Chapter Eight
Levi
I woke up and checked the clock on my bedside table then proceeded to freak out. I hadn’t woken during the night, specifically Tobias hadn’t woken up in the middle of the night, and now my new father heart pounded out of control as I scrambled across the hall to check on Tobias. He’d never slept through the night.
Did he cry, and I didn’t hear him?
Was he hungry, and I was too busy sleeping?
Why didn’t Ben hear him?
Is he okay?
I heard Cory’s voice as soon as I opened the door, but the meltdown didn’t cease until I saw Tobias in his arms being brought to the twin bed for a diaper change. Cory had the diaper in his mouth and the wipes under one of his arms. We needed a changing table, like now.
“T-man, you must be starving, little one. Let’s get this wet diaper off of you and then a warm bottle for the belly. How does that sound?”
My chest warmed at Cory’s baby-soft voice speaking to our child.
“He’s never slept through the night,” I said in my groggy first-sentence-of-the-morning tone.
“Well, he did last night, didn’t you?” Cory turned to me, holding Tobias in a fresh diaper and a clean powder-blue onesie with matching socks. “I checked on him several times during the night, but he was out cold.”
He was a night owl. That might fare well for us.
Stop. He’s the nanny, not a future third. Not our omega. Not our omega.
“I’ll go start breakfast. You drink coffee, Cory?”
Ben was a heavy sleeper, and even with the baby, nothing tripped up my husband’s sleep. I wanted to go in and wake him up to tell him that our T-man had slept through the night but decided to let him rest. The last few weeks had been hard on him in a lot of ways.
“Is that a question? Coffee, yes. Always, coffee is a yes.”
Cory grabbed a clean blanket and threw it over his shoulder along with one of the burp cloths we’d bought the first day we had Tobias. He wore dark-blue pajama pants slung low on his hips along with a plain white T-shirt. I forced myself to go into the kitchen before him, determined not to spend the whole day ogling our nanny’s spectacular ass.
“How do you want it?” I asked, pushing one of those individual coffee containers into the maker. Ben had insisted on the fancy caffeine brewer although I preferred the old drip pots.
Cory cleared his throat, and I looked over at him, a blazing blush marked his cheeks. “Um, my coffee? I can make it. It’s no problem.”
“I’m up, and you’re feeding the baby. Let me make it.”
“Oh, okay. I actually take it with an obscene amount of sugar and creamer. As in, I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar.”
“Gotcha.” Of course he did.
I fixed Cory a cup and set it not so close to him on the table. Ben and I had made that mistake in the beginning. Tobias had kicked, knocking one of our cups of hot coffee onto the table, and we both came undone thinking that the splash could’ve gone the other way onto Tobias’s skin.
Raising a baby was scary.
“We usually do cereal, or Ben has a protein bar for breakfast. But I can cook something for you if you want.” I scanned the refrigerator and realized we would have to include Cory’s likes into our weekly groceries. I smiled like a goof at the prospect of getting to know his likes and dislikes more and making sure he was properly fed.
“I’m actually great. I never eat breakfast, though I do love breakfast food. Usually have it for dinner a couple of times a week.”
My stomach responded with a growl. “We do pancakes and movies on Friday nights. That’s how we party.”
“That kind of party sounds good to us, doesn’t it, T?” Tobias had sucked down his bottle in record time and was now being burped on Cory’s shoulder. The guy was a pro.
“You said you were the oldest of twelve. That must be where you got your baby experience,” I said, sitting at the table with a bowl of old-man fiber cereal.
Cory nodded. “Yeah, my dad was a pilot, so he was gone a lot. I had to help Mom out, and my next sister is only a year younger than me, so she helped, too. Is Tobias on some kind of schedule? I stayed up making a list of things to do today and information to get. I hope it’s okay.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with his free hand and put it on the table.
As I read over the list, I felt like the worst father ever.
- Pediatrician’s name and phone number. When was his last visit? Insurance?
- Schedule?
- Furniture for the nursery?
His list went on and included so many things I hadn’t even thought of. Honesty was the best policy.
“The truth is, Cory, we have no idea what we’re doing here. I guess I need to add him to my insurance policy at work, which I hadn’t thought of, and get him a pediatrician. I’ll contact the social worker to see if there are existing records so we can get him to the doctor if he needs to go. We don’t have him on any schedule, but I’m guessing that’s something that is necessary since it’s on your list. And I’d intended to go pick up some things today because I have the day off.”
I breathed out a weighted sigh and sat back in my chair.
“I apologize,” Cory said sincerely. “I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. It’s things I noticed, and they don’t all have to be taken care of today. No pressure, Levi.”
Ben came down the stairs and hugged me from behind, placing a kiss on my neck. “Good morning to all. What’s this?”
Ben took the list and read over it, his face showing the same stress I was sure mine revealed.
“You’re off today, and I don’t have anything pressing. Should we go shopping, Levi? Tobias needs some new clothes; we only have a few. And a changing table. Maybe we could pick up some paint and get his room looking less like a guest room.”
“He slept all night, by the way, sleepyhead,” I mentioned as Ben went to make his coveted cup of coffee.
“What? That’s like a thing, right? Like a milestone or something. I need more baby books.”
Cory spoke up, “My mom is firmly against baby books. She says parents have instincts that far outweigh books and words.” He paused and then stammered, “B-but, if you two want to get books, I was just saying. Don’t listen to me. You two are the parents.”
Ben and I both laughed. “It’s fine, Cory. We need advice like this.”
Cory blew out a breath. “Should I get him dressed for an outing, then? Is there a diaper bag?”
Ben’s cousin Trey hadn’t had a lot of money. Tobias came with very little clothing and only a beat-up backpack that held two diapers and a travel pack of wipes.
“We’ll add that to the list. We can pick it up first.”
“Great. I’ll go get us both dressed, and we’ll be ready shortly.”
Cory bounced up the stairs with the baby, and Ben straddled my lap and whispered in my ear. “He’s so cute with Tobias. I missed you in bed this morning. I woke up without my fireman next to me. Had to put out the fire by myself.”
Gods, I loved it when Ben called me his fireman.
“That’s too bad. But sometimes fires smolder well into the night.” I gave his ass a slap and then squeezed the same spot. His hips bucked once.
“I’ll still be hot tonight, love. Don’t you worry.” Ben’s lips covered mine, and I almost hoped we would be caught by Cory. I wanted him to see our passion and be turned on by it.
I had to stop that.
“We have to go get dressed. If we don’t stop, we won’t get anything done today.” I opposed my own words by reaching between us to stroke Ben’s hard-on. He moaned and then covered his mouth quickly, remembering that we were no longer alone in our home.
“I can get your fire put out in two minutes with my mouth. You can time me, love.”
I stood and let his body slide down mine until his feet reached the floor. “Two minutes. That would be a record.”
Ben smiled. “You know how I love a challenge. Come on, let’s get dressed.”
We got upstairs, and I could hear Cory baby-talking to Tobias. They were still in the nursery, so he was still getting the baby ready for the day. We had time.
Ben and I slipped into the bedroom and closed the door.
“On your knees, Benjamin.” He loved it when I called him by his whole name before he was about to fuck me or me him.
He did as I demanded and pulled my pajama pants and boxers down with him. In seconds, the fullness of my cock was enveloped in the wet heat of his mouth while his hand reached between my legs and played with the tight circle between my ass cheeks. With my hands tangled in his hair, I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and imagined Cory in the corner of our bedroom, sitting in a chair watching us, stroking his own dick while my mate sucked me off.
I didn’t even last two minutes, one—maybe.
“Told you,” Ben said, getting up to press me against the wall to kiss me. “Your turn.”