I leave the laundry on the dresser and jump in the shower, making sure to put my dirty clothes into the hamper this time. When I get out and am getting dressed, I hear RJ’s voice come through the monitor. He’s only been asleep for less than thirty minutes. I switch the monitor off and head into his room to grab him so Micaela can sleep a little longer.
While I’m changing his diaper, my phone buzzes in my pocket. After I left the gym, I stopped by the store to get a replacement for my broken one.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, Son, how’s it going?”
“Good… I think.”
Dad laughs. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just…” I take a deep breath, unsure how to explain what happened. “I don’t know…”
“You know I’m here any time you want to talk, right?”
“I know, and I appreciate it. So, what’s up?”
“What’s up is that your mom is chomping at the bit to see her baby boy. Any chance you’re planning to come by today?”
I glance down at RJ, who’s staring up at me with an adorable grin splayed across his face. His lack of nap doesn’t seem to have affected his attitude—unlike Micaela, who clearly needs to finish her nap.
“Yeah, Micaela isn’t feeling well, but I can bring RJ over.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah, I think so…”
Dad chuckles. “How about we talk when you get here?”
“All right. I’m on my way.”
After packing up the diaper bag Micaela uses full of diapers, wipes, bottles, and formula, I load RJ into his car seat, buckle it into my truck—make a note to buy one for my vehicle so we don’t have to keep switching it from vehicle to vehicle—and head out.
“My baby!” Mom squeals when I walk into the house with RJ in tow a few minutes later. I assume she’s talking about me, so I roll my eyes playfully, but then she snatches RJ from me and starts planting kisses all over his face. “I’ve missed you so much,” she coos, leaving me standing in the foyer, while she walks into the living room and sits on the couch with her grandson.
“Wow, what am I? Chopped liver?” I joke, following her in.
“I missed you too,” Mom says, blowing me a kiss. “But I haven’t seen this handsome man in several days.”
“You haven’t seen me in four months,” I scoff. “And I almost died.” It was meant as a joke, but Mom stops what she’s doing and glares, clearly not taking it as such.
“Don’t go there,” Dad warns, sitting next to Mom.
“It was a joke.”
“A bad one,” Mom points out. “And, of course, I missed you too.” She hands RJ over to Dad and walks over to give me a hug. “I’m so glad you’re home safe.” She hugs me tightly. “I’m too young to have all these gray hairs you’re giving me.”
She sits back down next to Dad and takes RJ from him, peppering more kisses on his cheeks. He giggles and squirms, loving the attention.
“Where’s Micaela?” Mom asks.
“Sleeping.”
Mom’s brow rises at my one-word answer, silently telling me to elaborate, but before I can, the doorbell rings and in walks Marco and his dad, Caleb.
“What’s up, G.I. Joe?” Caleb extends his arm and we bump fists. “How’s it going?”
“Chilling.”
“Where’s my daughter?” Marco asks, glancing around.
“She… umm…”
“She, what?” he prompts.
Fuck, I guess I should just come out and try to explain this to someone.
“I don’t know.” I sigh in frustration. “Yesterday I got home and everything was perfect. But then last night… I left my clothes on the floor and she fell into the toilet… She turned our clothes pink, and I guess she used detergent instead of dishwasher soap and soaked the kitchen. Apparently I snore and she couldn’t sleep… And then she cried and laid down for a nap.”
I take a deep breath at the end of my long as fuck explanation, and everyone goes quiet. Mom is holding back a grin, and Dad is smirking, Marco’s eyes are bugging the hell out, and Caleb is full-blown smiling like what I just said is hilarious.
“Welcome home, Son,” Marco finally says, patting me on the shoulder.
I open my mouth to ask what the fuck he means by that, when my phone rings. It’s Micaela.
“Hey, baby, you sleep good?”
“Oh, thank fucking God! Your phone works!” Micaela cries loudly through the phone.
“Yeah, I got a new—”
“RJ is missing! Please tell me you have my baby.” I might not be able to see Micaela through the phone, but I can hear the tears in her words.
“Yeah, I’m at my parents’.”
“You didn’t tell her you were coming here?” Mom gasps.
“Ryan,” Micaela breathes. “You can’t fucking leave with my baby without telling me! I was about to call the police. I woke up and he was gone.”
I’m about to ask where she thinks he could’ve gone without me, since he can’t get out of his crib, let alone walk, but stop myself.