“Fuck if I know.” My smile is goofy.
“Hey, I am right here.” Violet jabs Lincoln in the ribs with her elbow, causing him to let out anoftnoise.
“I only have eyes for you, Petal. You know that.” He throws his arm around her shoulder and hugs her in tight to his side. “Plus, you give the best blo?—”
Violet slaps her hand over his mouth to shut him up, his eyes dancing with humor.
The baby monitor makes a few shuffling noises beforePoppy chatters away, indicating nap time is over. She never cries when she wakes up; instead, she sings little tunes. Although I think it’s the feeling of her tongue against her gums she likes when she singsleedle, leedlerepeatedly.
“Give me a second. I’ll be right back.” I run up the stairs to fetch Poppy to be greeted by her holding on to the side of her crib, jumping up and down excitedly, wearing a big smile.
With sleepy eyes and wild bedhead hair, she’s so adorable I could eat her.
“Hey, Popcorn.” I push my hands under her armpits, lift her out of the bed, and smack a kiss on her cheek. “Did the sandman send you lovely dreams, huh?” I bounce back down the stairs, grab her sippy cup from the refrigerator that I filled up earlier with water, and give it to her.
Poppy grabs the cup by the handles and then snuggles into me. It’s the best feeling.
“Come and meet my friends,” I say to her. “They’re gonna love you.”
As I sit back down in front of the phone, Violet gasps. “Hey, beautiful,” then waves at her.
Poppy sleepily smiles, with the spout of her sippy cup still in her mouth, showing off her two bottom teeth.
I situate Poppy on my lap so we’re both facing the front, wrapping my hands around her chubby thighs to keep her safe.
“She’s adorable, Owen,” Violet coos.
“She is.” I lower my chin to sit on top of Poppy’s head and enjoy her fresh baby smell. That smell is addictive, and I wish I could bottle it so I could wear it every day.
With hearts in her eyes, Violet swoons, her gaze firmly focused on Poppy. “I think I’m ovulating, Lincoln. Can we have one?”
“Let’s do the marriage thing first, yeah?” He brushes her off. “So, are you babysitting today?” Lincoln asks.
“Yes, and no.” I explain what happened and how I offered to take care of Poppy temporarily. Although, on reflection, I don’t want this to be a temporary thing. I want to look after Poppy permanently. I don’t want Jade to find a nanny, as I wouldn’t trust anyone with her except me.
It’s not something we’ve talked about. I’m pretty certain it’s what she wants too, but I wonder if she thinks that if she asks me, it would be putting my life plans on hold. However, right now, I don’t have any apart from being with her. Me becoming the full-time nanny would be the perfect solution.
I just have to work out a way to broach the subject with her.
Both Lincoln and Violet stare at me in surprise, then Lincoln chuckles. “You’re a manny.”
“That I am.” I’m not ashamed. It’s an epic job and super rewarding. I’ve even taught Poppy how to say bye-bye this week. It’s a crude attempt and sounds more likeba-ba, but she’s almost there. I’m going to teach her how to say my name next; that’s our top priority for this week. Well, that, jungle gym, musical tots, and there’s swimming lessons for infants on base, which I thought we could sign up for.
“What the fu—” Lincoln pauses, amending his cursing in front of Poppy. “I mean, what the heck happened since we spoke to you three weeks ago?” Lincoln sounds astonished.
“I had a meeting with the Greek gods and I met a goddess.” I’m abstract with my reply.
Right on cue, Poppy says, “Mamma.”
“Spot on, Popple.” I give her little leg a squeeze.
“Aphrodite?” Lincoln knows his ancestral gods. His Greek grandmother drummed it into him. “Myyayawould have a fieldday with this. She always said she was the most powerful of all the deities.”
Poppy places her sippy cup haphazardly onto the table, then claps her hands as if she agrees with Lincoln’s yaya.
“I could eat her.” Violet turns to Lincoln and says excitedly, “Let’s have an army of them.”
Lincoln drags his hands down his dark beard. “No way. We’ll leave that to Skye and Jacob, my dad and Eva, and her sisters. That lot can make up for us.” Lincoln looks pale at the thought of having an army of kids running around.
