Page 41 of Knocked Up by Mr. Grump Lawyer

“Who?” Anna asked.

“Me!” I answered cheerfully. “It’s one of my many talents. Perhaps my skills are now a little rusty, but I think I can help.”

Anna looked excited. She called Riley, and he showed me what he’d learned in school. He struggled with it, but seemed to be willing to practice. And so we spent the next hour working on a crocheted scarf. It wasn’t done yet, but he was getting tired and bored.

“It’s alright,” I told him. “You don’t need to finish it today. It’s not due yet, is it?”

“Nope,” he said. “Now I have to finish my homework, but I think my tutor is sick. She can’t come over today.”

“You don’t need a tutor to do your homework,” I told him. “I’m sure you can handle it by yourself, with some guidance.”

He showed me his homework in various subjects, and I assisted him with everything. I was certainly glad to be of good use. Besides, I was a top student when I was his age and had the best grades throughout my schooling years.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” he said after he was able to correctly answer a math problem using the strategy I showed him. “You’re an even better tutor than my tutor!”

I laughed. “Happy to help, Riley. But next time, you should also try everything on your own. You can ask, but it would be good to accomplish your homework by yourself. That would be an amazing achievement.”

He seemed to think about it. “I guess you’re right,” he eventually quipped. “I’m so glad you’re staying here. It’s like having a real mom at home.”

His words touched my heart. I beamed at and hugged him, making him squirm and blush. I laughed. “Sorry, I got carried away.”

As I spent more and more time with Riley, something inside of me began to stir. It was a feeling that I couldn't quite put my finger on at first, but as I spent more time with this precious little soul, I began to understand what it was. It was my inner mom self, waking up and coming to life.

And as I felt that connection growing stronger with each passing day, I also began to feel something else. Something that I would never have expected. I began to feel confident. Confident that I could handle the challenges that lay ahead and that I could be the kind of mother that my baby needed.

Chapter 18

ROBERT

It’sbeenaweeksince Kayla moved in. I felt more eager to get home early and more inspired to spend quality time with my son. Having her around made the concept of family more real, I guess.

I realized that I had been avoiding family time with Riley all this time because it was a painful reminder of my ex-girlfriend’s absence. But now that Kayla was here, everything seemed different. It was like having a real, complete family. I’ve never been happier and more excited about spending time at home.

However, from time to time, I would feel on edge. Maybe I wasn’t used to having a woman around, especially one carrying our baby. It was just totally uncanny.

Since Kayla was now allowed to move around more as long as it only entailed short distances, we decided to have our movie night in the theater room.

“Won’t the baby be disturbed by the loud sounds?” she asked with concern.

“Hhmm.. let’s ask the doctor to be sure,” I said. The doctor gave us the go signal, but we still decided to keep the volume on regular mode — not too loud, but still enough to enjoy the surround sound system. We also picked a family-themed comedy that wouldn’t have scary, surprising scenes and sounds.

Riley sat in front of us on one of the bean bags. Kayla and I stayed on the reclining sofa.

As the movie progressed, I put an arm around her and she cuddled up to me naturally. I felt my heart racing. Her fresh fragrant scent was intoxicating. I could feel my body reacting to her closeness and how her skin rubbed on mine when she moved a bit.

When the movie was done, Riley stood up and stretched. He let out a large yawn. “I’m going to bed now, Dad.”

“Good night, son,” I said, standing up and hugging him. “Have a good sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay…” he said, his eyes barely open anymore. He gave Kayla a sleepy smile and then went out.

I was left all alone again with Kayla.

“That was really funny,” she commented about the comedy film.

“Yeah, we had a good laugh,” I agreed. “I should watch more of those. I don’t remember the last time I did!”

“Yes, I think this is better therapy for you than getting stuck in an elevator!” she joked.

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