that he was going to hang out a little longer than the norm. He was calling to check if it’d be okay with her first. As if staying and hanging out with Oreo a few hours longer was in any way a sacrifice for her.
“Daddy’s here!” She lifted Oreo from the changing table and mushed his warm little body against hers, kissing his chubby cheek. “Daddy,” she said again as he smiled at her but rubbed his eyes. “Can you say dada?”
“D, d, d, d.”
It was still just the d sound, but it was so close it excited Danica. When she’d first heard him call her mama, she’d felt faint. She was still so paranoid about Orlando making the connection she’d been certain that had done her in. She was also sure Orlando would be disappointed the baby’s first word hadn’t been dada. Oreo was also close to saying baba when he reached out for his bottle, but that too was just the b sound. Danica could only hope dada would be his next full word to make up for it not being his first. She walked to the front room with the baby in her arms as she continued to repeat the word. Danica had been doing so most of the day when she’d point at pictures of Orlando and the baby around the house. Glancing at the clock, as Oreo rubbed his little eyes again, she took in the time. “Almost time for mimis,” she whispered as they made it to the window that looked out into the front lawn and driveway.
Today was the first day she’d been there when he woke after his second nap of the day. All the other days she’d made her exit when he was knocked out for it. It was usually around the time Orlando got home. But today was different. She’d now have to wait until he was out for the night to avoid leaving him in tears and again raise any more questions about his unusually quick and close attachment to her. But it was less nerve-wracking now that she’d been watching him this long. His attachment at least made more sense now. Flipping the wood shutters on the window open, she opened her eyes and mouth wide again even as her heart pounded at the sight of Orlando getting out of his truck. Like all the days since that first one when he’d left her breathless at the shop because he walked back in wearing a tank, he was once again down to a tank now. His glorious muscled and tatted arms and shoulders were on full display. As usual, Danica had no idea how he could make something as simple as that beanie, coupled with his five o’clock shadow, look so damn sexy. “Look who’s here,” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off Orlando.
Oreo squirmed in her arms in excitement. “D, d, d!”
Turning back to the baby, Danica enunciated slowly, “Da da.” But just as quickly, her eyes were back on Orlando. As he rushed up the walkway and onto the porch, the baby continued to repeat the single syllable. She heard the dings from the door code being entered, and then the door opened. They stood back as the front door pushed open, and then there he was, bigger than life, in all his glory. Strangely, although he looked the same, for some reason there was something so much more gorgeous about him each day as he’d walked through that same door. Danica was just reminding herself to breathe as she took in Orlando’s big smile when it happened. She had to grab Oreo tighter as he nearly squirmed out of her arms in his effort to reach for Orlando. “Dada!”
The smile on Orlando’s face was replaced with a look of stunned disbelief. Oreo said it again and again, and Orlando reached out and took him from Danica’s arms. “He said it. Did you hear him?”
Danica laughed, feeling a little choked up. “Yes! Oh my God, he wasn’t saying it a moment ago when we watched you through the window. He just kept doing the d-d-d thing but then . . .” She held her hand over her mouth when she noticed Orlando’s glistening eyes. “I told you it was just a matter of time.”
The baby continued to say it in between squeals because Orlando spun him joyfully. “Fuck, I could listen to that all day long.”
“Uck!”
Instantly, Orlando stopped spinning. “No, no,” he said quickly. “Not