"Good morning, little bug." Elizabeth flipped on the light in Micah's room.

He stretched his little arms and rolled onto his back, his legs getting tangled in his blanket.

She lifted him from the crib and carried him over to the changing table. "Oh, sweetheart. You still feel warm." She touched his forehead. "Are you still sick?"

"Mama," he mumbled.

She spoke to him quietly as she changed his diaper and dressed him. He was clearly still trying to wake up fully, blinking slowly as he looked up at her.

"Okay, bud." She picked him up. "Does your tummy hurt, or are you hungry?"

He nodded. "Hungy."

"Then let's go see what Uncle Jack is making for breakfast."

He leaned his head against her shoulder and sighed. "Mama."

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Micah." She rubbed his back and carried him into the kitchen, where Jack was making breakfast. "Micah still has a fever."

Jack turned away from the stove. "Poor guy. So he can't go to daycare."

She nodded. "He has to be fever-free for twenty-four hours."

"Then I'll take him to work with me."

"Are you sure?" She strapped Micah into his high chair.

"Yes. I'll be in my office most of the day, anyway, and I can't imagine he'll be too distracting during my lectures if he's still not feeling well." He went back to stirring the eggs in the pan, sprinkling in salt and pepper. "I'm sure no one will mind if he's there."

"Could you take him to the doctor, too? I'm a little worried since this is the third day he's had this fever. I can call and make the appointment and everything."

"Yes, if you can make sure it's not during any of my classes."

"And those are at ten, eleven, and three?"

"Yes." He grinned. "I love that you know my schedule. I'm pretty sure I have a couple of students who still don't know what time their class starts."

"I just like knowing where you are." She kissed his cheek. "I'll call the pediatrician when I get to work and let you know what time."

"Okay." He pulled the pan off the heat. "Can you bring some plates over?"

Jack served them each some eggs and fruit while Elizabeth prepared two cups of coffee and a sippy cup of milk for Micah.

"Here you go, little bug." Elizabeth put the sippy cup and a plate of food in front of Micah.

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth kissed Jack and Micah goodbye and headed out the door.

"Well, little man, looks like you're coming to work with me today." Jack lifted Micah from the high chair. "Let's get you some toys and snacks. Okay?"

...

Jack logged off the computer and stood up. "Well, little man," he lifted Micah to his hip, "ready to go back to my office and have a little snack before we take you to the doctor?"

"'Nack?"

"Mhmm. I brought you some crackers and applesauce."

"Yum!"

Jack laughed as he walked down the hall toward his office. "I'm glad you approve of my snack choices."

"Hey, Jack." One of his fellow professors poked his head out of one of the offices. "Is this the famous Micah you've told us about?"

"Hey, Mike." He grinned and. "Yes, this is my boy. He hasn't been feeling too well this weekend, so he got to come to work with me today."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Micah. I'm sorry you've been sick."

He just stared at the unfamiliar man, unsure of what to do.

Jack chuckled. "I should get him to my office. I promised him some snacks. I'll see you later, Mike."

"See you later."

Once in his office, Jack took a seat at his desk and put Micah on his lap, handing him the pouch of applesauce and making sure the crackers were within his reach.

"Mama." Micah mumbled through a mouthful of applesauce, pointing at one of the framed photos residing on Jack's desk.

"That's right, bud. That's your mama." Jack grabbed the frame and held it in front of Micah. "Do you remember this?"

It was one of the photographs that had been taken of the three of them on Christmas Eve. Jack and Elizabeth were both laughing, her eyes on him. Micah was turned in Elizabeth's arms, trying to see what was so funny. There had been better photos taken that evening—ones where they were all smiling and looking at the camera—but Jack liked the candid one best.

"Daddy." Micah pointed at Jack in the photo.

"What did you say?"

"Daddy." He glanced between the photo and Jack, pointing again at the picture.

He placed the frame back on his desk, turning Micah in his lap. "Micah, who am I?"

"Daddy." He smiled and kicked his legs.

Jack hugged him, tears filling his eyes. "You're right, bud. I'm your daddy."

"Love daddy."

"I love you, too, little man." Jack kissed the top of his head, then reached for another frame on his desk.

This one held a photo of him and Lee and Patrick from one of their early years of college. They all sat on a bench on campus, arms resting on each other's shoulders. Jack smiled at the memory.

"Who is this?" He pointed at Patrick.

"Dada."

He let out a sigh of relief that Micah wasn't forgetting about Patrick. "That's right, Micah. That's your dad. And who's this?" He pointed at Lee.

"Unca Lee."

"And this?" He pointed at himself.

"Daddy."

"That's right. Good job." He caught a glimpse of his watch as he set the frame back down. "Okay, little man. It's time to get you to the doctor."

...

Elizabeth quietly stepped through the door just as Jack was coming down the stairs with Micah.

"Hi, love."

"Hi." She smiled. "How did everything go with Micah today?"

"Good. He seems to be feeling fine now. Right, little man?" Jack tickled his belly, and he giggled. "You're feeling better."

