Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Alick inched back slowly and scrunched up his face. “Stinky?”
“No.” That was easy to answer and I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You smell like hard work and nice mate smells. But I think you’d be more relaxed if we got you all clean and you could pick out some fun clothes.”
And honestly, his scent was giving me ideas I shouldn’t be entertaining at the moment.
Perking up again, Alick gave me a beaming smile. “Soup?”
Well, that wasn’t related to clothes in any way, but I’d take it.
“That sounds delicious. I saw that you have some dried soup mix packs. How about we pick out one of those?” I’d started cooking up sausage that I thought I’d put in rice, but switching it out to soup wouldn’t be a problem.
“And once we have that going, we’ll get you in comfy clothes.” Of some sort. “Maybe pajamas or your dinosaur T-shirt and the green shorts?”
He’d given me very explicit permission to look through the house but he’d listed off the playroom specifically, so I’d followed his orders. I wasn’t going to bring that up at the moment, though. Alick had dealt with enough drama after work and I wasn’t going to add to his stress unless he brought it up.
He didn’t.
“Oh.” Looking pained at the choice, he wiggled from side to side and scrunched up his face. “Um, jammies are for nighttime?”
Judging by his inflection, it seemed to be a question, so I responded that way. “No, jammies are for anytime you want to be comfy. Erin said so.”
I shrugged like there was nothing I could do. “It wouldn’t be polite for us to argue with her.”
“Family.” Alick sighed like he understood the problem before straightening dramatically and nodding. “Jammies. Erin said so.”
Hmm.
Was it a fun game to say Erin said so, or did having another little say it was fine actually make it fine?
“Perfect. We have a plan.” And I had some questions to figure out at some point. “Soup. Scrubbing. Soup.”
That got a giggle out of him. “Sssss.”
Laughing, I nodded. “Yes, that’s what it sounded like.”
Taking his hand, I led him back into the house and smiled as he nearly bounced inside, much less stressed than he’d been when he’d run up to the porch. As we got to the kitchen, he plunked himself down at the table and smiled sweetly. “Juice?”
Oh, Daddy was going to be the cooker this time?
“I think that’s a very good idea. You worked hard today.” It’d been primarily a work at the nursery day and those seemed to be strenuous because of the actual work and because he had to deal with so many locals.
From his explanation, it sounded like he spent half the day lifting and the other half explaining that they really should be following the natural seasons of plants and not fucking with the environment.
It sounded exhausting.
“Sippy or bottle?” Making sure my tone was utterly casual, I pulled my brows together and looked very thoughtful about the decision as I went to the cabinet that held all his cute kitchen stuff.
Alick made a thinking sound but I could see him studying the table and shrugging out of the corner of my eye.
Since I wasn’t sure he knew I’d seen him, I continued like there was nothing odd going on at all. “Okay, let’s do a sippy cup now so you can do it yourself while I start the soup and then we’ll do a bottle and cuddle time later.”
When he just stayed silent and the only sound was him shuffling his feet against the floor, I took that as some form of consent and kept rambling as I picked out a green sippy cup that had flowers all over it. “I think I need cuddles tonight because the castle was invaded and the invaders even came around the side of the castle to find me. We might need a moat.”
My dramatic sigh got a giggle from Alick. “Hiding?”
“No.” Dragging out the word, I shook my head and pretended to look innocent. “I was working. I was just working in the bushes that wrap around because I have an idea for them.”
He looked highly suspicious. “Hmm…hiding?”
Chuckling, I looked shocked. “Of course not. I just peeked around the corner when I heard their cars come and went back to my spot. I was working hard and they were technically interrupting.”
That got me more laughter as I went over to the fridge and got out the apple juice. “I got my work stuff organized and I brought some of my things inside like we talked about.”
Another quick glance showed me his big smile and happy wiggles. “Daddy space. I…I…surprise.”
That was not as much of a sentence as he seemed to think it was, but part of that might’ve been because his giggles were interrupting the actual words. So I did my best to sort through what he might’ve meant as I brought his cup over and crouched down beside the table. “Hmm, do you have a surprise for me?”