those precious days, Jude had worked with Fitzgibbon, and at times with Ronan, at the Magick shop. He had a feeling the three of them could make a go at their own private investigating firm, but it never seemed to be the right moment to bring the idea up. On cases where they’d needed a little bit of psychic intervention, Carson and Tennyson had been more than happy to step in, but truth be told, Jude missed working with his husband.
He was in the bedroom stripping down to his boxers when Cope walked back into the room.
“He’s down for the night.” Sadness tinged Cope’s voice.
“Come here.” Jude pulled Cope into his arms. He wasn’t psychic by any stretch of the imagination, but he could feel the despair pouring out of his husband. “We talked about this, if you’re not ready to come back, that’s okay. Take another month. Take another six months. We’ll be okay.” Jude himself had been in daycare from the time he was six weeks old. He couldn’t rightly say if that had any effect on the man he’d become, but if Cope wanted more time at home with their son, he would make it happen.
“I spent most of the party watching all the dads. They were all so happy to be with their kids. None of them were worried that it was Sunday and they had to go back to work tomorrow.” Cope absently ran his fingers through the hair on Jude’s chest.
“You’re right, I noticed the same thing, but this is a way of life for them now. Carson and the triplets are used to him leaving for work every day. They are used to going to preschool while Truman does the books at West Side Sweets. Babies adapt. It’s what they’re best at.” Jude tightened his arms around Cope.
“I remember what a hard time both Tennyson and Ronan had going back to work after Everly was born. I would say, next to you, Ronan is the toughest man I know, and he was an absolute disaster when it came time to leave Everly and go back to the Boston Police Department.”
Jude remembered that time well. He’d never seen Ronan in such a state. “He wasn’t at his best, that was for sure. It took a while, but Ronan finally got to the point where he could walk out the door without crying. He may have shed a tear or two in the car on the way into the city those first few days, but he adapted. You will too.”
“Maybe.” Cope pulled away from his husband. He started getting undressed and wound up in the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror. “I never saw this coming. You know?”
“Never saw what coming, fatherhood?” If there had ever been a man who hadn’t seen fatherhood coming, it was Jude. Right up until the moment he’d met Cope, he was convinced he would be an eternal bachelor and horn-dog until he breathed his last.
“Yeah. I mean, I’d thought about adopting when I was much younger, but then Deacon happened and, well, I stopped thinking about my future. Until I met you.” Cope turned to face his husband. “I know I can do this. I just worry about the effect it will have on Wolf.”
“It’s going to be one great big party for him.” Jude snorted. “Our little man with two sassy young ladies. It’s a match made in heaven.” Jude hadn’t been completely on board with Cope going back to work until they’d settled the issue of who was going to watch Wolf. The last thing he wanted was for his son to be in some sort of mobbed daycare, with a hundred other children, and not getting the kind of individualized attention he deserved. When Kaye offered to take Wolf, along with Everly and Aurora, it had been the perfect solution to their problem.
Cope started to laugh. “Only you could see it that way.” He slipped back into bed.
“Look, he’s going to spend his days with people we trust and love, watching Frozen a hundred times a day and getting plenty of love and cuddles from Kaye and John.” Jude knew their son would be safe and well cared for.
“Who knew the two of them would pair up to be grandparents of the year? The way Kaye treated Ronan in the beginning made me wonder if it was possible for them to become a family, but she surprised us all.” Cope ran his hands up Jude’s