"Hey, Colin! Look over here! Come on! Look at Daddy!"
I stood over my two-year-old son and aimed our new digital camera. He had gotten himself stuck in the bathroom sink; how her managed to do it I'll never know. His chubby little legs hung over the edge of the counter while his behind sat right on top of the drain. The look on his face when I found him was absolutely priceless; a mixture of pride for managing to get up there, complete terror for fearing he would never get down and his all the while his green eyes twinkling with mischief. I quickly snapped a few shots of him to show Sydney after she finished grocery shopping.
Sydney hated leaving me alone with him for reasons just like this. She hated missing out on his life, even the little things. She cut back at the CIA when he was born to stay at home with him; it was obvious that she had a new favorite man in her life: the smaller one with her dimples and my eyes. It never bothered me because I feel the same way. I can't remember life without my little boy.
I put my hands under his arms and hoisted him out of the sink.
"Thank you, Dubby" he grinned.
"Daddy." I corrected him, but I couldn't help smiling. Still struggling with language, he could enunciate everything clearly, but he mixed up letters all the time. Sydney forced everyone to correct him (I think it has something to do with being an English major) but I actually enjoyed being "Dubby".
I followed him out of the bathroom and saw Sydney pulling into the driveway. I jogged out the front door to meet her and take in the grocery bags.
I opened the door for her. "Did you get everything?" I asked while helping her out. She 'uh-huh'ed and kissed me on the cheek. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her. I was going to deepen the kiss, but she stopped me.
"Stop it, right now. The neighbors are gonna see." She pulled away smirking and opened the trunk.
"Oh, like they haven't seen anything before." I deadpanned.
"Later." She winked at me and handed me a paper bag.
"Hiiii, Mummy!" Colin yelled from the front step.
"Hey, Baby. Wanna help me?" She held out a box of crackers for him to come and get. He ran over as fast as his stubby legs could carry him with his shaggy brown hair bouncing. He reached up with both arms, hugged the box to his chest and he proudly led us into the house.
"So, did you print off those pictures?" I asked her as she entered the bedroom after putting Colin to bed.
"Yeah, the second one was the best. You know, the one where he's trying to push himself out? I sent a copy to my dad." She walked over to me as she talked. She paused for a second and said, "You know, we're pretty lucky." Her brown eyes were soft and calm and I knew instantly she was talking about Colin.
"Yeah. You know, I'm starting think he's getting lonely. He might need a brother or sister" I raised my eyebrows hoping she'd take the hint.
"Really? You really think so?" She wrapped her arms around my waist. I leaned down and softly kissed her neck.
"I know so." I said. I moved her over to the bed and laid her down.
"Do you know how much I love you?" She said looking up at me.
"About half as much as I love you."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I reached over and hit the alarm clock. 6:45. Sydney had managed to sleep through the high-pitched beeping and I didn't blame her. After the night we had….
I grinned and stepped out of bed. I began my normal morning ritual starting with showering, then making coffee, and then saying goodbye to Sydney while bringing her a cup to drink in bed. When I reached my final stage, kissing Colin goodbye, my stomach jumped. Something was wrong.
The first thing I noticed was the draft from his open window. We had air-conditioning so we always kept the windows shut. The second thing was the opened dresser drawers. Sydney hated his room being messy and would never leave all them open with clothes hanging out of them. Peering over the crib rails I noticed the final and most important clue. He was gone.