"Good. I'm glad you're feeling better, little bug." She took Micah from him, dropping a kiss on the top of his head. "So what did the doctor say?"

"Well, Micah has roseola. His fever had broken by the time I took him to the appointment, but he has a rash now." He reached over and lifted Micah's shirt a bit, revealing the red splotches that covered his torso. "Doc said it'll last a couple of days, but he'll be just fine. He shouldn't be contagious anymore, though, so the doctor cleared him to go back to daycare, but I'll just take him to work again with me tomorrow since he's not twenty-four hours fever free until the middle of the day."

"Well, that's good, I guess. How did he behave for you?"

"He was really good. I just set him up with some toys in my office and he kept himself pretty well occupied. And he loved helping me control the slides during my lectures."

Elizabeth touched Micah's cheek. "Did you help Uncle Jack with his classes today?"

"Daddy." He pointed at Jack.

Jack's eyes went wide, and he quickly started explaining, "he just started doing that today. I promise I didn't teach him that or prompt him or anything, it was completely spontaneous. I have no idea how he learned it. He still calls Patrick 'dada,' though; he still knows who his dad is. I made sure of it."

"Jack, breathe." She put a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to look at her. "Hey, did you think I would be upset about this?"

He shrugged. "You always call me 'Uncle Jack' around him, so I don't know what I expected. I guess I figured there was a reason for that."

"Honestly, I think it's just become a habit to call you that, but you are his daddy, Jack. I fully expected he would start calling you that eventually—especially since we're planning to have more kids eventually, and they'll call you daddy. Of course, we'll make sure he always knows Patrick is his dad, but you are the one who will be there for him as he grows up. You've been there since before he was born. You'll be there to help him learn to ride a bike and throw a ball and to pick him up when he falls down. You read to him before bed, you play with him, you love him. Of course he calls you daddy now, and he should."

Jack felt tears fill his eyes at her words.

"Honey? Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked, concern in her eyes. She touched his cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb.

"I just love that I get to be his daddy. I love this little man." He wiped his eyes and chuckled. "Gosh, I've become such a softie since we got married."

She leaned in to kiss him. "That's not a bad thing. I like having a softie for a husband." She slipped her arm around him, Micah squeezed between them.

"Gosh, I'll never get tired of hearing that."

"That you're a softie?"

"No." He chuckled, then leaned in to brush his lips against her ear. "That I'm your husband."

She shivered. "Well, husband of mine, how do you feel about babysitting?"

"That depends. Who needs to be babysat?"

"Lorelei and Leo. Rosie texted me today and asked if we could watch them Friday evening while she and Lee go out for their anniversary."

"That's fine with me."

"Good, because I already said we would."

"What if I had plans?"

Elizabeth laughed. "When was the last time you had plans with someone other than me, or Lee, or a member of your family?"

"Point taken." He kissed her softly and took Micah back from her. "I'll go start on dinner. I'm making black bean enchiladas."

"Yum." She kissed his cheek. "I'll be back down after I change."

...

"Hi, Uncle Jack! Hi, Auntie Lizbeth!"

"Hi, honey."

"Can we have ice cream tonight?"

Elizabeth chuckled as the little girl ran into the house before waiting for an answer. "We'll see, Lorelei," she called out. She took the baby from Rosemary.

"She can have a little bit, but please don't sugar her up too much."

Jack laughed, shifting Micah to his other hip and taking the diaper bag from Rosemary. "Don't worry. We won't."

"Good," she raised her eyebrows, "because I would remember that the next time we babysit Micah."

"Well, we can't have that."

"Have fun tonight. And tell Lee hello from us."

"I will. We'll be back in a few hours." She peered around them into the house. "Bye, Lorelei."

"Bye, mama!" she called from the living room.

"And goodbye, my beautiful boy." She smiled and touched Leo's cheek.

He gave her a little grin.

"See you later."

Elizabeth closed the door behind Rosemary and followed Jack into the living room, where Lorelei was busy building with some of Micah's blocks.

"Well, Lorelei, what should we do?"

"Eat ice cream!"

"If you behave, you can have a little bit of ice cream, but we have to eat dinner first."

"You can help me make dinner if you want, honey." Jack lowered Micah to the floor. "We're having macaroni and cheese."

"I love macaroni and cheese!"

He laughed. "I know. We asked your parents what you and your brother would like to eat." He looked back at Elizabeth. "Are you okay in here with the boys?"

She nodded. "We're good."

Lorelei skipped into the kitchen with Jack, and Elizabeth took a seat on the floor with her son.

She put Leo beside her. "Should we build something, boys?"

"Build." Micah reached for the blocks, stacking them up in front of himself.

Leo reached for a block, too, but he brought it to his mouth and started chewing on it.

"Are you teething, bud? Micah liked to chew on blocks when he was teething, too." She grabbed the diaper bag and started rifling through it. "Let's see if your mama packed you a teether. That'll be more comfortable for you." Eventually, she found his teething toy, convincing him to chew on that instead of the block.

