Two Men and a Baby - Isla Olsen Page 0,21

in front of Chase, and Chase immediately reaches out to snatch his toy, bringing it to his mouth to suck on the fur.

I let out a soft breath of laughter. “Damn, he really fucking loves that monkey, doesn’t he?”

“It’s a pretty standard comfort toy for his age, but once he gets older it might change to something else. There are kids at the centre who have some of the most random comfort toys,” he says with a chuckle. “There’s a toddler in my room who wouldn’t go anywhere without his spatula a couple weeks ago. And another one who’s obsessed cleaning and cried for pretty much the entire day because he didn’t have his little broom.”

“Jesus.” I let out a rueful sigh, running a hand over my face. “I’ve got a lot of random shit to look forward to, don’t I?”

“Yep, pretty much. Kids can be fucking weird, but they’re also completely amazing.”

I sink down onto the sofa, burying my head in my hands. “God, this whole thing is just so fucking surreal.”

I feel Josh take a seat next to me, and the reassuring touch of his hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s big. And you have every right to freak out, but just keep in mind that you don’t need to do everything perfectly. Your job is to just do the best you can, and the fact you stepped up instead of walking away tells me you’re already doing a pretty awesome job.”

I glance up to look him in the eye. “Even if I can’t change a diaper or make up a bottle?”

He grins at me. “Those are just details, babe.”

If I weren’t already crushing on Josh to a ridiculous degree before, the way he stepped in to help me with Chase last night has definitely tipped me over the edge. I’m pretty sure every time I even think about him I bear a striking resemblance to the emoji with the love heart eyes; but can you really blame me? The guy is the whole damn fucking package.

I know I’m going to have to find a way to make it up to him for helping me out like this, and as Chase and I make our way back to Brooklyn in the morning, I try to brainstorm a few ideas for how I can do that. Of course, most of those ideas seem to lead to the same place: me stripping Josh down, tossing him on my bed and fucking his brains out. And considering I don’t want to be that creeper on the subway with a baby and a hard-on, I decide to divert my brain to something else.

As unexpected and, let’s face it, challenging as last night was, it was also pretty awesome. Chase is pretty well-behaved as far as babies go—I might not have a ton of experience myself but I’ve sure heard a ton of horror stories from my siblings—and I definitely want to spend more time with him. I just need Laura to agree.

When we get to Laura’s, she immediately swoops down to unfasten Chase’s stroller restraints and haul him into her arms. “Oh, how’s my baby?” she coos, kissing his head. “I missed you.”

He snuggles in closer to her, clearly returning the sentiment.

“I want to talk to you about something,” I tell Laura, stepping farther inside the apartment.

She turns her attention away from Chase, eyeing me suspiciously. “What is it? What happened?”

I hold my palms up to placate her. “Whoa, calm down. Nothing happened. I just wanted to say…” I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want to do this again.”

Laura nods, visibly relieved. “Okay. Well, I guess we can figure out another time for you to have him at some point…”

I shake my head. “No. Not at some point. I’m talking about…um…custody,” I say, hesitating over the word.

Laura pales, her eyes widening with shock. “Custody?”

“Look, just hear me out, okay?”

Her jaw tightens with obvious tension, but she nods and gestures for me to go ahead.

“Do you work the same days every week or does it change?”

“No, it’s the same every week.”

“And what days are those?”

“All day Tuesday from eight ’til five, Wednesday evening from five ’til midnight, and half day Thursday from midday ’til five.”

“Okay, here is my suggestion—I can arrange to work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ll come collect Chase on Tuesday mornings before you leave for work and you can come get him once you’re done for the night. On Wednesdays I’ll