Page 123 of Denim & Diamonds

“At your cabin.”

“I guess I could store some of it there.”

“I meantuseit there. You might not have noticed with the big haul you got, but there weren’t any gifts from me, Trev, Fritz, Mad, or Axe.”

“Okay…”

“Our gift is two weeks.”

“I’m not following...”

“The six of us are going to finish your house. I know you wanted to do it all yourself, but I’m guessing right about now you would agree that it’s more important to get that house done than to build it alone. We all cleared our schedule for two full weeks, and Linda is going to help out with the baby. A bunch of our buddies are going to come each day, too. We already set up a nursery in one of the rooms at the cabin using Ethan’s old crib and stuff, so you don’t have to bring supplies back and forth on the days you want to bring him. Babies don’t do much but sleep the first few months anyway.”

“I can’t ask you all to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling you. And it’s a done deal. We’re starting next Monday, so get your shit in order by then.”

I looked around at all the boxes of baby stuff—all thevery largeboxes. Elvin was right. The apartment upstairs was too small. A kid took up space. So I nodded. “Thank you. That would be great.”

Elvin clapped his hand to my shoulder and glanced around at all the packages. “Looks like you have everything you need, and then some.”

I nodded, but I knew that wasn’t quite true.Everything except what I need most: February.

CHAPTER 31

Brock

A couple of days later, things hadn’t gotten any easier. My eyes were groggy because I’d barely gotten any sleep last night. I needed coffee—stat. But I had to clean up my son first.

Just as I’d put a fresh diaper under Patrick, a blast of liquid shot up at me.

“Ugh! You little bugger. You pissed in my eye!”

He wriggled his arms and legs as he lay on the changing table I’d managed to squeeze into a corner next to my bed.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” I reached for a baby wipe, patting my eye before I looked down and saw brown freshly splattered.

“Aw, man. What the heck?”

When it rained, it poured with this kid.

“I swear sometimes you do this on purpose. The second I get a new diaper out, you get me. It’s a game to you, isn’t it? Like Whac-A-Mole.”

Oak stood at the doorway and barked. Poor guydidn’t know what had hit him since I’d brought Patrick home. Myotherson was not too happy about the new living situation.

“I hear you. I know you need to go out,” I told him. “But I have to get your brother settled first.”

He barked again, this time with more fervor.

“Yeah. Yeah. Hold your horses.”

Oak had been especially difficult since I’d yelled at him for pulling one of Patrick’s diapers out of the trash yesterday. God only knows what he wanted to do with it, but thank fuck I caught him before finding out. Anyway, I hadn’t meant to yell at him so badly, but the whole thing had freaked me out, and now I was paying for it with his attitude today.

He plopped to the ground and groaned.

I hadn’t factored in how inconvenient it would be taking a dog out with a baby. Sometimes Oak wanted to go when Patrick was sleeping. And when the baby was awake, I had to put him in the carrier and take him with me just to go out for five minutes.

I made a mental note to ask around for a dog walker. The back of my apartment was fenced in, but Oak never liked to do his business without taking a walk. The new cabin would have a bigger yard; maybe he’d like that better. But the move wouldn’t happen as fast as I’d hoped, even with my brothers helping me finish the cabin starting next week. The construction now took a backseat to Patrick, just like everything else in my life.

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