Without a mirror, though, I could only guess where it was. I knew where the pimple was, but it wasn’t like I’d put a dot of toothpaste on it. No, I’d gone full Colgate and had swiped it liberally on top of the zit and the surrounding area, so the likelihood was my wiping was only getting rid of a small amount of it.
The door opened, and his head poked around the edge of it.
“Hey, sorry if I woke you up, but I thought I heard noises coming from your room when I went to get Tobe.”
Uncaring now of acne, toothpaste, and anything else, I threw the covers back and got out of bed when I saw the little face resting against his daddy’s chest.
“Hey, Bub. Are you not sleeping?” Not giving me his usual smile, he turned away and rubbed his face into Remy’s chest. Concerned, I lifted my eyes to his dad’s. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I heard him fussing and saw him rubbing his face on the monitor. When he didn’t settle back down, I went through to check on him, and he started crying and wanted to be picked up.”
I opened the door farther and beckoned him into the room, taking a step back. “Come on in and sit on the bed. I think the thermometer I bought for my place is in the bathroom because it was in with all of my bathroom stuff. If not, it’ll be in one of the drawers with my clothes and crap in them.”
Not giving him a chance to say anything back, I rushed to find it and bring it back.
“You’re so organized,” he muttered as I took readings from his forehead, the back of his neck, and his back like the instructions advised. Technically they said to do it from one of the three areas, but I liked to do an average with all three readings, just to be sure.
“No, it’s just easier because I don’t have a lot of stuff, and I have even less here with me than I normally have.” Looking down at the screen, I frowned. “Well, his temperature’s only slightly higher than it usually is, so I’m not sure. Could he be getting another tooth?”
Rubbing his face tiredly with his free hand, Remy shrugged. “Could be. How do I check?”
Gently tapping Toby’s bottom lip, I waited until he opened his mouth to stick the tip of my finger in, skimming it along his gums to see if I could feel the tell-tale bump Mom had mentioned previously. Sure enough, at the front of his top gum was a bump.
“I think he’s got one at the top.” Catching Toby’s eyes, I asked gently, “Does that hurt, Bub?”
I didn’t expect an answer in the form of a word, but his grumble was cute and pretty much confirmed it.
“I’ve got some stuff for that in the hallway bathroom,” Remy said, standing up and placing Toby down on the bed.
I’d like to say my eyes were all for the baby, but his daddy’s crotch, covered by a thin layer of his jersey sleep pants, was right in my face. I was only human!
“Uh…”
A husky chuckle snapped me out of my stupor, making me blush.
“I’ll go and get it if you can keep an eye on Tobe.”
Like he needed to even ask.
Avoiding his eyes, I gave him a wan smile and crawled up onto the mattress next to Toby. “Wanna get into bed with me? We can snuggle ‘til Daddy comes back with the medicine.”
The little guy held his arms out and sat up, so I took that as a yes and walked us up the bed on my knees, wincing when I put my knee on my laptop. Fortunately, Remy getting the medicine for Toby’s teeth involved him leaving my room, so I pulled it out while he was away and was just shoving it under the bed when he came back in, his hands full of boxes.
Wrecker had decided he was exhausted and had curled up on the huge cushion Remy had put on the floor for him earlier. Still, he lifted his head and watched what he was doing closely, then rolled onto his back when he was satisfied there was no food involved for him.
“What was that?” he asked, dropping it all on the bed.
Trying to look innocent and clueless, I shot back, “What was what?”
“The thing you just put under the bed.”
Here’s the thing—I was a shitty liar. I blamed Pawpaw for it because every single time I’d tried to lie as a kid, he’d make me doubt myself, and the truth would then come out. It’d totally ruined my lying game for life.
And a side effect of it was that thinking up a lie on the fly obviously wasn’t my forte.