Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the kind reviews :-D They make me all giddy, lol! And I wanted to note to Abster1 that I was sorry for not putting Jake in a carseat on the ride home from the hospital. George forgot it of course ;-) He never remembers anything does he! lol and the whole school situation will be clarified here too, for those who asked :-) Okay, now, here's the next chapter, I really hope you enjoy it!
As soon as I started falling asleep, Jake woke up crying. I rubbed my blurry eyes and turned on the light of Casey's bedroom.
"What's the matter, buddy?" I asked him, walking over to his crib. I had a hunch, and gently picked him up. "Got a wet diaper?"
He stopped crying as soon as I lifted him and cuddled him against my chest. I smiled, gently rocking him as I brought him over to Casey's bed and easily changed his diaper. I was an expert from when Marti was a little—one of the only things I remember of when she was a baby. When my Dad had Marti for weekends, he always had me change her. He was never one for diapers.
I put a fresh diaper on Jake and re-bundled him up in his fuzzy pajamas. I then looked down at him. He just stared back up at me, clearly not ready to fall back to sleep any time soon.
"Alright, let's go watch some TV," I said to him. I brought him downstairs. It was late, so nobody was up. I kept the lights off and turned on the TV. I settled down with Jake on my chest, feeling him instantly begin breathing slower and more evenly as I stroked his back, watching an infomercial intently. A few minutes later, I looked down and saw that he was completely zonked out. I smiled at his angelic face and closed my eyes, comfortably falling asleep with one hand wrapped around Jake protectively.
The next thing I remember was seeing a flash from behind my eyelids. I groaned, opening my eyes and blinking. Casey was grinning, holding a camera.
"I've never seen a cuter sight," she said, her eyes twinkling.
Jake fidgeted as I rubbed my eyes. Casey took one more picture and sat down next to us.
"How are my two favorite men?" she asked, leaning her head on my shoulder and pressing a kiss on Jake's bald little head.
I raised my eyebrows, looking down at her. "I'm one of your favorite men?"
"Of course," she smiled, now pressing her soft lips against my cheek. I allowed myself to smile back at her, pleasantly surprised at her small display of affection. I licked my lips, ready to lean down and capture her lips with my own, when I heard Nora's voice.
"Casey, is that you?" she asked, her voice signaling her approach.
"Yeah," Casey replied. "And Derek and Jacob."
Nora walked into the room and we looked up at her.
"My, you three are up early," she smiled.
I looked down. Sure enough, Jake's eyes were wide opened and he was looking over at Nora as well.
"How about I start breakfast?" Nora continued.
"Thanks, Mom," Casey smiled. She looked over at Jake. "He must be hungry," she moved over to take Jake. I let her take him, and instantly I felt colder without Jake's little body on me. I got up and stretched, lazily walking over to the kitchen.
Casey sat on a chair in the kitchen while Nora scurried around, happily making scrambled eggs and bacon. I sat down across from Casey and watched Jake suck on the bottle she fed him.
"Sam called me last night," I found myself saying.
Casey looked up at me, one eyebrow arched in surprise. "Oh?"
"Yeah."
She moved her head, impatiently motioning for me to continue. "And?"
"And…we're cool," I gave her a slow smirk.
She smiled. "That's great, Derek. I'm happy for you."
Jake finished his bottle and unlatched his pouty lips from the bottle. His head lolled to the side and his eyes closed as he fell asleep almost immediately.
Casey and I both laughed at this. "I guess I'll go put him in his crib," Casey said and left with the sleeping baby.
I laid my head on the table after she left, suddenly very sleepy too.
"No falling asleep, Derek, honey, you have school in a little over an hour," Nora said, setting a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of me.
I groaned loudly. Was she serious? It was a school day?
"Casey, your tutor's coming at noon today instead of ten. She called last night to say she had a quick meeting to attend before your lesson," Nora went on as Casey sauntered back into the kitchen.
Casey nodded. She had had a tutor ever since the school year started, not wanting to have to attend school with a huge pregnant belly. So Nora and Dad had hired a tutor who came three times a week. Apparently it was the equivalent to our Grade 11.
"Since Jake's here, do you think you are going to come back to school?" I asked Casey as I shoveled a forkful of eggs into my mouth. We had never discussed it.
"I don't know," Casey looked down at the glass of juice Nora poured for her. "I should probably stay here with Jake for now."
