I was fairly certain my life was heaven on earth. As I looked around my glamorous, elegant condo, there were parts of it that were barely recognizable compared to my first weekend here. My office now had a playpen in the corner. One bedroom was the nursery, and the other was Heather’s office, with a playpen there as well.
It had taken a little time to figure out an arrangement for us, but Heather now worked from home, just three days a week. During those days, I was able to take Bobby into my office when she was making calls or doing any work that required intense focus.
We managed to juggle him back and forth, so that he had constant attention, but we both managed to get a reasonable amount of work done. We also had two amazing nannies on call for date nights, or the odd day when we were both extremely busy.
There were several times that I was able to make a long-distance client smile by rocking Bobby in my arms during a video call. He was such a good baby. Gentle and even-tempered like his mother, occasionally slightly uptight and fussy like me.
Heather was able to have her monthly book club at our home, so a few of the other ladies felt free to bring their children as well. I adored playing the part of butler, then disappearing to give her some space, sometimes bringing Bobby along to lounge in bed with me. Luckily, he seemed to enjoy the noises and colors of science fiction movies.
I had no idea I’d become one of those men with a million photos of their wife and son in their phone, eager to show them to anyone who would pay attention. We were the perfect tiny family.
Finishing up my work for the day, I closed my laptop, looking around the desk to make sure I hadn’t left anything sharp or expensive lying around. Bobby was almost toddling now, and I needed to be in the habit of double-checking everything.
Walking next door to Heather’s office, she was typing away, no doubt making a list of tomorrow’s work. Bobby looked up from his playpen with a gigantic grin, waving a stuffed frog and instantly babbling in his own strange language. Ten months was a little early for real words, but he was beginning to take his noises very seriously.
Picking him up, I took him out to the living room so that Heather could finish up for the day undisturbed. Taking him to the corner of the window, I held him up so that we could point out the different sorts of buildings. He was always fascinated by looking down at the tiny buses and taxi cabs zipping around.
We watched a plane fly past at the edge of the city, then I felt a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take him if you like,” Heather said. “Unless you wanted me to start dinner?”
“I’ve ordered in from the health food place you like,” I said. “It should be here in five minutes.”
“You spoil us,” she grinned.
Slipping my free arm around her, I kissed her deeply. “I love to spoil my beautiful wife. I’m pretty sure you were well aware of this.”
As she snuggled into my shoulder, Heather said, “You are the best husband and daddy in the world. I should get you a trophy or something.”
“And you are the sweetest, sexiest wife and mommy,” I chuckled.
Bobby reached out his chubby little hand to pat her face, mumbling a noise that sounded like, “Mama.”
Heather stared at him in shock, then looked at me as her lovely eyes grew misty. “Did he just say…”
“Almost. I think so. It should be any day now.”
With my arms around the two loves of my life, I felt a wave of total satisfaction. Every single goal I’d ever dreamed of had been accomplished.
It was as if my life’s list was complete.
*** *** ***