Just as he was getting out of the shower, he heard the front door open. He stepped out of the guest bedroom, wearing only a towel to let Katie know he was here. She was too busy giving Bubba loves to notice him.
She set Erica, who was still asleep in her car seat, next to Bubba’s dog bed and crouched down while Bubba sniffed Erica. It was sweet how protective he was of Erica even to the point of not leaving her bedroom at night when they slept over. Erica was his girl.
Tyler silently watched Katie lovingly kiss her daughter on the cheek and smile when Erica made a snorting sound. The love she had for her daughter radiated from her body.
“Hey, beautiful girl.”
“Oh hey…” she said as she stood to face him. Her eyes met his then moved down, “You...umm…uh…” she stuttered as her eyes kept making a trail down his stomach until, “Oh,” she choked out as her eyes quickly moved back up until they met his.
He bit back a smile. He loved the way she looked at him like he was the sexiest man on earth. He never thought he was bad looking, average maybe, but he did work out, and it appeared all his hard work was being appreciated.
She shook her head. “What were you saying? Or was I saying something? I don’t even know. You’re beautiful.” She covered her mouth and closed her eyes as a red blush spread from her cheeks down her neck. “I didn’t mean to say that. I mean you are, but my mouth was moving without my brain.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to hear.”
“Any time,” she said with an embarrassed laugh. It was musical and wrapped around his heart and made him smile. She took in a deep breath and softly said, “Hey.” Standing across the room fidgeting with the bottom of her tank top, she looked as nervous as he felt.
After making their declarations of love over a month ago, they kept things quiet between them then once Erica was here, they hadn’t had more than a few minutes alone with each other. She didn’t even know he had talked to Tracy.
Now they were finally alone and he was unsure what to do now. He knew what he wanted to do, and he took care of that right away. Tyler removed the physical distance between them.
Her hands fell to her sides as he made his way to her. His heart pounded in his chest, and his hands shook slightly. Ever since he’d volunteered to stay with the girls, he could barely contain his excitement, and now the time it was finally here, Tyler was a nervous wreck. When he reached her, he lifted his hand and gently caressed her cheek then gripped the back of her neck and pulled her closer. Without saying a word, she placed her small hands at his sides and lifted up on her tippy-toes as he bent down to kiss her.
Her lips were soft and warm. The kiss was short and sweet, not nearly enough but enough for now. As much as he wanted to move their relationship along, he knew it would be better to take things slow.
“I’m going to go get dressed, and then I’ll make us some lunch.” He kissed her cheek then let go.
She looked into his eyes and with a small smile said, “Okay.” Her fingers lingered on his sides, making Tyler want to forget he wanted to take things slow. Then he reminded himself they didn’t have a choice. She only had a baby two weeks ago; there was no way anything more than kissing could happen between them.
He went back to his bedroom, pulled on some clothes and just as he stepped out of the bedroom, Erica started fussing. “I was about to offer to help, but I think someone needs to be fed,” she said.
He kissed her forehead. “No worries. I like taking care of you.” She beamed at him and pulled him into a quick kiss on the lips.
“Love you,” she whispered. Every time she said it felt like the first time, and it still amazed him that she loved him like he loved her. He was a lucky man.
He wrapped his arms around her and said, “Love you” against her lips. He reluctantly let her go when Erica’s cries grew louder. “I hope you’re hungry. I make a mean sandwich.”
“Yum. Mean sandwiches are my favorite. The meaner, the better,” she said with a grin.
He hadn’t thought he took that long, but when he brought the plates to the living room, Katie was in a big stuffed chair with her feet up, fast asleep. Erica had pulled off her breast and looked completely content being in her mother’s arms.
He set the plates on the coffee table and gently picked up Erica, hoping not to wake Katie. He knew Erica woke her up several times a night, and Katie was surviving on naps, but as he lifted her up, Katie startled awake.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” He kept his voice low and soothing.
“It’s okay,” she said as a yawn escaped her lips. She stretched her arms up and then quickly pulled them down and looked down at her exposed breast. “This really wasn’t the way I wanted you to see my boobs…or my stomach roll.” She blushed as she adjusted her bra. “Nursing bras aren’t all that sexy.”
“First of all, watching you nurse Erica is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t even begin to tell you how beautiful you are as a mother, Katie. Second, you could wear a paper bag and you would be sexy.” That wasn’t an exaggeration. Each day she became more beautiful.
She sighed with a sweet smile. “I think I’m going to like having you around.” He returned her smile and bent down and kissed her forehead. “Why don’t you eat and I’ll take care of Erica?”
While they took turns eating, they talked about their plans for the next few weeks. She mentioned getting some sleep as her priority and as much as she loved having her mother and Tracy there, she wanted a chance to test her mothering skills.
“I’m going to have to go back to work in a few weeks.” Sadness tinged her voice. “Is it bad that all I want to do is be with her?” she asked as she lovingly stared down at her daughter.
“It’ll never be bad.”
