Chapter Twenty-Two

 

 

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

 

I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly. I couldn’t even think- my brain was that tired. I stared at the computer screen while I tried to make sense of the words on it and let my head drop into my hands with a sigh.

As it turned out, taking on extra at work and starting a new relationship at the same time didn’t mesh well together.

It had been four weeks since Robin had divulged her diagnosis, since Jared and I had become a couple, and since we had received the court documents from Angela.

Jared was in constant contact with his lawyer, who felt that we had nothing to worry about, not really. Even so, I had briefed Robin and Keon on everything and officially transferred the case to the latter. Although Keon was a newer caseworker, I trusted him to handle the Hart file with the upmost professionalism.

I still felt like shit. I should have transferred the case long before that point, back when our friendship really started to develop. Hell, I probably should have transferred it to someone else the second he walked into the hospital that day. Selfishly, I hadn’t and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that gave more ammunition to Angela’s case.

Robin had started her treatments just a few days after telling me about the cancer. Between the surgery and chemo, she had missed quite a bit of work. She had tried to come in a few times but when I saw how badly she felt, I made her leave. She and I kept in constant contact via text and e-mail but I didn’t allow her to do much.

My family was also getting on my case because I had missed three Sunday dinners in a row. I had made sure to attend Lila’s first birthday party the weekend before, though. Those milestones I wasn’t going to miss no matter how busy I was. I was glad I had gone. Little Lila Gibson had ended up taking her first steps right in the middle of her party and it had been amazing to witness.

Otherwise, I spent my time doing triple duty at work playing manager, supervisor, and caseworker. To top it off, I had a few new hires that I was in the midst of training. I had them assigned to a few other senior caseworkers for training but the questions were never ending from all angles.

So when Keon poked his annoying, albeit gorgeous, face into my office shortly after five and offered me a smile, I wanted to throw my keyboard at him.

“Hey, boss. We’re going to take off, if that’s okay.”

I offered him a small smile. “Go away. Tell everyone else the same, please.”

“No one should work as late as you have been especially on a Friday. You’re not staying much longer, are you?” he asked and I shook my head before gesturing to the computer.

“I’ll leave soon. Have a good weekend, Keon.”

So, soon was probably a stretch. I made some coffee in the lounge and was still working at eight when Jared called.

“You sound dead on your feet.”

I let out a loud yawn and locked my computer. “I’m two cups of coffee in, too. What are you doing?”

“Digging back into Grey’s. Some woman is having her seventh kid.” He sounded horrified. “Seven. People are nuts.”

With everything I had on my plate, my morning coffee dates with Jared had become more infrequent and my evenings with him basically nonexistent. The only time I was really seeing him and Chris was during the weekends. I hadn’t stayed the night and we still hadn’t done anything sexually, but I was about as happy as I could be under the circumstances. We talked on the phone a lot and sent a lot of text messages. It was interesting to see our texts slowly evolve from friends to more than friends. Both of us were bolder in text and the things we’d been dying to say since we met had started bubbling to the surface.

The first time we did have coffee after becoming a couple had been interesting, though. I had beaten him to Java Express and placed our order, so I was already at the table when he arrived. He walked in, heading right towards me, and pulled me in for a long kiss. A kiss that was broken apart when several people started clapping. We both turned to find the Java Express staff and some of their regulars grinning at us.

“It’s about time,” called out a barista who had served us many, many times. “We were beginning to think that you guys would never get a clue.”

Yeah, that had been embarrassing.

“So six is your limit?” I asked Jared over the phone while I tried to conceal another yawn.

“Most definitely.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “I haven’t seen you since Tuesday, you know.”

I grabbed my bag before turning off my office light and pulling the door closed. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no. I was just teasing you.” I could tell he felt bad for even saying it. “Want to come over?”

“I’m not sure I would be very good company tonight, Jare,” I replied honestly. “I’d probably fall asleep on you within about five minutes.”

There was a beat of silence before he spoke. “I’m okay with that. You can stay the night with us.”

My steps faltered as I moved out of the elevator. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. We don’t even have to share a bed or, if we do, I can stay on my side. It’s a really big bed.”

“So you don’t want to sleep in the same bed as me then?” I teased, walking out to the parking lot. Jared chuckled softly.

