He flinches his head back. “I just can’t forgive you.”
The words leave his mouth like flecks of glass prickling my skin as they did this morning. My heart sinks. I pull away and stand with Caleb in my arms. “I’m going to bed.”
He grabs my hand. “I’m trying, Steph. I'm really fucking trying.”
“So am I.” I trudge upstairs. I'm trying to keep myself together. When the kids are around, I try to act normal and get out of bed every morning. Tomorrow, I’ll need to focus at work and try not to lose my job along with everything else.
* * *
CAL
Caleb’s whimperstirs me awake.
“Time to get up for school,” Steph’s voice travels down the stairs. I sit up from the sofa, pull the throw off and head towards the kitchen to boil the kettle.
Steph walks into the kitchen, carrying Caleb. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I yawn, taking her in. She has some colour to her cheeks and looks refreshed. Her blouse stretches around her breasts, and her skirt hugs her full-figure.
She follows my eyes as they rake her body, looking down at her clear tights that camouflage the cut on her leg. “Do I look okay? None of my work clothes fit like they used to. Everything’s tight.”
“You look fine.” She looks more than fine. I always loved her in clothes that gripped her big tits and ass. My head bobs towards her shoes. “How’s your foot?”
“It’s not bleeding anymore.”
Caleb holds his arms out to me, opening and closing his fists. “He wants you,” Steph says as she hands him to me.
My chest swells, and a warmth spreads through my body. “Hey, little dude.” I hold him in my arms, gazing into his brown eyes.
“He’s been fed. There’s some fresh milk I pumped out this morning on the bedside table, and I’ll feed him again when I get home.” Steph wipes the drool from his chin with the small bib around his neck. “You’re spending the day with Daddy, aren’t you?” she says in her cute voice she uses when talking to Caleb.
Hearing the words ‘Daddy’ gives me an adrenaline rush, making me feel fully awake without the need for coffee. “We’ll have a great time, won’t we, mate? We’ll see your sisters and Nanny, aye?”
The kids come into the kitchen in their school uniforms, and Steph pours them cereal as they sit at the table.
“I’ll drop the kids at school on my way to work. Justin’s picking them up as they’re staying at his tonight. I’ll leave the car seat in the hall for you. Do you want me to collect him from your mum’s after work?” She stares at the clock on the kitchen wall.
“I’ll drive back over and stay the night again if it’s all right? I want to spend as much time with him as possible before I go back to Australia next week.”
“What about your girls?” She bites on a nail with chipped pink varnish.
“They’re okay. They’re having the time of their life with their nanny. You know she lets them get away with murder, right?” A puff of laughter leaves my lips. “It’ll be the same with this little munchkin.” I tickle Caleb’s tummy and he lets out the cutest giggle, showing those dimples of his that remind me of Steph.
“If I leave you my house key, will you be here when I come home?”
“Yeah, I’ll make sure I’m here for five.”
She walks into the hall and takes her key from the bunch and leaves it on the counter.
“Mum, where’s my leotard for gymnastics?” Cassie asks.
Steph palms her forehead. “Oh no. I forgot about gymnastics. Is it not in your wardrobe?”
Cassie shrugs her shoulders while slipping on her shoes at the bottom of the stairs.
“Is it a light blue one?” I remember folding something yesterday.
“Yes, have you seen it?”