I studied her, wondering if she was bitter about missing school. She didn't look that torn up about it. Probably because with the tutor she could have more advanced work. She loved learning, so she probably was glad that she could learn more than she seemed to in school. But then, I felt bad that she was alone for most of the day.
"Yeah, probably," was all I said. "I mean…unless you want me to—"
She knew what I was going to suggest. And she instantly shook her head.
"No, Derek, you have to stay in school," Casey leaned across the table and put her hand on mine. It was warm and soft, just as all of her skin was.
"But you have to stay with Jake all day—" I started again.
"And I don't mind it," she said. She smiled. "It's my choice, Derek."
"But it's our baby," I set down my fork.
She pursed her lips together, reading my eyes. I didn't break our eye contact.
"You have to stay. For hockey," she finally said, and brought her glass up to her lips, sipping it triumphantly. She knew she had me there. Hockey was my ticket into university. And now with a son to support, I definitely had to get a degree and a good job in the end.
I just sighed heavily. I'd let her win this round, I guess.
"How's Jacob?" Lizzie came into the kitchen, with Edwin trailing behind her yawning.
"Fine," Casey smiled at her sister. "I just put him to bed again."
"He sleeps a lot," Edwin commented, taking a seat next to me.
"All babies sleep a lot," Nora answered her stepson, handing him and Lizzie plates of food. "It's when they grow."
I finished my plate and stood up quickly, still having to take a shower and get dressed. Before getting into the shower, I checked on Jake. He was still sound a sleep. I re-tucked him in and lovingly ran a hand along his bald head in a sort of pat.
After my shower and getting dressed, I was almost running late. I booked it down the stairs, and saw Casey curled up on the coach of the living room, reading a book.
"You better hurry or you're going to be late," she warned when she saw me.
"Yeah, yeah," I said uncaringly. I stopped to brush my lips against the top of her head. She smelled of honey and baby powder. It was intoxicating. I knew if I didn't keep walking then, I wouldn't be able to leave.
"…Later."
She smiled up at me, surprised but happy. "Later," she repeated after me.
I smirked and quickly left the house.
For the first time in months, Sam walked over to me while I was at my locker. It felt so strange, since I hadn't seen him even look at me in so long. Never mind visit me at my locker.
"Hey," he said, shifting his books awkwardly in his hands.
"Hey," I gave him an obligatory nod of greeting. I pulled out a few random books. I couldn't even remember what classes I had. Not that I really cared. I just wanted to get by and graduate. I wasn't an Einstein like Casey.
"So… did you tell Casey that I was going to come by today?" he asked, avoiding my eyes for some reason.
I raised an eyebrow. He was acting a bit odd. "Uh… yeah. She's fine with it," I lied. I had forgotten to tell Casey that minor detail.
"Cool," he said. There was an awkward pause. "So…uh…what class do you have now?"
"Beats me," I shrugged, digging through my locker now for my schedule. I always got the days mixed up. I liked it better when I had the same stupid classes every day at the same time. That made things a hell of a lot easier.
"Oh," Sam probably wasn't that surprised. He knew I wasn't the most organized person. He was pretty organized, though, for a guy and everything. It was probably one of the things Casey liked about him when they were going out…
Sam snapped me out of my thoughts with, "So, I guess I'll meet you after school, then?"
I stared at him blankly. "For what?"
"So I can come visit," Sam said slowly. "I still can, right? I mean, see the baby?"
The baby. I felt my thoughts lighten when I pictured my little guy. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."
"Okay, cool," Sam gave a smile. "Later, then."
"Later," I nodded him off and finally pulled my schedule out from the bottom of my messy locker. It was creased all over and its edges were torn. But at least it was legible. I sighed heavily as I slammed my locker shut and prepared myself for another boringly repetitive day of school.
I slept through most of my classes, and BSed my way through the rest of them. And somehow, I made it through the seemingly longest Monday of my life. After school, I shoved some random books into my backpack. Of course, Sam met me in the hall.
It's not that I wasn't glad that we were cool again, but I just wanted to get home and be left alone. Well, left alone with Jake and Casey. But now Sam was going to tag along and stay for God knows how long. Nora would probably invite him to stay for dinner. He probably was never going to leave.
We talked only about hockey as we walked to my house.
"Smerek!" Marti yelled as soon as we opened the front door. She ran over to me and did some kind of little dance.
"Hey, Smarti," I gave her a hug. "What are you doing home?" She usually got out of school later than everyone else.
"I had half-a-day!" she grinned a toothy grin. "Casey made brownies!"
