Page 5 of Knox
I took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the ones you want. So, you can either pick a different pair or go with the ones I picked out.”
He stomped over to the dresser, snagged some with farm animals printed on them, and started to change. Although, I’d seen Grady give his dad a hard time on occasion, I was still surprised by how quickly things went from us having a good time together to this grumpy and stubborn version of him.
After we brushed his teeth, the bedtime stalling tactics kicked into overdrive.
“I need to go potty again.” He ran out of the room and into the bathroom.
It took about ten minutes of me asking over and over if he was done before he finally finished and returned to his bedroom.
I pulled the sheet and blanket back. “Okay, time to hop in, G.”
“Wait!” He stopped in the middle of the room and began looking around. “I want to sleep with Bunzy.”
I joined in the search for the stuffed rabbit that Crew had bought him the first night Grady had stayed with us. “Do you remember where you last saw it?”
“Nope.” He stood with his hands on his hips, spinning in slow circles.
Knowing we often found things under his bed, I got down on the floor and checked. Sure enough, Bunzy was shoved into the far corner. “Got it,” I called as I stretched as far as I could and pulled it out by one of the floppy ears.
Handing it over, I gently guided Grady to his bed. Just as I was about to cover him with his blanket, he said, “I need a sip of water.”
“You already had one after you brushed your teeth,” I explained, trying to maintain my calm.
“But I’m still thirsty.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
I filled a tumbler cup with water in the kitchen and returned to his room. He took the tiniest sip before handing it back to me. “I’m done.”
“All right. Now it’s time to lie down.”
“But I want Daddy to tuck me in.”
Shit.“I know you do. He wanted to as well, but he had something he had to do tonight. That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t want you,” Grady fussed and laid back. “I want Daddy.”
His cries were soon accompanied by him flailing his arms and kicking his legs. I rubbed a hand over my face, not sure what to do.
I knew only one person besides Crew or Mallory who could help talk me through the situation. I scrolled to her contact on my phone and pressed the call button.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Mom answered just as Grady let out another wail. “Everything okay?”
We had decided to keep the holidays low-key since Crew had still been in the early stages of building a relationship with his son, so I had traveled to southern California alone for a couple of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’d told them all about Crew and Grady, but they hadn’t met each other yet.
“Not exactly. Crew’s gone because something happened that I can’t get into right now, so I’m on babysitting duty, and Grady’s in full meltdown mode. I don’t know what to do. I think he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” she replied.
“He said he didn’t want me. He just wants his dad.”
“Kids have big feelings just like adults do, but they often don’t know how to process them,” she explained. “He’s probably tired, and if Crew and his mom aren’t there, he might be a little scared.”
“Well, how can I help him? I don’t want to make things worse, but neither Crew nor Mallory can come back right now, so I’m all he has.”
“Just go be with him. Maybe read him a story and let him know he’s not alone. That’s probably all he needs.”
“Thanks. I’ll try that.”
