“Um, Aspen? There’s another little child crawling toward me.”
“Are you nervous?”
He turned back to her, spotting her lips curve up into a smile. Her eyes danced. “You are, aren’t you? Please don’t tell me you’re scared of children?”
“I won’t tell you that. Because it’s not true.” But it was hard for him to be annoyed when her face had lightened. He liked that in that moment she appeared carefree and happy.
The little boy made his way steadily towards him, finally reaching his shoe, which he started to drool on.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Aspen said, moving towards him. “I’ll grab him.”
He held up his hand in a silent command for her to stay where she was. Then he leaned down and picked up the little boy, holding him straight out from his chest. The boy kicked his feet and grinned at him, clearly enjoying himself.
“Hello,” Saxon said to him.
“That’s Caleb.”
“Caleb. I’m Joel.” He moved him in closer, tucking him against his chest. Caleb immediately reached for one of the buttons on his shirt, trying to bring it to his mouth.
“He’s teething. He tries to eat everything. I was just about to put them down for a nap. Their nap got interrupted.”
“Good. Do that. I’ll wait.” Saxon stared down at the little boy. “Do you need any help?” He had no idea what to do but guessed it couldn’t be that hard to put the child in its bed.
“Uh, no that’s okay. I can handle it.” She moved closer, and he handed over the child with surprising reluctance. The little boy let out a cry, reaching back for him.
Aspen gave him a shocked look. “He doesn’t usually like strangers.”
“He has good taste, obviously.” Saxon smiled at Caleb then Jamie who frowned at him. Two very different reactions to him. And both equally amused him.
“Come on, Caleb. Don’t get upset,” Aspen said, trying to juggle both boys on her hips. Where was her mother? Why wasn’t she helping her? She looked too small to cope with both boys on her own. Without thinking, he reached out and plucked Caleb back out of her arms, settling him against his chest. The little boy immediately stopped fussing.
Aspen just shook her head. “That is so bizarre. He barely even tolerates his grandma.”
The perfect opening. “Where is your mother?”
She closed up, her face shutting down. Interesting. Something was going on with her mother?
“Would you mind carrying him to the bedroom? I’ll do the rest.”
“I don’t mind at all.” Funnily enough, he meant it.
She couldn’t believe she was leading Joel Saxon towards her bedroom. Although not under any circumstances she might have dreamed of. Not that she’d dreamed of it exactly . . . oh, who was she kidding? She’d had several dreams featuring the man walking behind her.
But, in them, he wasn’t carrying one of her babies.
He didn’t seem all that used to children. The way he’d picked Caleb up, while careful, hadn’t spoken of experience. But that was actually kind of endearing. He stepped into the small bedroom behind her, and she immediately regretted her decision.
She was generally a pretty tidy person, but Caleb had kept her awake half the night with teething issues, and when he’d finally slept Jamie decided to wake up. So she hadn’t made the bed, and her nightgown was just thrown on the floor, along with the boy’s pajamas.
She chewed her lip. “Sorry about the mess. I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet.” She moved around, trying to pick up bits of clothes with Jamie still held in her arm.
“Aspen, stop.”
“We just had a rough night. I’m not usually so messy.”
“Aspen.”
“Although, I think I said that the other night, didn’t I? So you probably think I’m talking out my butt, don’t you?”