“You’re welcome. I’d convinced myself I’d totally made the wrong call and almost had my Lyft driver take me to a toy store.”
“Owen’s going to love it, and I do, too. We can give it to him after I change. Come upstairs with me.”
I left the gift in the entryway, took Lucky’s hand, and led him through the gates and up the stairs. We stopped off in the bathroom, and I peeled off my sticky shirt before cleaning myself up with a washcloth. Meanwhile, I rambled on about Hal’s surprise visit, and the party, and anything I could think of. Why was I nervous?
Lucky looked around curiously when we got to my room. It really didn’t look like much. The walls were plain white, my bed was in a corner with the crib pushed right up against it, and most of the floor space was taken up by a big playmat. At least I’d taken the time that morning to collect the toys into the soft-sided bin that served as a toy box.
He asked, “So, you and your son share a room?”
“Yup. We were really lucky that it happened to be available, since this house is filled to capacity.” I’d been searching the shelf in my closet, and after a moment I muttered, “Damn, that might have been my last clean T-shirt.”
Lucky came up behind me and slipped his hands around my waist before kissing my bare shoulder. I abandoned my search and leaned into him as I said, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
I turned to face him and draped my arms over his shoulders, and he kissed me for a long moment. Then he grinned at me. “So, you’ll be going topless to your son’s first birthday party? That’ll be nice for the scrapbook.”
I chuckled at that. “I can put on my one button-down shirt, which is the same thing I’ll be wearing next weekend. So much for trying to do something special for the wedding.”
He nuzzled my neck as he murmured, “My vote’s for going topless.” Then he kissed his way along my jaw before his lips found mine again.
That kiss went on for a long time before he mumbled, “We should probably go downstairs and join the party.”
I said, “Definitely,” but then I went right back to kissing him.
After another minute of this, he asked, “What’s your son doing while we’re up here making out?”
“I gave him a little red valet vest, and he’s parking the cars.” Lucky raised a brow, and I grinned at him. “One of my friends is watching him. What do you think a one-year-old is doing?”
“How would I know? Like I was saying, I don’t have the first clue about babies.”
“I didn’t either, up until a couple of months ago. Turns out they’re really not that mysterious. Keep them fed and dry and spend time with them, and they’re happy little campers. Owen is, anyway.”
“Is he walking and talking yet?”
I pulled on my dress shirt and began to button it up as I said, “He babbles. He’s a big fan of the ‘B’ sound. And he hasn’t taken his first steps yet, but that’s going to happen any day now. He can walk if he’s holding on to a person or the furniture, though.” After a pause, I admitted, “I’m sad I missed his first ten months, because his mother didn’t actually tell me he existed. But getting to be with him for this milestone really means a lot to me.” Lucky looked sympathetic.
When we went back downstairs, we found Owen scooting around in the little red car. Skye was watching him, and he smiled at my companion and said, “Hey, Lucky, good to see you.” Then he turned to me and said, “I assume that belongs to the baby. Hal put him down because he wanted to crawl around, and he made a bee-line for it.”
“Yeah, Lucky brought him the car for his birthday. He made it himself,” I said proudly.
Since Skye was a metal sculptor, I knew he’d be impressed. He exclaimed, “Dude, awesome job! I wish I’d thought of a cool gift like that.”
Lucky crouched down in the middle of the foyer, and Owen paused and smiled at him before doing another lap. There was wonder in his eyes when he looked up at me and said, “He’s beautiful. He seems happy, too.”
“Yeah, he really is.”
Lucky straightened up and touched my cheek as he told me, “He has your eyes.” I nodded, and he asked, “Is his mother blonde?”
“No, but I was at his age.”
He smiled at that. “He’s a little mini Logan.” Then he met my gaze and said, “Wow, you’re actually a dad. Not that I thought you were making it up, obviously. But until I saw the baby for myself, I guess it was sort of an abstract concept.”
“I know what you mean.”
Since Owen wasn’t going to leave that car any time soon and couldn’t really drive it on the area rug in the living room, Lucky and I took a seat on the bench in the foyer while Skye returned to the party. A minute later, Hal came over to say hello.
After I introduced them, Lucky turned to watch the baby as he scooted down the hall, and my best friend let his mouth fall open in a look of exaggerated surprise. Then he mouthed the words, “Fucking hot,” before smiling pleasantly at Lucky when he turned back to us.