“Steph, if only you knew how much I actually wanted you in the same bed as me. You’d probably cringe if you had the inside scoop to my brain.”

A flush of arousal ran through my veins at his words and I shivered slightly in the warm, early-May air. I pulled open the door to my car and slid in behind the steering wheel.

“If you’re sure. I’m going to stop by my place and grab a change of clothes.”

“Perfect.” The smile was obvious in his tone. “I’ll scrounge up something for you to eat since I’m sure all you had was a Cup of Noodles about two hours ago.”

“I ran out of Cup of Noodles yesterday, for your information. I popped a bag of popcorn tonight.”

Both of us laughed and I told him I’d be over soon before we ended the call.

Alyssa’s car was in the garage but the house was dark and quiet when I walked in and I knew she was probably asleep. I packed a quick overnight bag, scribbled out a note for my best friend, and got back into my car.

Howie was at the desk when I walked in the side door and he smiled when he saw me. I returned it with a bright one of my own and gave him a tight hug. Instead of moving towards the elevator with me, however, he handed me something.

“What’s this?”

“Your own keycard and door key, miss,” he said happily. “Mr. Hart had them made some time ago but he asked me this morning to give them to you the next time you were here.”

I accepted both from Howie and raised my eyebrows. “Pretty confident man, isn’t he?”

“Perhaps.” Howie continued smiling at me. “Or maybe he was just hopeful.”

“Maybe.” I pressed a kiss to the old man’s cheek and went to the elevator. He stayed where he was, watching me, and I waved as the elevator doors closed.

When I got upstairs, I didn’t use the key in my pocket but knocked like I always did. Jared opened the door with empty arms and immediately wrapped them around me.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

I sank into his hold and pressed my cheek into his chest. “Hey. Baby asleep?”

“Yeah. Come inside.” He kissed the top of my head and then released me, stepping back so we could close the front door. “I ordered tacos for dinner and got some leftovers warmed up for you.”

My stomach grumbled just thinking about food and I kissed his chin. “Thanks, Jare.”

We settled on the couch with a plate in my lap and my feet in Jared’s. Stories about our days were exchanged and it wasn’t until my plate was empty that I reached into my pocket to pull out the keycard and key I’d been given earlier.

“You had a key made for me?”

He nodded. “I actually had one made up for you when I first put you down as an emergency contact for Chris but it felt kind of weird giving it to you. If you’re not comfortable using the door key, at least use the elevator pass, okay?”

“I can handle that.” I put my plate on the coffee table and moved over so I was sitting next to him. He dropped his arm across my shoulders and I released a content sigh. “I’ve missed you.”

His hold on me tightened and I felt his lips press to the side of my head. “Me, too. I’m glad you’re here, though.”

Neither of us said anything else. Without the TV on, silence filled the living room but it was the best kind of silence. It was so comfortable that I felt my eyelids start to droop and had to fight to keep them open. Jared didn’t miss it and he stood from the couch, pulling me to my feet in the process.

“Let’s go to bed, Vanilla Latte.”

I followed him into the bedroom feeling like a nervous virgin. I knew that he wouldn’t pressure me to have sex but I briefly wondered if he expected it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to have sex with Jared because I did. I really did. I just didn’t want our first time to be when I was dead on my feet with the baby two feet from the bed. It might have sounded stupid, especially for a twenty-six-year-old woman who had lost her virginity ten years before, but I wanted it to be better.

He gestured me to use the bathroom first and I offered him a smile before heading in and closing the door. After changing into a pair of sleep shorts and an old t-shirt, I brushed my teeth and washed off whatever make-up was still on my face. When I couldn’t procrastinate anymore, I pulled the door open and moved back into the bedroom.

Jared had also changed his clothes and was in a pair of pajamas similar to mine. He smiled when our eyes locked and then motioned to the side of the bed opposite of the bassinet.

“You take that side, okay?”

I nodded and pulled the blankets back while he took his turn in the bathroom. I walked over to the bassinet and stared down at Chris, who was fast asleep. He’d broken out of his swaddle and had his hands over his head. His little face was turned away and I leaned down to press my lips to his chubby cheek.

I peeled myself away and got into the bed where Jared had told me to. A minute or so later, the bathroom door opened and the light went off. My eyes stayed on his shadowy form and I felt nervous anticipation run through me. He pulled his shirt over his head, leaving him in just his sleep pants.

