in progress.
“Daddy’s on his way.”
Her face lit up. She kicked her feet and fluttered her hands in the air. Did she understand?
Unhooking the swing harness, Summer lifted the baby and gave her face a big smooch.
“Holy crap, young lady! Phew!” Summer giggled. She wrinkled her nose and made a face. “What is that smell?”
Ari laughed. She always laughed after leaving a mess in her diaper.
“I should save it for Daddy,” she muttered with extra snark.
They were nearly finished at the changing table when Arnie arrived. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was barely seven thirty in the morning.
He came bounding into the room like an excited kid on Christmas morning. His joy at seeing her did not suck. It was exciting to know she put such a big smile on his face.
“Hi, baby girls,” he called out from the doorway. Two steps into the room and he turned green. “What is that horrible stench?”
Ari replied with laughter and happy smiles.
“Poop,” Summer told him in a voice that conveyed how obvious the answer was. “Did you bring me Starbucks?”
“In the kitchen. One venti hot chai latte topped with a gargantuan mound of whipped cream and a light sprinkle of cinnamon powder.”
With the disgusting part of the diaper change accomplished, she handed off the chore and placed a clean diaper in his hands. “Here. You finish.”
The look on his face as she walked away gave her something to laugh about when she was out of earshot.
The latte was delicious. She could easily have downed two.
Daddy and daughter strolled from the bedroom and stopped in the middle of the living room. Summer jolted when Arnie gently tossed her in the air, no more than a few inches, and caught her with a whoop of delight. Her heart stopped, and she froze, but Ari’s reaction? Uncontrollable giggles.
“I think we have a second-generation gymnast in the making,” he proudly declared. From the crook of his arm, her diva daughter blew bubbles and grinned.
She changed the subject and fixed him with a serious stare. “Is it normal to get a daily NIGHTWIND notification? Seven a.m. on the dot.”
He looked guy-gasted. It was her new word to describe the dumbfounded blink men did when they had no idea what to say.
“You got a NIGHTWIND notification?”
Repeating a question meant one of two things. He really didn’t have any clue what she was talking about, or he was playing dumb.
She went with clueless.
“Yes, Arnie. A notification. Apparently, there’s a problem with the guy who snowplows the parking lot.”
His befuddlement was endearing. “Are you serious?” He handed off the baby and took out his phone. “I got nothing.”
“Well, you might want to check with Dottie then because there’s a poll and a poker night reminder.”
“A poll? What?”
Ding, ding, ding! A winner winner chicken dinner bell went off when it dawned on her this was Dottie fucking with Arnie. She fought to keep a straight face.
“Never mind. I’ll check with Dottie.”
The morning only got weirder from there.
Arnie assumed the self-appointed role of major domo as a parade of people came and went from Summer’s suite. His father showed up first bearing half a toy store. He happily gave them privacy so Summer, his dad, and Arianne could bond.
Stan dropped by. He was in a foul mood after a pleading, hysterical phone call from his mother. Deciding what his brother needed was to talk, they hunkered down outside on the patio and indulged in a bitch session. It wasn’t only the ladies who needed a chance to vent about stupid stuff.
“Your girl is something else,” Stan commented. He made the statement in a matter-of-fact way.
Arnie agreed. “One hundred.”
“She busting your balls?”
He shrugged. “Not really. She’s way more subtle about it.”
“How so? Asking for a friend who has a shitty track record with the ladies.”
“Stan,” he began in an oratorical style suited for a classroom. “There are ladies, and then there is the one.”
His brother smiled and nodded. “Ah, I see.”
“The one doesn’t need to shriek or yell. She deploys her power with skill. I swear to you this isn’t me making a joke. When the one looks at you with disappointment, gives a sigh, and turns away? Trust me, the result is an actual measurement involving shrinking balls. There’s more,” he said when Stan grimaced.
Stopping to collect his thoughts, he lit on a single statement to sum it up. “Disappointment is the enemy of trust.”
“Ouch.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“My sponsor says I shouldn’t be looking for a relationship. Not right now.