Noah’s still out cold. We should probably wake him up soon.”
“How’d he do?” Molly pointed to Ben.
“He did all right.” I snickered.
“What happened?” Molly looked between us.
“Ben needed some lessons in diapers.”
“Shut up, it wasn’t that bad.”
“Dude, you tried to put the thing on backwards.”
The girls all busted out laughing. “This is one of those conversations that needs to be recorded.” Becca grinned.
Ben looked flustered. “Both sides have Elmo on it, how can you tell?”
Emily put a hand on my arm. “Be nice, Jake. Or do you want me to tell them about the first bath you were here for?”
“No. I think that can stay between us.”
“What happened?” Ben asked.
“Nothing except that I left the room for two minutes and Jake was just as wet as Noah.”
Molly laughed. “Now that would have been worth seeing.”
“That incident aside, Jake’s got it down. I can’t promise he’ll know how to handle a baby, but your son or daughter will have a good babysitter for an uncle.”
Molly leaned over to whisper something to Ben.
“Fine, we can tell them.”
“We were going to wait to tell your parents the news at the same time, but we had another ultrasound today. Remember how they couldn’t tell us the gender back in September and we decided we didn’t need to know? Well, it was pretty obvious this time.”
“What are you having?” Becca and Emily asked simultaneously.
“A boy.”
“Nice. Congrats, man.” I patted Ben on the back.
Becca hugged Molly, and then Emily took a turn. “Is that offer of giving us Noah’s old clothes still on the table?”
“Of course. We can go through them when you’re ready.”
Ben and I found a game on TV while the girls talked babies. An hour later, Becca and Molly walked over. They both had conspiratorial looks on their faces. Emily was trying to get Noah to clean up some of his toys.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
Becca sat down on the arm of the couch next to me. “How would you like to go out with Emily tonight?”
“Is that a real question?”
She rolled her eyes. “We were thinking that this would be a perfect night for Molly and Ben to watch Noah.”
Ben was suddenly interested in the conversation. “Is there a reason you’re volunteering us for babysitting?”
Molly sat down on the couch. She maneuvered awkwardly to get comfortable. Women really had it rough with the whole pregnancy thing. “You can’t change a diaper, Ben. We need practice.”
“Great. Jake gets to go out with his girlfriend while we babysit.”
Molly swatted at his arm. “Get used to it.”
I laughed. “You do realize the person to ask for permission is Emily.”
“We already asked. She was more than happy to lend Noah to us for the night.” Molly grinned.
“You really want to babysit?” Ben asked her.
“Yes, but Jake needs to do something really special.”
“I do?”
“Uh huh. She’s had a hard week at work, treat her to something.”
I knew exactly what we should do. “Would you mind watching Noah back in town? I want to take Emily out there.”
“You’re choosing a date night in Clayton Falls over Wilmington?” Becca asked incredulously. She was such a city girl. Not that Wilmington was a bustling metropolis or anything—but it was a heck of a lot bigger than Clayton Falls.
“I have my reasons.” They were good ones. “How long are you keeping him for?”
Molly shook her head. “I don’t want to know why you’re asking that.”
“Just so I can time everything up.”
“As late as you want. I figure Noah can fall asleep at our place. I don’t mind keeping him over night, but I doubt Emily’s going to go for it.”
“I’ll be right back.” I needed to make a phone call to an old friend.
***
“It was so nice of Molly and Ben to babysit tonight.” Emily took a bite of her chicken parmesan. We were having dinner at La Trattoria, a new Italian place that just opened in town. The chef had relocated from New York a few months before. It was the first new restaurant to open in years, so I figured it was about time we tried it out.
“Oh, come on. You know Ben didn’t volunteer.”
She laughed. “Maybe not, but he agreed.”
“I don’t think he can say no to Molly.” I finished off my Pasta Diablo.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
I shrugged. “Not bad, just fact.”
“I think it’s sweet how in love they are. Their story is so romantic. High school sweethearts reunited years later.”
The waiter came over and cleared our plates.
“You’re not thinking about reuniting