Bedded Bliss (Found in Oblivion #1) - Cari Quinn Page 0,109
balcony for her. He never ran out of words. Some in the flowery Michael-speak she was getting used to. More so of the dirty variety that she secretly loved.
Nights were often spent naked. At least on Michael’s end. The man just didn’t like clothes. Considering he was approximately the body temperature of a furnace—she knew this because she barely needed a blanket at night—she could see why.
The killing part came from the boy side of his nature.
Her two-year-old was better at picking up after himself than Michael was. She picked up a bowl from beside the couch, then found another on the bookcase, and a glass on the floor next to Axl’s toy box.
She shook her head as she found two more cups on her way into the kitchen.
Axl came careening through the living room, his arms out like a plane. The plus side of that? His balance was a lot better. The minus? She had to chase after him and make sure he didn’t take out all of the man-child toys Michael didn’t put away.
Guitars, stands, a mini amplifier that Axl thought was an awesome rock to climb—none of it was cheap Ikea or Target end tables like she had at her apartment. It felt like everything in Michael’s place was from a catalog. And an expensive one at that.
She scooped Axl up before he ran headlong into the tower of gaming consoles. “Okay, buddy. No more plane, huh?”
His face scrunched up as he arched away from her. “No.”
“Let’s go play with your Legos.”
“Chopter.”
She dumped the dishes in the dishwasher with a wriggling Axl over her shoulder. Then she tried to do the same soaring over the head angle that Michael could do. Unfortunately, Axl was twenty-five pounds as of his last check up, and she was pretty sure he was more toward thirty. He’d sprout up again soon. He always chunked up a bit before zooming up.
Which would mean new clothes again.
Nope, don’t think about that right now.
She hooked her arm around his middle and spun around once. Axl shrieked. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t as good at that as Michael. Hmm. She eyed the yoga mat she’d picked up at Target that morning.
She’d read an article about babies and the positive effects of yoga. She read a lot of damn articles these days. She really wasn’t used to having extra time on her hands.
Chloe put him down in the largest area of the living room. The tears kept coming, fat and flowing. Great. She ran for the bag with the mat and video in it. “Want to play with Mama?”
He tipped his head to the side. “Chopter.”
She pulled out the smaller kid’s mat and then hers. “Let’s try something.”
He shoved his hand into his mouth and landed on his butt.
“All right, that’s a yes in my book.” She scooped him up and ran with him into Michael’s bedroom. When he laughed, she tossed him into the middle of the bed. He bounced and the crocodile tears disappeared into giggles.
She wiggled out of her jeans and shirt, and swapped them for the workout clothes she’d ordered last weekend. Amazon Prime was the single best thing on the planet.
Axl clapped his hands when she put on the yoga pants. They had planes all over them. “Like these?”
“Chopter!”
“Plane.”
“Chopter.” He said it with so much glee that she couldn’t stop laughing. “Let’s go do some exercise. How’s that?” She swung him onto her hip and danced her way into the living room. She plucked the video out of the bag. “Mommy and Me Yoga,” she read aloud from the cover.
“Mama.”
“Right. Mama and me?” she prompted.
“Me,” he parroted.
“You got it. Now, how did we do this again?” Michael had about eight plugs set up for the television. She didn’t know a television could have that many cables. Then again, he had a surround sound system that required an engineering degree to use.
She slid the disk in and hoped for the best.
“Miracle of automation.” The DVD player switched the system to the right channel or whatever. An unnaturally bubbly voice came through the television. “We might have to kill her, but we’ll give it a try.”
She got on the floor and set Axl next to her. “Watch.”
His huge dark eyes soaked up the colors of the women on the screen. He started clapping when the music started. After an initial warm up, she ended up in a few poses that she and Axl both giggled through.