Page 85 of Sweet Chaos
Remy’s phone alarm went off and I shut it off. Must be feeding time. Sure enough, Remy propelled Kai to the side of the pool and stopped in front of my lounge chair.
“Hey Dyl, can you take him? I need to get his bottle ready.” She had him on a strict schedule and had read every parenting book on the market. I got it though. She wanted to make sure Kai’s life was structured and organized so he would know that food and sleep and bath time were all taken care of, just a part of his regular routine.
I got off my chair and crouched at the side of the pool, ready to accept my nephew from his mother’s arms. Kai was slippery wet, and it made me nervous as shit that I’d drop him. I stood up with him in my arms and carried him over to the chaise lounge. Remy dug around in her giant bag of baby tricks and handed me a diaper and a onesie. I got him out of his wet trunks and swim diaper and into the dry diaper and clothes without a hitch and lifted him into my arms again.
“You’re an old pro now,” Remy said and flashed me one of her big-ass smiles. I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, her camera was aimed at me and Kai and she was snapping photos like a madwoman.
“Enough with the fucking photos already. Your kid’s starving. He’s going for my nipple.”
Remy laughed but I wasn’t lying. Kai was rooting around, his gums latching onto his hand and that spurred her into action. “Be right back.”
When she disappeared inside, I nuzzled the top of his head with my nose. “Hey little buddy. You’re a lucky little dude, you know that? Your parents love the shit out of you. I kind of like you too,” I said with a chuckle.
I kept him snuggled against my chest and kicked back in my chair, giving him my finger. He latched on and sucked the shit out of it. The kid wasn’t stupid though. It didn’t take him long to figure out that my finger wasn’t what he wanted or needed. By the time Remy came back with a bottle, his cries had reached ear-splitting decibels and I was bouncing him up and down as we paced the pool deck.
Remy jammed the nipple in his mouth and like magic, the crying stopped.
“Do you want to feed him?” she asked, smoothing her hand over the blond peach fuzz on the top of his head.
“If it’ll help you out,” I said, like it was some great hardship. She smirked as I took the bottle from her and repositioned Kai, so he was in the crook of my arm and we were back on the lounge chair under the shade of an umbrella, so he wouldn’t get sunburn.
“I feel like I never see you anymore,” Remy said, lounging on the chair next to mine, out of the shade of the umbrella so she could soak up some afternoon sun. She was wearing a black bikini, and you’d never know she’d given birth two months ago. If anything, she was too thin.
“I see you all the time. Are you eating?” I asked.
“I eat like a horse. It’s the breastfeeding. I pumped enough for today because I know how weird you get when I whip out my boobs. Breastfeeding is supposed to shrink your uterus--”
“Yeah, okay. Spare me the fucking details.”
She laughed. “What I meant is that it’s been a while since we’ve talked, just the two of us.” Oh hell no, here we go. Question time. She didn’t pull any punches either. “So what’s the deal with you and Scarlett?”
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
She sighed loudly. “Yeah, I know. You never even talked about Sienna. But this… it’s different. I care about Scarlett. I don’t want to see her get hurt. You do know that Sienna will hate her for this when she finds out, right? She’s going to lose her sister over this so if you’re not serious about her—”
“You think I’m just playing her?”
“No. I just… you know that all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy. Do you love Scarlett?”
If I hadn’t told Scarlett yet, I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell my sister.
We’d been spending all our free time together. Fucking, talking, laughing, hanging out. I liked being with her and I missed her when she wasn’t around. This morning, we’d gone for a sunrise surf before she went to work, and we’d most likely see each other later tonight. So yeah, guess you could call this a relationship.
But love? That was all kinds of complicated and I was bad at shit like that. As proven by my first and last disastrous relationship. It had not all been Sienna’s fault. Not by a long shot. But we’d practically destroyed each other and getting over Sienna, theideaof Sienna, hadn’t happened overnight. Plenty of booze, plenty of weed, random hookups, and too many long hours in the office. It had been a slow, painful recovery. Who the hell wanted to put themselves through that again?
“Dylan, seriously. Sienna is going to find out eventually. If you’re not serious about her—”
“I wouldn’t have gotten involved with her if I didn’t care about her.” Subject closed as far as I was concerned.
I pried the bottle out of Kai’s mouth—he was sucking on air now—and the nipple released with a pop. Setting the bottle on the table, I put him over my shoulder and lightly thumped his back until he let out a satisfying burp and dribbled some warm milk on my shoulder.
“Can I just say one more thing?” Remy asked. Kai had drifted off to sleep and we were just chillin’ on a sunny May day. Or trying to.
We both knew the question was rhetorical. Remy wasn’t waiting for my permission to speak. She’d say whatever she wanted whether I liked it or not. So I kept my eyes closed, my hand rubbing Kai’s back as he slept on my chest.
Don’t grow up, kid, I told Kai, imparting my wisdom telepathically in hopes he got the message. It’s a big, bad world out there. Stay young and innocent. Don’t take that first sip of beer or try drugs. Fucking ever. Don’t fall in love with the wrong girl. And whatever you do, don’t take after your big bad Uncle Dylan. No fistfights or asshole behavior for you.
It’s a slippery slope, little dude. If you run into any trouble, call me. I’ll take care of your dirty work.