“My whole life, I grew up dreaming of a great career, not even sure what it was I wanted to do, but it was going to be great, and now I don’t even care. I just want to be her mom. It sounds so old fashioned.”
“My mother was a stay-at-home mom, and she was one of the hardest working women I’ve ever met. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that.” In fact, he loved it about her. He would always support Katie, no matter what she wanted to do, but he liked the idea of being able to take care of her and Erica so she could do what her heart desired.
“Why don’t you use the money from your grandfather and wait to go back to work?”
“I could, but I want to save it for emergencies. Her care could get expensive, and I want to have the money there if I need it. Honestly, I don’t mind working. I enjoy my job, and I like working for Jason. I also like knowing I’m able to take care of us. I just wish things were different.”
He moved from sitting across from her to sit with her in the big chair. Once situated, he held her in his arms as she nursed Erica. His heart ached for her, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make their lives better.
Chapter Thirty-One
June 2016
Katie
Katie felt a familiar ease as Tyler took Erica and the diaper bag from her then reached for her hand as they entered the pediatrician’s office.
For the past two weeks, she felt like they were not only a couple but also a team. Even though they hadn’t discussed their relationship, actions spoke louder than words. They took turns changing diapers, making meals, and running errands then at night they made out like teenagers.
Their first night together, he volunteered to get up with Erica. If she were hungry, he would bring her to Katie’s bed so she could nurse then he burped her and put her back to bed to allow Katie to get as much sleep as possible.
Today, they saw Dr. Peterson for Erica’s one-month visit. He was a well-known pediatrician specializing in kids with special needs and the favorite doctor of the parents in her support group.
After her first meeting with him, she understood why everyone raved about him and why he was no longer accepting new patients. If it hadn’t been for Tyler using all his connections, s
he would have had to find a different doctor.
When Tyler did things like that, he made it impossible not to fall more in love with him. She didn’t even try not to.
After he signed them in, they took a seat facing the entrance of the office. Not a minute later, a bubbly teenager walked in with her mother. She wore a bright pink dress that would be perfect for twirling, a Betty Poop purse, and large framed sunglasses. She moved around the room like she owned it until she saw Tyler holding Erica. She made a beeline straight for them.
“Hi, I’m Stacy. Do you like my purse?”
Tyler grinned at her and said, “I love it. It goes great with your dress.”
Her smile widened as she sat next to him and looked at Erica over his shoulder. “Is that your baby?”
“Uhh…yes.”
Katie sucked in a breath, drawing his attention. After spending so much time worrying about raising Erica on her own and fearing her daughter would grow up wishing she had a father too, Katie could barely handle the joy that filled her knowing he was already claiming the position.
Tyler’s body tensed as he faced her, he opened his mouth to speak, but she eased his worried expression with a smile. His shoulders relaxed and he gave her a sweet kiss. “Love you,” he whispered.
He turned back to the girl as he put an arm around Katie. “This is my girlfriend Katie.”
She gave Stacy a small wave and said, “Hello.”
“You’re not married?” Katie chuckled and Tyler sighed. There was no getting out of talking about their relationship when they had a curious girl ask all the important questions.
“Not yet,” he said. “One day.” He sounded so sure, and she found herself leaning into him to show him how much she wanted that too. She wrapped an arm around his and kissed his cheek.
Tyler faced Erica toward Stacy so she could get a better look. The girl bent down and cooed at Erica then looked up at him. “Does she have Down syndrome like me?”
“Yes, she does.”
“My dad says that it makes us cool.” She put both thumbs up and gave them a toothy grin.
“I agree,” Tyler said.
She quickly switched subjects and pulled off her glasses and held them out to him. “Do you like my glasses?”
“I do. They make you look like a movie star.”
“Like the Kardashians?”
Tyler bit back a laugh. “Absolutely.”
She seemed pleased with his answer and slid her glasses back into place. “I’m going to talk to them.” She pointed to a mother wrestling with a grumpy toddler.
“Okay. It was nice meeting you.” Tyler put his hand out and she happily shook it then bounced away. That was the only way to describe her movements.
Tyler looked into Katie’s eyes and smiled. “Erica is going to have a great life.” He looked down at the bundle he held in his arms and lifted her up so he could kiss her downy head.
Katie could only nod as a sense of peace spread through her. She had met a few parents in her support group, but all of them had young kids. Stacy was the first teenager with Down syndrome she had met and with their brief interaction, she felt hope take up space where fear had lived since she found out her daughter would be ‘different’.
A nurse walked into the waiting room and called out, “Erica Larson.” Katie took one last look at Stacy and how happy she was even when the people around her seemed less than thrilled to be talking to her. It was painful to see the rejection, but it didn’t appear to upset her. Katie wanted to raise her daughter to be happy with who she was and not care about others opinions.
Tyler held Erica against his chest and placed his hand on Katie’s lower back and followed her through the doorway into one of the exam rooms.
The nurse checked Erica’s vitals then let them know the doctor would be in.
Dr. Peterson was kind and patient. His voice was calm and soothing. Katie wasn’t sure if it was for the sake of the kids or the parents.