"Mama." Micah pointed at the little tower of blocks he had made, smiling at his handiwork.

"I see, you made a tower. Good job, little bug."

Before she could stop him, Leo swung his chubby little arm, knocking all the blocks to the floor. Micah looked stunned for a moment before bursting into tears. He toddled over to Elizabeth, climbing into her lap.

"Oh, I know. Leo knocked down your tower, and that made you sad. I'm sorry, Micah." She brushed her fingers through his hair. "He didn't mean to make you upset."

Soothed by her voice, he quickly settled down, his cries quieting to whimpers.

"Micah, when you're ready, I'll help you build another tower, okay?"

"You're amazing."

She jumped a bit, startled by Jack's voice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He took a seat on the floor beside her, and Lorelei sat in his lap. "Is that the kind of stuff you do in therapy?"

"That's a small part of it, yes. Young children don't know how to verbalize their feelings, so it's important to talk them through emotional situations so they have the words to discuss their feelings in the future."

He cupped her cheek in his hand. "Your clients are so lucky to have you, Elizabeth."

"I'm not the only competent child therapist out there."

"Please, just take the compliment, love. You're amazing, and there's no need for you to downplay that."

She blushed. "Thank you, Jack."

"Uncle Jack? Is the macaroni and cheese ready yet?"

"Oh, children." He laughed. "Just a few more minutes, honey."

After dinner, they all snuggled up on the sofa to watch a movie. Lorelei was squished between Elizabeth and Jack, enjoying a bowl of ice cream. Micah was dozing in Elizabeth's lap, and Jack was giving Leo a bottle.

Elizabeth looked over at her husband and smiled. He was speaking softly to Leo as he took his bottle, and the baby was wide-eyed as he listened.

She sighed contentedly, thinking that she would be perfectly happy to stay in that moment forever.

...

"He's asleep." Jack came down the stairs, sinking heavily onto the sofa.

Elizabeth took his hand. "Did he give you trouble?"

"I finished the book, and he asked me to read it again, so I did. Then he asked for it again."

She shook her head and laughed. "That boy."

"And it's so hard to turn him down when he's looking at you with those big blue eyes saying, 'daddy 'gain.'"

"He definitely inherited the Coulter charm. He knows just how to get what he wants."

"Lorelei got the Coulter charm, too. She may have convinced me to give her an extra scoop of ice cream."

"Jack! No wonder she was still so wired when we sent her home."

He chuckled and leaned against the back of the sofa. "Well, at least now I understand why you want to wait a year or two before we add another baby to the mix."

"And see, I was thinking maybe we start trying a little sooner than I initially said."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows. "How much sooner are we talking?"

"Still not right away. Maybe August or September."

"August or September? Seems a little random. Why then?"

"That's around our six-month anniversary and Micah's second birthday. Even if we got pregnant right away—which I'm not expecting to happen—that would ensure the baby would be born after our first anniversary, and there would be at least a two-and-a-half or three-year age gap between the baby and Micah, which I think is a decent gap."

"Sounds like you've been thinking a lot about this. More than just tonight." He nudged her with his elbow.

She smiled, looking a bit guilty. "You caught me. I just see you with Micah, and I remember how good you were with him when he was a newborn, and then seeing you with Leo tonight. I want that again. I want you to be with me every step of the way, from the very beginning this time."

He took her hand, pulling her onto his lap. "So, four months and then we start trying?"

She nodded, kissing him softly. "If you're okay with that."

He grinned. "I can't wait."

"You know, in the meantime, we can get a lot of practice in."

"More babysitting?"

She laughed softly, snaking her arms around his neck. "I wasn't talking about practicing for that part."

"Oh!"

She nodded, standing up and pulling him with her.

"Goodness, I love you."

...

Jack sighed and sank down on the bed. "Two more weeks and the semester is over."

"Bad day?"

"Just long. This is the time of the semester where I have students sending me frantic emails and coming to my office asking if there's any way for them to bump their grades."

"Hm, I wonder what that's like."

He chuckled, putting an arm around her. "Of course you wouldn't know, because you were such an overachiever in school."

"Look who's talking, Mr. PhD."

"Gosh, we were such nerds. Patrick and Lee and Rosie, too."

"Were? You're still a nerd, professor."

"Hey!" He nudged her.

"A nerd that I love very much," she added, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

He groaned.

"What?"

"I just remembered I'm teaching an intersession class."

She laughed. "How could you forget that?"

"I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but wow, I can't wait for July."

"Our first big family vacation. I'm looking forward to it, too."

"I got our flights and our vacation rentals booked. We're staying in Stirling when we're in Scotland, Coleraine when we're in Northern Ireland, and Roscommon when we're in Ireland."

"Have you been to any of those places before?"

"I've been to Stirling. It's relatively close to halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. And I've driven by Roscommon. I've never been to Northern Ireland, though."

She snuggled up against him. "You better be a very good tour guide."

"Oh, I'm the best." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Beth."