Page 47 of Axe Backwards
Victoria
Istayed late, breaking down boxes for recycling pickup on Tuesday, inventorying the meat in the freezers, and applying for a grant that would allow us to become a designated regional diaper bank. It was a long shot, but if we received it, I could buy diapers from the federal government at reduced rates.
I was no stranger to applications, spinning things, and marketing what we did and how we did it in order to present the strongest case possible.
It was after seven before I made it home. I bypassed my own door and headed straight up to Noah’s. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I knew I wouldn’t find it in my empty apartment.
“Come in,” he called, and I opened the unlocked door.
He was on the couch, watching something on his phone. Tess, dressed in green footie pajamas, was stacking rubber blocks on the floor.
He greeted me with a sheepish grin, quickly putting his phone down.
“What are you watching?”
“Okay, this probably sounds weird, but I’m watching girl hair tutorials on YouTube.”
“Seriously?” I put my purse on the table and toed off my sneakers, then padded over to investigate.
“Ick,” Tess said, surrounded by her mess of toys.
I leaned down and gave her a kiss.
Noah held up his phone. “Yes. There’s this guy, Jeff.” He held up the phone so I could see the screen. Sure enough, there was a middle-aged guy braiding a girl’s hair. “He’s a single dad and started a channel so other single dads could learn how to do their daughters’ hair.”
I straightened, frozen for a moment, processing how stupidly adorable the concept was.
“Tess’s hair is growing.” He ducked his head. “I’ve mastered pigtails. You should have seen my first few attempts. My hands are so big.” With his hands held up, he gave me a sheepish grin.
Yep, they definitely resembled bear paws. Wide and strong but with long, graceful fingers.
“And the elastics are so small. It took forever to figure out how to get them in the right spots.”
“You’re doing great.” Tess’s hair was currently in two tiny, perfectly symmetrical pigtails. He had nothing to worry about.
“For now. But her favorite movie isFrozen. How long until she’s requesting an Elsa braid?”
I shrugged. I didn’t have a clue, but my gut told me not long, given how opinionated the little diva was about most things.
“So I’m training.” He gave me a big, crinkle-eyed smile. “Being a girl dad is serious business.”
Dropping to the vacant cushion, I snatched up the remote. “I have no doubt.”
“I even got a doll.” He leaned over the arm of his side of the couch and plucked a plastic doll off the floor. Her bright yellow polyester hair was twisted into a wonky braid. “For practice.”
The scene was too sweet for words. It was so Noah, to worry he wouldn’t be good at doing hair and to train himself.
“Now that you’ve got pigtails down, you’re working on braids?”
With his lips pressed together, he dipped his chin, gesturing to the doll. “Clearly, I need more practice.”
“You can practice on me,” I said, taking out my scrunchie and letting my hair down.
His eyes went wide. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’m eating your snacks and watching your TV.” I settled on the floor in front of him and hit the Power button on the remote. “Braid away.”
He hesitated, but eventually he slid over and bracketed my shoulders with his legs. I hadn’t thought about the, um, intimacy of this position until we were in it, but it was too late to get up now.