After examining Erica, he proudly stated. “Everything looks great, and her heart sounds great. She’s small, which is normal, but she’s gaining weight, so that’s good, and she’s completely healthy. Good job mom and dad.” She looked to Tyler, waiting for him to say something about not being Erica’s dad, but the comment didn’t seem to faze him.
Katie’s chest expanded with relief from the doctor’s positive feedback. She figured it was normal to worry about her baby, but she had read about all the worst-case scenarios, making her hyper-aware of every sound and every movement. With just a few positive words from the doctor, she was able to relax, finally.
“Are you still breastfeeding?”
“Yes. We struggle a little at first, but once she’s latched on, she’s fine.”
“That’s great. I encourage you to keep it up as long as possible. It’ll help strengthen her jaw and facial muscles plus breast milk will give her natural antibodies that will help with her weakened immune system.
“She needs to keep up to date on her immunizations, so we’d like to see her again in another month. Any questions?”
Katie and Tyler looked at one another before answering, “No.”
“Great. I’ll see you next month.”
Once they were on their way home, Tyler took Katie’s hand. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it before saying a word.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Everything is…perfect.”
She could tell he wanted to say more, but he seemed to be struggling with the words. Instead of waiting for him to say something, she asked, “Did you mean what you said to Stacy? About us getting married one day?”
He didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he let go of her hand and pulled into a parking lot and put the car in park. He turned to face her and cupped her face in the palm of his hands. “Katie that was the complete and utter truth. I would love to marry you one day. I want to make you and Erica a permanent part of my life.”
“Good,” she whispered.
He leaned into her and kissed her softly. “Good,” he said against her lips. He ran his fingers through her hair kissing her again, this time less softly. He smiled against her lips. “So does this mean when I ask you to marry me, it’ll be a sure thing?”
She pulled back and giggled. “I’m definitely a sure thing.” She winked. “Especially in two more weeks.” Her six-week checkup couldn’t come fast enough. If everything looked good, she would get the okay to have sex again. Since she had been thinking about it for months, she could hardly wait.
He choked on a laugh and leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m counting down the days.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
June 2016
Tyler
Tyler stretched his arms over his head and rolled over in bed to look at the clock. He wiped at his tired eyes then looked again. “Oh my God!” His heart felt like it was in his throat as he flew out of bed. Last night he was supposed to wake up with Erica, but it was half past seven and he never heard her cry.
He took the stairs two at a time and ran down the hall towards Erica’s bedroom. Her bedroom door was wide open, and when he poked his head in, he found her crib empty. He spun around to knock on Katie’s door, but before he could knock he heard a whimper then a moan.
Afraid that something was wrong, he opened the door without knocking. What he saw made his eyes pop and his body tense. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Katie shook her head then cried, “I go back to work tomorrow—” hiccup “—and my clothes still don’t fit.” The words were watery and he could barely understand her, but he managed to make the connection between her words and the fact that she was lying on the bed with her jeans mostly on, but not near being able to be zipped. “I’m so fat,” she sobbed.
Even though he found it silly to be crying over jeans that didn’t fit, it was obviously important to her. “Katie, you are not fat. You have some curves and a little extra padding…” The moment the words left his mouth, he cringed, kn
owing it was the wrong thing to say.
“Extra padding means fat!” she screeched. Her yell startled Erica, who had been asleep in the middle of the bed. Her little legs and arms began to kick before she released a cry. “Oh shit!” Katie moaned. “Dang it! I’m fat and a horrible mom for scaring her then swearing.” Her frustration turned to big alligator tears.
Tyler stood in the doorway unsure who to take care of first. He was still getting used to Katie’s mood swings. As much as he loved her, he hoped her hormones would even out so he could have happy Katie back.
He walked into the bedroom, picked up Erica, then sat next to Katie, who was still sprawled on the bed with her pants unzipped. He hadn’t been lying when he said she wasn’t fat, and honestly, he loved the little extra she was carrying around. She was sexier now than when he first met her.
He had to hold back a groan when he thought of her in her yoga pants and a tank top. Her butt…her breasts… He had to stop thinking about her like that. They were taking things slow, which was why he was sleeping in a different room. The moment things went from kissing to touching, they had to say goodnight. Her body wasn’t ready for more and when they did become intimate, he wanted it to be special.
He smiled at her as his eyes trailed up and down her body. She was beautiful. There was never a moment he thought otherwise, but since she became a mom, there was something more. She was more sweet, more beautiful, more sexy, just...more. And right now a little more crazy than usual.
Katie pulled down her shirt to cover her stomach but not before he got a glimpse of her panties. Taking a deep breath, he turned away and tried not to imagine her in just her bra and panties.
She sat up and slumped next to him. He moved Erica to his right arm and put his left around Katie, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. “Katie, you did the most amazing thing a person could do. You grew a human in your belly. Look what you did?” He lifted up a content Erica, cradled in his arms. “Your body is amazing and perfect.” She snorted. “Let’s celebrate your body by getting breakfast and then we can go shopping for clothes that fit.”
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