minutes ago. But I got a call and was on it for just a few minutes, turned around and . . .” He motioned to his son’s still messy face.
“Ma, ma, ma, ma!”
Orlando jerked his face in the baby’s direction, watching as he held his hand out to Dani, repeating the same syllables over and over. With his mouth falling open, Orlando turned to Dani. She stood there looking just as stunned as he felt. Only there was more to the expression she had going on. The closest the baby had come to saying anything before this was when Orlando tried in vain to get him to say dada. The most he’d succeeded was getting him to repeat the d sound and even that had been exciting as hell. Except at the moment, Dani looked anything but excited. She shook her head, looking almost terrified? As the baby continued to reach out to her and repeat those same syllables, Orlando took in Dani’s reaction, confused by it.
“I swear I’ve never taught him that.”
“I believe you,” Orlando assured her as he pulled the tray off the highchair, peering at her then handing Oreo to her since he was still adamantly calling out and reaching for mama. “We watch enough TV and YouTube that I’m sure he’s picked up on the kids on the show referring to the women taking care of them as mama.”
“But I would never—”
“It’s okay.” Orlando smiled, shaking off the alarm this brought on. “Dani, you’re the one female presence he’s gotten the most of lately. And based on his overall reaction to you from day one, I’m not surprised he’d call you that.”
“I can teach him to call me Dani if you’d—”
“Oh, hell no!” Orlando overdid the head shake. “If he’s gonna add anything to that d sound I finally got him to start repeating, it better be dada.”
With the baby still babbling in Dani’s arms, she pointed at Orlando. “Dada,” she said, smiling big. “Say it, baby. Dada.” Oreo babbled some more stuff that wasn’t dada, but he did do the d sound for him, and Dani looked as excited for Orlando as he felt. “It’s just a matter of time,” she assured him then offered something else. “My brother calls me Nica. He shortens everyone’s name to the last two syllables of their name. In some cases, like my sister, the very last syllable. She’s La to him. I can try teaching him Nica if it bothers you—”
“Why would it bother me?” Orlando peered at her again, swallowing hard because it honestly didn’t bother him. Scared the hell out of him, yeah. What if this didn’t work out? What if eventually she did get married and her husband insisted she stay home and raise their own kids? Baby O had gotten way too attached to her too quickly, and it scared him to think she may not always be around. But otherwise it was an oddly pleasant thing to hear his son call her mama. Danica still looked unnerved, and he wondered if she might be thinking the same thing he was: that Oreo was getting way too attached to her, too soon. Bracing himself, he had to ask. “Unless it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Not at all.” She shook her head quickly, kissing the baby on the nose, but shrugged. “I feel honored actually but it’s just that well . . . mama.”
Orlando had to smile now as his tensed muscles relaxed a bit. “He feels nurtured by you, Dani.” He paused as the baby did what he did so often when he was in her arms, cuddled up into her like he couldn’t snuggle close enough. “Clearly, he’s already a big mama’s boy. If you’re not uncomfortable with it, I love that he calls you that.”
Gulping back the familiar anxiety that he might’ve spooked her with that last comment, Orlando stared at her as she glanced up at him and held his gaze. The sudden and big smile surprised him, but he welcomed it. As if she weren’t adorable enough, she crinkled her nose in a giddy way and then giggled. “I love it too.”
She went on quickly explaining how her initial reaction had been feeling worried that he might be upset about the baby’s first word not being dada. It’s why she’d seemed so alarmed at first.
“I read somewhere that a baby’s first word is usually mama,” Orlando admitted with a defeated shrug. “Since he doesn’t have one, and my mom’s been working on