Tacker looks from Dax to me. “Casual, huh?”
“Casual,” I confirm with a hard nod, but I do feel compelled to add on. “But exclusive.”
Dax grins knowingly, because he understands that I just metaphorically peed on Pepper and marked my territory.
“I’m happy for you, man,” Dax says and then stabs a piece of turkey.
“Me too,” Tacker adds on with a smile, but I see pain in his eyes. I wonder if it will ever leave.
The baby monitor speaker that sits on the counter crackles then I hear the faint whimpering of Charlie as she wakes up. She never just starts crying but will make tiny mewling sounds for a few minutes to indicate she’s hungry.
“She’s awake.” I set down my fork and wipe my mouth on a napkin. “Let me go get her and I’ll be right back.”
Charlie is wet and I change her diaper. I take a moment to inhale her scent, which is sweet and powdery. I had put her down in a little one-piece pajama set that’s cream with little reindeer all over it and she looks adorable.
I carefully walk down the stairs and into the kitchen with her in my arms. Dax immediately bolts off his stool to come toward us. Tacker rises a bit more slowly, and I wonder if he had dreamed of having children with his fiancée. Was that dream crushed as well when she died?
Dax hovers over the little bundle that is my daughter and the dopey grin is back. He takes his index finger and pushes it into her little hand. “Who’s the cutest little baby in the entire world?”
Her eyes are a dark blue which means she got them from me since Lida’s are brown, but I had read that babies can have blue eyes after birth that will change later as they age. She stares up at Dax but I also know from reading that she really can’t see a lot of definition. Still, she reacts to his voice somewhat and her eyes widen just a bit.
“She’s awesome, Legend,” Dax says and there’s no mistaking the happiness for me in his voice.
“May I?” I hear from behind Dax and I see Tacker standing there, his arms spread slightly indicating he wants to hold her.
I blink in stunned surprise at Tacker, who has a gentle smile on his face as he looks from me to Charlie. I can’t help but give a quick glance to Dax, who looks as befuddled as I feel that Tacker is not only willingly engaging in something, but he looks to be in his element, perhaps. I know he had an immediate connection with Blue’s brother, who is wheelchair bound by cerebral palsy.
I’m by nature a protective man and that extends to my daughter, but if Charlie can in anyway break through to Tacker and help to bring him out of his shell, I’m all over it.
“Sure,” I say as if this is a casual gesture, but this is totally serious business. “I have to make her a bottle anyway.”
I place Charlie in Tacker’s arms and he takes her easily, putting his big hand behind her head for support until she settles in. She gurgles and gives a tiny cry, but I know that’s because she’s getting hungry.
Tacker isn’t put off or rattled when she cries again. Instead, he shushes at her and in a gentle voice says, “Your daddy’s getting you your dinner. Just hold tight, little girl.”
I swear to God, I almost melt right then and there. He’s a fucking natural and I’m more curious now than ever before about his past.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I turn toward the pantry to get out her formula so I can mix a bottle up.
Tacker has layers, that’s for sure.Chapter 11PepperLegend yells, “Come in” after I ring the doorbell, so I do.
I take a guess he’s either in the kitchen or living room, so I make my way there. My eyes first latch onto Charlie who is fast asleep in the strangest piece of baby equipment I’ve ever seen. It looks like half an eggshell propped at a slight angle on a base and it’s gently moving in circles to rock her.
“What is that?” I ask Legend, who I note is behind the counter placing some chicken breasts in a casserole dish.
He looks up and grins. “It’s called a mamaRoo or something like that. Cool, huh?”
“What happened to old-fashioned rocking your baby?” I ask dryly then bend slightly at the knees to unload my burdens. I place on the floor the four white tote bags I’d carried in that contain presents and dessert. When Legend invited me for dinner the day after Christmas, I insisted on bringing something sweet because he has nothing sugary in his house.
It’s a travesty.
Legend nods back over to the egg-thingy rocking a sleeping Charlie. “I told the entire team about her before practice today. A few teammates and their wives dropped by this afternoon bearing presents. So much of it is repeat stuff that I have, but I definitely did not have an electric egg rocker for my kid.”