I smirked. "Sounds good. Where is she?"
"In the kitchen with Lizzie, Edwin, and Jakey!" she exclaimed in a sing-song voice and ran into the kitchen ahead of us.
I glanced over at Sam. He suddenly looked apprehensive. I didn't say anything to him as I walked into the kitchen. He followed.
Sure enough, Casey was in the kitchen, holding Jake close to her as she talked with Edwin and Lizzie. The two younger kids were happily eating brownies with milk. The kitchen smelled of chocolate and baby formula.
"Hey," Casey looked up at me and smiled. Then, she stopped, her eyes widening and smile fading slowly. "Sam?" she asked tentively.
"Hi," Sam breathed.
I ignored their little salutations, and came in closer to Casey. She broke her gaze with Sam and focused on me, which I liked much better.
"How's my little buddy?" I asked, peering down at Jake. He was just laying there in Casey's arms, looking around. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him look up at me.
"He's been a good boy all day," Casey smiled proudly down at him. "You want to see daddy, Jacob?" she cooed to him, and I felt my heart clench. I don't know whether it was her words, or the sweet way she said them. Either way, it made me all warm inside.
She handed Jake over to me and I cuddled him gently. "Hey, buddy," I kissed his tiny nose. I then looked over at Sam. He had this strange, unreadable expression on his face. He stared at the bundle in my arms.
"You want to see him?" I asked, wondering why Sam was not moving.
He nodded, and slowly walked over. He looked down at Jake, and Jake stared right back up at him.
"Wow," was all Sam said. Then, he looked over at Casey. "He has your eyes, Casey."
Casey smiled brightly, standing up. She walked over to Sam. "It's good to see you," she said, pulling him into a hug.
Even though I knew it was just Casey being her nice Casey self, I still felt a surge of jealousy run through me. Especially when I saw the way Sam wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, his eyes closing briefly during the embrace. I narrowed my eyes at them.
"You look great," Sam said to her when they let go of each other. His eyes seemed to scan her body, blatantly checking her out. My nostrils flared.
Casey giggled. "Aww, thanks, you're sweet." She smiled. "I'm lucky I didn't gain too much weight with Jacob." She glanced over at the table, where Lizzie and Edwin were quietly talking amongst themselves while they ate and watched the scene in front of them. "Would you like a brownie? They're fresh out of the oven."
She was being awfully nice to him. Maybe a little TOO nice.
"Sure, I'd love one," Sam said in his annoyingly polite way. He sat down at the table, and Casey got him a plate, a brownie, and a glass of milk.
"Derek, how about you?" she looked over at me then. I was silently fuming. And I was surprised that she had actually remembered I was still standing there!
"No thanks," I said through gritted teeth. But I did sit down. Casey sat down next to Sam, across the table from me.
As she got Sam a napkin, I watched him stare at her. I didn't like it one bit.
"So," I decided to break the silence. "Our son was good today?" I asked Casey, stressing the words "our son."
Casey looked up at me. "Yeah, he was an angel," she smiled. "He napped while I was tutored and my Mom came home during her lunch break to help me give him a bath. He didn't cry once," she looked quite pleased.
I smiled down at Jake. "Good boy, Jake." He reached up to touch my face.
"Aww," Casey breathed. "That was precious!"
I grinned down pressing my lips against his tiny hand. "He loves his daddy," I glanced up at Sam then. He was looking down, silently eating his brownie. I could tell he was jealous. And that satisfied me.
"He's due for another feeding, Derek, you want to feed him?" Casey stood up again.
"Sure," I made sure to give her a loving smile to make Sam sick.
I had never even saw what he had planned coming.
Casey brought me over a bottle and I fed him while I watched Sam out of the corner of my eye. He was eyeing Casey again.
"Have you been in this house all day?" he asked her.
Casey gave a little chuckle. "Yeah, but, you know, it's not that bad because at least I had my tutor here earlier, and the kids get home around—"
And Sam interrupted her with this: "Why don't you let me take you out for dinner tonight? Get away from the house for a little while."
Casey looked pleasantly surprised. Sam looked hopeful and kind of stalkerish to me. I, on the other hand, looked pissed.
"What about Jake?" I asked Casey immediately. I knew she wouldn't want to leave him.
"Well, you could watch him for an hour," Casey said slowly. "I mean, it would kind of be nice to get out." She smiled at Sam.
And before I could say anything else, she said, "Okay, Sam, I'd like that."