The mattress dipped slightly as he laid down and he didn’t hesitate to move towards where I was already in the center of the king-sized bed. His lips pressed to mine in a soft, chaste kiss and his hand came up to cup my cheek.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

Relief hit me when I realized that he wasn’t expecting anything from me. The relief was quickly followed up by… disappointment? I hated how nervous I was at the thought of having sex with him because I knew without a doubt that being with Jared would be amazing.

“Goodnight,” I whispered, moving closer and pressing my face against his neck. He shifted until one of his arms was under my head and the other was draped over the top of me. Surrounded by the smell of Jared Hart and wrapped in his warm hold, I fell asleep quickly.

When a baby whimpering pulled me out of a dead-to-world sleep, it took me a moment to remember where I was. I had somehow turned so I was facing away from Jared and he had his chest against my back. Before I had a chance to wake fully or even appreciate our position, he was up and out of bed.

About two minutes later, I heard him whisper something to his son. I cracked my eyes open and saw Jared lift Chris from the bassinet and take him to the glider in the corner of the room. I watched the two of them from the pillow as Jared held the bottle and rocked his son. It only took about ten minutes before Chris was placed back in his bed. Jared settled under the blankets and smiled when he saw I was awake.

“You should be sleeping.”

I cuddled up to his warm, bare chest when he wrapped his arms back around me. “I like watching you with Chris.”

“Yeah? I like watching you with Chris.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “It’s incredibly sexy.”

My only answer was a slight chuckle and I let sleep claim me again. I woke again in the morning before either of the Hart boys. I admired Jared’s sleeping form for a minute, letting my eyes roam over his handsome face. To avoid leaning in and kissing him, I made myself get out of bed.

The clock on the microwave said it was after seven and I was surprised that Chris was still asleep. I went ahead and got coffee started before digging through the fridge and pulling out stuff for breakfast.

Jared and Chris showed up when I was just finishing the pancakes I had been making. The baby gave me a happy smile when I turned around and I couldn’t help returning it.

“Good morning.”

Jared leaned in and pressed his lips to mine softly. “It really is a good morning. I could get used to finding you in this kitchen in your pajamas.”

“Play your cards right, Hart, and it could happen often.” I pulled Chris out of his arms and pressed my lips to his belly, earning me a little grunt as he pulled my hair. “We have to be getting close to giggles by now.”

Jared grabbed a clean bottle and nodded his head. “You know one of my favorite things about you?”

“What?” I asked while using my free hand to move pancakes to plates. Jared took the dishes from me and gave me the bottle instead.

“The fact that everything with Chris is we. We should be reading to him. We finally get to see him smile. We have to be getting close to giggles. You’ve been doing it for as long as I’ve known you.”

“You like the fact that I’ve basically inserted myself into your life by force?” I grinned and sat at the table across from him. “Most men would be afraid of that.”

He shook his head as he picked up a fork. “Then they’re idiots. When I showed up in the NICU the day before he came home, I watched you hold my son like he was yours. I couldn’t hear what you were saying but you whispered to him, kissed him, and loved on him as if you’d been the one to give birth two week before. And then I realized that you were crying and it confirmed what I already knew. I wanted you in my life, Steph. Badly. I wanted that beautiful woman who loved so freely and so much.”

He spoke as he used his fork to cut up my pancakes, like it was no big deal, and I didn’t even know how to reply when he was done. I just stared at him in silence until Chris spit the bottle out and I pulled myself out of my daze so I could burp him.

“Thank you,” I finally said quietly. “Thank you for letting me into your lives so easily. Thank you for letting me spend so much time with your baby. Thank you for being my friend before anything.”

“We’re both lucky to have you.”

We didn’t say anything else as we finished eating and I took Chris to the nursery to get him changed while Jared showered. I kissed his bare stomach and he just grinned at me like it was the best thing ever. I redressed him in a monkey onesie and a pair of pants before pulling him back into my arms.

I carried him down the hall to Jared’s room to get my phone and Chris made soft, happy noises against my shoulder as he tugged on my hair. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and was just turning to leave when the bathroom door opened. Jared stepped out wearing nothing but a towel at his hips and I froze.

