Catherine was quiet for a long time. “Yes, I can. I talked to your mom the other day, and…it sounds like I wouldn’t be welcome in the family anyway.”
I was uncomfortable that she’d gone around Dex like that, but in the end, it didn’t matter. His family wanted me for him, not her. They deemed me worthy of loving Dex.
Dex didn’t have anything to say to that.
“She told me a lot about Sicily,” she said quietly. “Made me realize I never stood a chance. If Sicily were someone else, maybe…”
“What did my mom say?” Dex asked.
“That Sicily is the most selfless person she’s ever met, that she takes care of you the way she’s always wanted a woman to take care of her son. That the two of you are basically the same person. That I don’t hold a candle to her. That if she could choose the ideal woman for you, it would be her.”
“Okay, Little Dude. Bath time is over.”
Ryan sat in the tub with his dinosaur toys, playing with them under the water. He ignored his father, like that would be enough to get his way.
“Little Dude…”
Being around Ryan made me see all the subtle aspects of his personality, how he silently defied his father, the little grins he would give to get his way. It was freakin’ adorable.
“Alright.” Dex hit the button so the drain would open.
Ryan immediately started crying.
“Come on, man.” Dex grabbed the towel and got ready to dry him off. “You’ll get a bath tomorrow.”
He just sobbed and sobbed, like we’d done something terrible to him.
I tried not to laugh because it was a little funny, seeing him bawl his eyes out because the water was going away.
Dex picked him up, and together we dried him off, while he continued to sob loudly and make his face turn red, the vein in his forehead emerging.
“He looks just like you when you get mad,” I teased.
Dex gave me a playful glare then carried Ryan into his room so we could get his diaper on and his pajamas. Since Dex was such a technical person, he could get that diaper on at lightning speed. Clothes were easy too, even socks. By the time Ryan was bundled and comfortable, he’d stopped crying, totally forgetting about the warm bath that was unfairly taken from him. Then he got sleepy.
“See?” Dex said. “You’re already over it.”
The three of us went to bed in the master bedroom, putting him between us on his back, and within minutes, he was dead asleep.
Dex was turned on his side, shirtless with his muscular arm on top of the sheets, and he had a tired look in his eyes as he looked at Ryan. Taking care of a baby was exhausting. But also rewarding.
I watched Ryan until I felt Dex’s gaze on my face. I met his eyes, a baby between us.
He whispered to me. “I like having a kid. It’s fun.”
“Yeah, it’s great.”
“Kinda makes me want to have more…”
My eyes steadied on his face, unsure what that meant, if it meant anything at all.
“So, are you interested in that, or…?”
“Am I interested in what, exactly?” I asked. “You know I want to grow a family with you.”
“But, like, you know…sooner rather than later.”
“Like, right now?” I asked incredulously.
“Not right this second,” he said with a chuckle. “But, you know, a couple months…a year. Something like that.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Are you asking me to have a family with you?”
“Pretty much, yeah. It would be nice if Ryan had siblings close in age. Derek is much older than me, so I feel like that’s been a bit of a hindrance to our relationship. Daisy and I are much closer just because we’re going through the same stages of life at the same time.”
“But we aren’t married or anything…”
“You want to get married?”
“I…what?” I asked, unable to believe this conversation was happening. “Are you proposing to me right now?”
“No. I’m just trying to feel you out. It hasn’t been that long, I get it. But I’m totally down if you are.”
“Totally down?”
“That wasn’t a romantic way to put it, but yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “So…are you down for that?” He observed my features, trying to get my answer from just my expression.
I’d known I wanted to marry Dex instantly. I’d known I wanted forever instantly. I just didn’t think he would feel the same way, especially when his first marriage turned into a shitshow. “If you’re asking if I would say yes, you already know my answer. And as for growing our family, I’m down with that too. My mother would be thrilled.”
He grinned. “Perfect.”
Ryan joined us at work the next day, sitting in Dex’s carrier most of the time because he liked the attention. Dex would sit across from his patients and discuss their plan of treatment, while Ryan would reach for the papers in his father’s hand or stare at the patients across the way. It was actually really sexy watching him carry a baby everywhere, made childcare some weird form of foreplay.