Page 41 of Possessed By You
Dante’s curiosity is all-consuming, which makes him eager to touch. He paws my face with small grazes, and I relax, pleased when he doesn’t cry at the sight of me. Okay, step one.
“We’re going to watch you while your mommy and daddy go out for a little while.”
“I don’t think he’s going to talk back, Darce,” Benjamin jokes behind me.
“Benjamin doesn’t understand us,” I whisper, giggling. “You understand me, right?”
He stares at me, bouncing in my arms. Damn, this kid is strong. He points to his toy on the floor, mumbling, “‘Pant. ‘Pant.”
“Oh, you want your toy?” I ask, setting him down. I settle myself behind him, and amazingly, he leans against me, playing with a stuffed elephant.
Benjamin takes a spot next to me on the floor. “I gave him that toy after he was born.”
“Jasmine told me it’s his favorite. He doesn’t sleep without it.”
“Really?” He nods, staring at Dante. There is pure fear behind his eyes. I know he’s seeing this as if we’re fast forwarding nine months with our own baby…what it will be like.
We spend the next hour on the floor, absorbed in Dante and his strange, unfamiliar quirks. He plays, handing his toys to us every so often, until eventually becoming cranky, and I assume it’s time to feed him. I heave myself off the floor, finding it amusing that Benjamin is following my every move.
“I’ll get it,” he says.
When I have Dante in my arms, he begins to mumble, springing his arms out frantically for Benjamin. Benjamin looks from him to me blankly.
“He wants you to take him.”
Swallowing an uncertain breath, Benjamin reaches forward and takes him from me, cupping Dante’s head gently even though he doesn’t need to. The sight of Benjamin carrying a child is foreign. It’s also overwhelmingly beautiful. I’m immediately breathless, witnessing raw emotion cross Benjamin’s face, and have to retreat to the kitchen to recover from the surging emotions.
I return to the living room with a bottle, screeching to a stop when I come upon Benjamin on the couch, the baby cradled to his chest. He notices my admiring and smiles. I will my feet to work again, walk over, and hand him the bottle.
“What do I do?” he asks when taking it from me.
“Hold it to him. He’ll do the rest.”
Surely enough, small fingers search for the bottle, and Dante finds a good grip on it. Benjamin is much more immersed in him, looking at the baby with curiosity and intrigue. I flick on the television, which is already set to a children’s show, and Dante’s attention is secured.
A few hours later, the front door opens. I manage to sit up when John walks into the room. We’ve already put the baby to bed and also experienced the shrill cry he makes when waking up. I changed his diaper, expecting that would be all.
That was far from the case. It took another hour to get him to lie down in his crib. Every time one of us would think he was calm enough, he’d prove us wrong. It’s nearly eleven, and he just went down for the count.
John grins when he sees us, primarily Benjamin, who hasn’t roused despite the intrusion.
“Tough night?”
“No, no. Dante was really good.”
I touch Benjamin’s leg, and his eyes snap open. He notices John and now Jasmine standing in the threshold to the living room, laughing.
“How was the play?” I ask, rising onto stiff legs.
“It was so amazing. We’d seen it before, but it was even better than we remembered.” Jasmine sets down her purse. “You guys look beat.”
“We’re fine,” Benjamin reassures them, but they’re not fooled. John reaches into his back pocket, removing his wallet.
“Put your wallet away, John,” Benjamin says, offended.
John frowns. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
