She pickedhim up and peppered his face with a lot of kisses.
"How ismy favorite man in the world?" she asked as she put him down.
"Awesome,"he said, leading her by the hand into the living room.
"Daddyand I are ordering pizza tonight and playing video games. We're having a guy's night tonight," he said.
Tammie raisedher eyebrows at the word "daddy.”
"I'msure you guys will have a great time, but make sure you let your dad win sometimes," she advised, winking at me.
"I would never let anyone win,"Robin said solemnly. "If you beat me, you played a better game than me."
I gave Robin a high five."That's my boy."
Jade kissedRobin and then me before both women headed out the door. It took all of my willpower not to grab Jade, pull her back into the apartment, and forbid her to go out. I stopped myself. That would go over like a bag of rocks.
This feeling was yetanother unfamiliar feeling that Jade had evoked – jealousy. I had never been jealous of a woman in my life because I had never allowed any woman to be that important to me.
My eyes followedher out the door while Robin jumped on the couch. "I'm hungry, Daddy. Can we order pizza now?"
After watchinghim scarf his third piece of pizza, I said, "I would have never guessed that a young man could eat so much. Where are you putting it?"
"Mommy and Aunt Sagesay I have a hollow leg where all the food goes," he looked at me mischievously and leaned in as if to share a secret. "I know from science class that my leg isn't hollow."
I had to laugh at his assessment of this situation. He was too smart for his own good.
Robin and I hung out and played video games until he yawned and couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. We went into his bedroom and took turns reading pages out of his favorite book before I tucked him in.
I spent the rest of the night checking my watch every five minutes, thinking about Jade. I could picture her at the club and every single man in the place drooling on her. The thought of another man holding her, pulling her close to his body, and dancing with her just about made me lose my mind.
Finally, about midnight, I heard Jade's key in the door.
I greeted her as she stepped inside and engaged the locks. She set her purse on the little table in the foyer and kicked off her shoes, sighing in relief.
"Hello, beautiful. How was your night?" I asked anxiously.
"It was a lot of fun and relaxing," she replied, picking up her shoes. "How did things go here?"
"Great," I replied. "I'm beginning to think I will need to look up some cheat codes to beat our son at some of these games."
"You wouldn't dare," she laughed. "He would be so upset with you."
The sound of her laughter was like music to me.
A brief, awkward silence followed as I followed her into her bedroom, where she pulled the pins out of her hair, shaking out the long red locks. I had a sudden urge to run my fingers through her hair.
I could see her watching me from the mirror. "Are you okay?"
I thought about biting my tongue to avoid conflict, but I couldn't stop myself. The truth blurted out.
"I hated the idea of you going out tonight," I told her. "I hated the thought that another man might be looking at you or even holding you in his arms while you danced."
Jade's forehead creased as took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"I would like to remind you that you are the one who bought me all these sexy clothes. I was quite content with my original wardrobe," Jade said.
She wasn't rude or sarcastic about the statement. It was a gentle reminder that I was responsible for how she looked.