Page 90 of Screwed (Dad Bod Contracting 4)
Renée doesn’t stir, but she mumbles sleepily, “Hush, Unc’a Jamie. I’m resting.”
James laughs, kissing her on the temple. “Sorry, pumpkin. Keep resting.”
I shake my head at him and he winces, before settling on his butt on the porch. Together, we watch JJ and Colin in their tireless quest to get Goblin to let them ride her; Nate is on the tire swing not far away, watching them with amusement.
Nina comes out of the house at that moment, letting the screen door slam with a loud bang that startles Natalie, who snuffles at Laurel’s breast, whimpers, and then goes back to nursing.
“Mom?” She gestures with her cell phone. “Josh is being a jerk.”
I eye her over Renée’s head. “Ignore him.”
“He wants me to come over, but I said I couldn’t because I have a family thing going on today. I was gonna tell him you and Dad were getting married, but then I’d have to explain things and that’s just annoying, so I didn’t. He keeps texting me about coming over to do homework with him, even though I know all he’s doing is playing that dumb video game of his. He just wants me to do his math for him.”
Josh is her best friend—or, as we call him, her “friend-boy” because they’ve “liked” each other since fifth grade and are already making plans for announcing that they’re officially dating—which James has decreed won’t be allowed until they’re at least fifteen. Until then, they can like each other all they want, have all the feelings they want, but they’re not allowed to date, to say they’re dating, to refer to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend, or anything of the sort, because, as James says—there’s no such thing as being in love in middle school.
It is cute, though, how they are with each other. They text and talk all the time, and when they can’t hang out at our house or Josh’s, they’re FaceTiming and helping each other with homework…which usually means Nina doing most of Josh’s for him, because while he’s plenty smart, he’s a little lazy with the schoolwork, and Nina is an overachiever with a little mama instinct a mile wide and a mile deep, and will do it for him if he procrastinates long enough. In turn, though, he carries her backpack for her in the hallways, helps her with her chores around the house, and helps her study in the one subject she’s hopeless in—social studies.
Ella finds the whole thing amusing and gross at the same time, and gets a ridiculous amount of amusement out of tagging along with them just to annoy Nina, even though Josh thinks of Ella as his own little sister and doesn’t mind when she tags along on their teenage adventures.
Dad Bod Construction became Dad Bod Homes a year and a half ago—Franco, Ryder, and Jesse each bought a full quarter share of a new company the four of them now own, building custom homes together. James is the architect and project manager, Jesse is in charge of framing, Ryder handles the electrical installation and oversees the plumbing as well, Franco does the interior finishes, and each of them has their own crew under them. The business is a booming success—James’s designs are cozy, open, and attractive, and with Jesse handling the interior design—along with Imogen and Laurel, who now both work for the company in various capacities—the waitlist for a Dad Bod house is over eighteen months. They are able to construct the homes in short order as well, since James and Jesse work together to break ground and start construction on a new home while Franco and Ryder work on finishing the previous one, and then Jesse circles back to put on the finishing touches while Ryder and Franco start on the next one.
I went back to school during these past three years, got my MD, and I’m now in the process of completing my residency at the hospital here in town. I plan on continuing my education, specializing in neuroscience—my time as head assistant to the lead neurologist piqued my interest in the subject and, in a couple more years, I’ll be a licensed neurologist myself.
James takes my hand and squeezes it; I don’t have to even look at him to know what he’s thinking: the girls love nothing more than to be allowed to stay over here and help Laurel with the baby—and by help, I mean spoil rotten. Laurel loves having them over, because Nate, as loving as he is as an older brother, is a clueless teenager when it comes to caring for a baby, so having girls around who want to change diapers and make bottles and rock and play means she gets to have a little breather and enjoy some semi-free baby downtime.
Which means, with the girls staying here tonight, we’ll have the house to ourselves; we all live in my house, and have for a couple of years now, since the remodel was completed. That took a bit longer than expected, because we expanded pretty significantly, adding two bedrooms and another full Jack-and-Jill bathroom, enlarging the garage by more than double, with a den/home office for James above it, and an in-ground pool out back. My house is in the same school district as they’d been in, so it was an easy transition for them, and we all started feeling like a family right away.
