Dad Bod (Under Construction 1)

“What was that?” she turns back and asks, popping her firm hip to the side. I keep my lips sealed and sidestep around her, leading Jo and Belle into the kitchen.

“Why you have cupcakes, JoJo?” Belle asks as I prop her up on a barstool at the island.

“Belly,” Jordan begins, “does your daddy look different?”

Belle purses her lips, her chubby finger tapping her cheek as she considers Jo’s question. “He’s not a teddy bear anymore.”

“He’s not a teddy bear?” Jo asks, her face alight with humor.

“

No. He’s not soft and fwuffy wikes me teddy bears. Wikes he used to be. Now he’s hard wike a hammer.” Jordan bursts into laughter, and Belle looks at me, not understanding Jo’s reaction. I straddle the barstool beside Belle and pull her little hands into my own.

“Remember your birthday party, Belly, when Daddy passed out?”

Belle sucks in a heavy breath, her eyes filling with tears as her lip quivers. “You scared me.” She nods emphatically.

“Daddy didn’t mean to scare you, Belly. Daddy was a teddy bear then, remember? I was slow and pudgy and tired all the time because Daddy wasn’t healthy. But Jo,”—I look across the counter at Jordan, and my cheeks hurt from the smile that overtakes my face—“Jo changed all that.”

“She busted you’s balls in the gym, didn’t she, Daddy?”

Jordan covers her face with the palm of her hand, but her laughter can still be heard. “She sure as hell did, kiddo. But because Jo busted my balls, Daddy is healthier now.”

“You’s not sick anymore? My JoJo made you all better!”

The way she takes possession of Jordan ain’t lost on me. My Belle is as crazy about Jordan as I am.

“Something like that,” Jordan chimes in. “So tonight, since Daddy isn’t a teddy bear anymore, we’re gonna reward him with cupcakes, his favorite!”

“And mine!” Belly exclaims, throwing her arms around my neck. “I’s pwoud of you, Daddy.” Belle kisses my cheek then situates herself on the barstool, turning her full attention to Jo.

“JoJo, we has a diwemma. You’s favorite cupcakes is from Mabel’s, and my daddy’s favorite cupcakes is from Publix. So what cupcakes did you bwing him?” Belle cocks her brow, her interrogation of cupcakes completely serious.

Jo winks at Belle and slowly peels the sides of the bag away from not one, but two six-packs of cupcakes. “I. Brought. Both!” Belle claps and laughs excitedly as Jordan opens both containers revealing a mixture of devil’s food and vanilla cupcakes. Fuck me runnin’. I’ve lost seventy-five pounds, and Jo obviously wants to torture me by bringing this lard into the house. I’ll not survive this without gaining.

“Ugh, is dis whys you made the dolphin, Daddy? To twick me! You knew I’d want a cupcake.” Belle huffs as she climbs off the barstool and clambers over to her seat at the dining table.

Jordan throws her head back and laughs as she rounds the counter to follow Belle, and I link my arm around her shoulder to lead the way.

Belle entertains us over dinner, telling stories about her day at preschool. She talks to Jo more than she does me, and I eat it all up, watchin’ their interactions with a full heart. And since Jordan is eating dinner without argument, Belle mimics her actions, even humming appreciatively when her plate is clear.

“Dat sure was yummy, Daddy. Now can I has a cupcake?” Her freckles crinkle behind her smile as she butters me up.

“Sure, while Daddy cleans up the kitchen, you and Jo can have a cupcake.”

Jordan helps me clear the table while Belle climbs up on a barstool at the island and plays Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe between vanilla and devil’s food.

I start the dishwasher, then get paper plates out of the cabinet for the cupcakes.

“Since we’re celebrating your victory, you get to choose first.” Jordan shoves the cupcakes closer to me, but I dismiss her with a wave.

“Nah, I’ll pass for right now.”

Jo pokes out her lip in a pout, and I want to nip it, bite it, kiss it, suck it. “Oh come on! One little cupcake ain’t gonna set you back, Mad!”

“Yeah, Daddy. Has a cupcake.”

I get the milk from the fridge and pour Belle and Jordan both a glass. “You better eat up, kiddo. It’s getting close to bedtime.”