big things likedrive cross country, anduse my early education degree.Buy a business.Buy a house of my choosing.I smiled when he had underlinedMust have a porch!
But it was the smaller things that nearly broke my heart.
“Oh Wyatt,” I whispered, “you’re killing me, here.”
Have a picnic.
Go to a fair or festival.
Try a funnel cake.
Ride a roller coaster.
Go to a drive-in movie.
My suspicions had been spot on. He’d been so busy with school, racking up degrees, and using his brain for whatever special projects people wanted him for, he hadn’t had a chance to live. To do things most people experienced as a kid, or during their high school and college years.
