around his truck. One glance up at the window where Dani stood, smiling, holding his giddy baby boy, squashed any irritation Orlando had begun to feel. He hurried his step, already smiling as big as his boy was. When he walked into the house, he was greeted by a squealing Oreo, who as usual nearly jumped out of Dani’s arms to get to Orlando. “Dada!”
“There’s my little guy!” He took the baby in one arm, kissing him on the head before wrapping his other arm around Dani. “Jesus, homecoming doesn’t get any better than this.”
Dani kissed him back just as eagerly, smiling beautifully between each peck. “They had perfectly ripe avocados at the farmers market today, so I made taquitos with the chicken we had left over from the barbeque. I hope you’re hungry.” She giggled as he pulled her to him again, raising a brow. “They’re not perfect, but they weren’t a total fail. I watched a YouTube video. Of course, they made it look a lot easier than it actually was. They’re not very pretty, but they’re good.”
Orlando chuckled. So far none of her dishes had been pretty, but she was getting better. As usual, he could barely keep his hands and lips off her, despite Oreo demanding his attention too. She told him more about the farmers market down at the park as they made their way to the dining room. As she always had so far, whenever she prepared a meal at his home, she set up the dining room with all the fixings where they ate all their meals. Orlando could hardly believe how much his life had changed in such a short span of time. He’d gone from being a clueless single dad trying to figure right from left when it came to raising a baby on his own, to this. Unless he was at his mom’s or he bought himself something on the way home, his meals had usually consisted of something quick and dirty like a pizza pocket or frozen burrito he’d throw in the microwave then eat walking around the house, fumbling as he played dad. This was the fourth night in a row he was eating his dinner in the dining room with his new little family. Who cared if it wasn’t so perfectly cooked? But he dared not make more of it and jinx things. Sure, it was silly that she was spending more and more nights a week at his place and they’d yet to discuss their relationship in any real detail. All he knew was, from the moment he’d gone for it that first day he kissed her, she’d never protested his advances. Not once had she so much as shown any sign of wanting to slow things down. Yes, he’d picked up on the unease, the same unease Orlando only ever felt when he paid her each week. It was a reminder that she was here because she was getting paid to be there. But the only thing he was paying her for was to watch the baby and work at the shop, not anything else, damn it. Still, it was a rude reminder of the unestablished meaning of what was happening between them now. But it was like neither seemed to want to step up and discuss it. Once again, as all their other meals had gone since day one, they discussed the day’s happenings: Oreo’s newest milestones, any additions to his ever-growing vocabulary, and the list of new foods he was now eating. As Oreo babbled on, bringing little pieces of his mashed food to his mouth, Dani’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Oh my God. I almost forgot. Watch this.” She turned to the baby. “Oreo, tell dada hola.” She smiled big and waved at Orlando. “Hola!” The baby smiled, waving his messy little hand at Orlando. “Hola!”
Orlando laughed, wiping his mouth. “What? Are you bilingual now?” He waved back at him, smiling big. “Hola!”
Dani laughed now too. “The lady selling the avocados said it to him, and he said it right back. My jaw fell open, and the lady didn’t even think it was a big deal until I told her he’d never said that word.”
“Say Papa,” Orlando said, tilting his head toward the baby. The baby lifted a half-mushed bean from his plate and showed it to Orlando. “Papas.”
This had Dani giggling again. “Oops, that’s my fault. We’ve always referred to food in general as papas at home when we talk to