Page 76 of A Reluctant Boy Toy
“Some do. All babies are different.” My Sadie had gotten over swaddling pretty quickly, but she'd done everything quickly, from crawling to walking to talking our ears off. “For what it’s worth, mine did.”
Artemis still kicked her little legs and made fussy sounds, but she was no longer in a rage.
“I think she likes it.” He lifted her to his chest and smoothed tiny circles over her back. “Speaking of the baby, Ari and I were going to talk to you tomorrow since we didn’t have much of a chance today. We’re having Artemis’s naming ceremony on Saturday, and we’d be honored if you’d stand as one of her guardians.”
“Of course.” My heart thudded painfully. “The honor’s all mine. Are you sure this is what you want? I did a crap job in the family department.”
“You’ve still got the chance to mend what’s broken.”
“Not with Serena.”
“Right, fine, the marriage broke. But you have three kids together. You’ll always be in each other’s lives.” Tag studied Artemis’s sleeping form. “We’ve asked Serena to stand as the other guardian.”
“What?” I asked sharply. “When did you do that?”
“It's been in the works.”
“Didn’t you worry that was a recipe for disaster?”
“Serena is family. She’s good people. You know that better than anyone could. If something were to happen to me and Ari, I’d want both you and Serena in Artemis’s corner.”
“Did she agree to that? She has good reason not to trust me.” Because it was horribly true, I added, “She didn’t trust me with our kids.”
“You were spiraling out of control, and you wouldn’t get help. Since then, you’ve worked hard to get your life back, but did you ever let her see the result? She’d be the first to say, ‘Well done.’ Why are you still punishing yourself?”
“I—” Was I still punishing myself? “They probably won’t be able to forgive me.”
“You won’t know if you don’t try, you big dumbass.” He gave a disgusted huff. “Ariel and I want this. We know what’s best for our little girl.”
“All right. Of course I’ll be there. Just tell me where and when.”
“Will do.” Tag seemed relieved to have that off his chest. “So what has you wandering around in the middle of the night? Hearing the sound of a new father in crisis?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Why’s that, you think? Too many people at your place?”
“Maybe.” I’d grown accustomed to every little noise, day and night. Like dropping a penny into a pond, having two extra people there had altered the surface calm, and the changes reverberated deep down.
“Gotta admit,” Taggart said thoughtfully, “it was weird seeing that pretty man sleeping all cozy on your shoulder.”
“Can I ask you something, Tag?” I’d never get a better opening.
“Shoot.”
“Did you ever wonder if I was queer?”
“Queer? Not really.” His eyes narrowed. “There was no doubt you wanted Serena. I caught you guys in flagrante more than once.”
“Did not,” I scoffed.
“Did too, brother. I caught you right after the wedding and also in the parked car in your garage.”
I remembered that vividly. Serena had been mortified.
“In my defense, we had three kids. We got busy when we found time.”
“I guess you did,” he teased lightly.