The man was beautiful. His wet, blonde hair was slicked back on his head and somehow had a piece sticking up in the back. His bare chest wasn’t ripped with a six-pack of abs but it held some definition and I knew from laying my head against it that it was firm. Visually, it was smooth and lean and all I wanted to do was run my fingers down it. Or lick the little drops of water from it. Either would work.

Chris gave a hard tug on my hair and I realized that I was staring. Blinking several times, I met Jared’s eyes and offered a small smile to counter his smirk.

“Sorry. I just…” I shook my head and shrugged. “You’re hot.”

“The way you just took your time openly checking me out was hot.” Jared’s eyes were filled with desire and I could feel my breathing pick up.

I shook my head and started to back out of the bedroom. “If I don’t leave now, I’m going to try to do inappropriate things that his young eyes shouldn’t see.”

Jared laughed softly and I grinned before disappearing into the hallway. I had it bad for that man and I was afraid that I was going to combust.

“You and Daddy are just too much, Christopher.” I brought his little hand to my lips and kissed him several times while he just smiled at me.

I was laying on the floor with Chris, both of us on our stomachs, when Jared appeared dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I looked up at him and smiled.

“Hi.”

He just grinned and shook his head. “Hey.”

Chris apparently wanted to see his dad, too, because he rolled over so he was no longer on his stomach but on his back instead. I stared at him with my eyes wide before looking at Jared, who also looked shocked.

“Did you see that?”

He nodded and fell to his knees so he could put Chris back on his stomach. “He just rolled over.”

Chris gave me a look of irritation, as if I’d done it and not his father, and rolled over easily again.

“Rolling over at fifteen weeks is early. I honestly thought we had longer. You know what this means, right?” I moved to my knees and Jared just gave me a clueless expression, making me grin. “Time to get him out of the bassinet. Rolling from his back to his stomach is going to follow sooner that we’d like. Besides, he’s almost too big for the bassinet anyway.”

“Shit. How do you do that?”

I laughed and shifted so I could lean into him. “Start with naps for today and we can try bedtime tonight to see how he handles it.”

“Yeah?” Jared pressed a kiss to my cheek. “We?”

“I just invited myself to stay the night again.”

He grinned at me. “Good. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

I ran my fingers through his damp hair. “As little as possible.”

“Sounds like a perfect day to me.”

The two of us took some time to make sure the crib was ready for Chris to sleep in. When it was time for him to take a nap, I stayed in the living room so Jared could get him to sleep. He reappeared ten minutes later holding a small video monitor and sighed as he handed it to me.

“He looks so small in that big crib.”

I smiled at the small form on the screen in my hand. “He’s so beautiful.”

Jared sat next to me and we both stared at the monitor for a moment without saying anything else. The silence eventually transformed into us making out like a couple of teenagers and we only stopped when my stomach growled loudly around lunch time.

“Are you on call next weekend?”

I shook my head and swallowed a bite of my food. “Nope. I honestly can’t handle any on call shifts with everything else I have on my plate. Why?”

“Want to go out on a date with me?” He gave me a lopsided grin and I smiled instantly. It had been a long time since someone had asked me out on a date. The last time had been when I was fifteen and Troy had nervously come up to me while I was standing at my locker. All of the times after that had been implied or routine. I had dated a couple of times since our break-up but they had both been pre-arranged, set up by Alyssa. Jared asking made me feel like a teenager again.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Next weekend, then. I’ll find a babysitter for Chris.”

“What about Marco and Bri?” I asked hesitantly. Jared furrowed his brows and stared at me for a moment.

“Does Bri watch your nieces and nephews, too?”

I laughed softly and nodded my head. He was pretty endearing when he went into protective daddy mode. “All the time. I wouldn’t suggest them if I didn’t know Chris would be in good hands.”

“Yeah, of course you wouldn’t. Sorry, we’ve never left him with anyone before besides the people at the daycare center and it makes me nervous. Bri and Marco it is.”

“What are we going to do on this date?” I asked after I’d taken both of our empty plates to the kitchen. I moved to sit on the couch but Jared reached out and snaked his arms around my waist, bringing me down so I was sitting in his lap.

“It’s a surprise but there might be dessert involved.”

I grinned and looped my arms around his neck while running my nose along his. “Sounds like a winner already.”

Rather than picking up where we left off before lunch, Jared picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Sitting there, cuddled together, we spent the rest of our day doing absolutely nothing together.