Page 78 of Dad Next Door

We turned toward the soft voice at the door. Freddie lifted his head but dropped it right back down on my lap when he saw Tristan.

“Hey.” I looked at Freddie, then at the bump under my shirt that was Jinx. “I’m stuck.”

“I can see that.” He came into the room and bent over the back of the couch to kiss the top of Leo’s head. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Hi, Dad.” Leo barely spared him a glance.

“Hi.” He gave me a soft smile and gently squeezed the back of my neck.

I leaned into the touch, little shivers of awareness tickling my skin. “Hi.”

“Come on, kiddo, it’s time to get ready for bed.”

Leo made a face but didn’t look away from the TV.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“I’ll eat after I get him down for the night.” Tristan patted Leo’s head. “Time to turn that off. You know the rule. No screens right before bed. You get a pass tonight, but it’s time to shut that down.”

Sighing dramatically, Leo grabbed the remote and turned off the video, then the TV. “Can I stay up late tonight?”

“You have Betty’s party tomorrow. Do you think staying up late is a good idea if you’re going to be swimming?”

“No.” He got to his feet in the most dramatic way possible.

“Get your jammies on and brush your teeth. It’s already past bedtime.”

Grumbling like he was on his way to detention, Leo trudged away, his head hanging low and his feet dragging across the floors.

Koda and the cats followed him, and Jinx started wiggling under my sweater.

“One sec, buddy. You can’t get out that way.” I gently pushed his head back down through the neck of my hoodie. We’d learned the hard way that he was too big to climb through it without getting stuck. I lifted the bottom of my shirt, and Jinx popped out from under it like someone waking up from a day-long nap. He looked around, yawned, then bounded after the others.

“How are you doing?” I asked as Tristan came around the sofa and sat next to me.

“Tired.” He leaned back against the couch and rubbed his eyes. “How are you? Did you survive?” He rolled his head to face me.

“We had a great time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We played chess, put one of his Lego sets together, and watched a bunch of videos from his safe channels. And my space knowledge has at least tripled. I’d say that’s a pretty productive day.”

Tristan smiled, his entire body relaxing. “I’m glad. I know how exhausting it can be when you’re not used to being around kids.”

“I have combined type ADHD.” I huffed out a laugh. “Leo is low-key compared to what I was like at his age. Seriously, we had fun.”

“Do you need to head home?”

“Not for a while. You go take care of Leo, and I’ll heat dinner up for you.”

“Are you sure? You can go. I won’t be insulted or anything.”

Leaning over, I gave him a soft kiss. “I want to stay.”

He flushed, his ears going red. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Take your time.”