Every Saturday Night (Firsts and Forever 6)
“The baby’s escaping,” Lucky said, as he got up. “I’ll go keep an eye on him.”
Hal sat down beside me, and we both leaned forward to watch Lucky jog down the hall. Then Hal whispered, “Sweet baby Jesus, that man’s gorgeous. I knew he was hot from when we used to spy on him at the diner, but damn. He’s tall, too! What is he, six-two, six-three?”
“Something like that.”
“Look how cute he is with the baby.”
Lucky had picked up the car and turned it around when it reached the kitchen, and now he was following behind it with a look of concern as Owen scooted back in our direction. “This toy is going to exhaust you,” Lucky told me when they reached us. “You’ll be chasing after him all the time.”
“I already do. He crawls faster than that.”
The baby did a wide arc in the foyer and began rolling down the hall again. “On our next date, I’m giving you a massage and then tucking you in for a nap,” Lucky said, as he passed us again. “You must be so tired.”
Once he was out of earshot, Hal whispered, “Okay, that man’s adorable.”
I grinned and nodded. “He really is.”
* * *
The party was a whirlwind. Owen was lit up with excitement and barely stopped moving. I managed to corral him long enough for everyone to gather and sing “Happy Birthday.” Then he smeared a slice of vanilla cake all over the high chair tray before I quickly cleaned him up and set him free again.
After that, it was present time. The baby didn’t get the concept of unwrapping, but he thought it was hilarious when his Uncle Lark made a big show of tearing the colored paper off each gift and tossing it in the air. He got all kinds of cool toys, games, and puzzles, then started playing with two gift box lids, which he banged together like they were cymbals.
Our guests went home in the early afternoon, and Hal and Lucky joined my housemates and me in the living room. I sat down on the floor in front of the screened off fireplace, and Lucky sat down beside me and said, “I noticed you barely ate anything at the party, so I made you a plate and stuck it in the fridge.”
I leaned against him and kissed his cheek before saying, “Thanks, that was nice of you.”
“Want me to bring it to you? Owen looks like he’s going to be busy for a while.”
“In a little bit,” I said. “I think he’ll go down for a nap pretty soon. They’re usually hit or miss, but that was an awful lot of excitement for one day.” Owen was sitting on a blanket a few feet away, having finally switched from the box tops to an actual toy. He was taking apart a new wooden block puzzle and banging the pieces on the board. Percussion was a big thing with him.
Lark was sitting on his boyfriend’s lap across the room, and he reminded me, “There are still some presents to unwrap, and they have your name on them, Logan.”
Lucky asked, “Is that a family tradition, bringing gifts to the parent on the baby’s first birthday? I really like that idea and wish I’d known. I would have brought you something.”
“JoJo came up with it and wants to see it sweep the nation.” I gestured at my friend, who was curled up on the couch with her fiancée.
“It really should become a tradition,” she said. “Just look at what parents go through in the early years, between horrific diaper changes and missed sleep and constant worry. They should all be issued a bottle of wine, some chocolate, and a set of comfy sweats annually. Spoiler alert, that’s exactly what’s in the gift bag from Yo and me.” JoJo flashed me a tipsy smile.
“New sweats, thank god,” Hal muttered. He was curled up in a chair with his third or fourth Bloody Mary. “Now you don’t have to go running in your gross junior high P.E. sweats, Logan. Also, nobody told me we were getting daddy gifts, either. I would have been all over that.”
“You coming here this weekend was my gift,” I told him, which made him roll his eyes.
“Whatever. I would’ve gotten you a nice bottle of tequila, and we could’ve had a margarita party.”
“And then you could have passed out, thrown up, and died,” I told him, “not necessarily in that order. In fact, maybe don’t try to finish that Bloody Mary. You and I both know you’re a total lightweight.”
Lucky chuckled and muttered, “Pot, meet kettle.” Then he bumped my knee with his and asked, “When are you going to open your presents?”
“Once the baby’s asleep.”
“He seems wide awake to me,” Lucky said. Then he called, “Isn’t that right, kiddo?”
Owen had been taking apart another new wooden puzzle, which had pieces in the shape of farm animals. He looked up at Lucky and smiled. Then he picked up the piece shaped like a cow and shakily got to his feet.
Hal whispered, “Holy shit,” as he grabbed his phone and started filming.
Owen fell onto his padded bottom, but then he got right back up again and took three wobbly steps. This brought him directly to Lucky. He tipped forward, and Lucky caught him and put him on his lap. The baby smiled at him, held out the wooden cow, and said, “Ba,” because it was the only thing he could say.