“Smart-ass,” my dad said as he gave me a little wave good-bye.
* * *
“Arielle,” I murmured late that night as I rubbed her back in little circles. “Uncle Trev is tired. Aren’t you tired?”
We were sitting on the couch watching a documentary on World War II, and she was showing no signs of sleeping. Thankfully, she wasn’t crawling around the house or trying to open every cupboard in the kitchen anymore, but she was still wide awake as she sat on my lap. I’d done everything I could to tire her out, thinking, like an idiot, that I’d be the one to get her to sleep.
How very wrong I’d been. I’d taken her to the park, to a fast-food place that had a massive play area, and finally on a nature walk to the creek and back. It didn’t seem to faze her. It was like the kid was a robot. If you looked underneath her skin you’d find a metal case with batteries that were still fully charged.
My phone rang, and I realized instantly that I’d completely forgotten to call Morgan like I’d told her I would.
“I’m sorry,” I answered, not bothering with a hello. “I’m watching my niece tonight and I completely forgot to call.”
“No problem,” she replied. “Which niece?”
“Arielle,” I said, smiling at the pretty little girl as she glanced at me after hearing her name. “She’s Bram and Ani’s. All the others live in San Diego.”
“Oh, right. You told me that before, I think.”
“Yeah, probably. It’s hard to keep track, though. There’s a lot of us.”
“Do you babysit a lot?” she asked curiously.
“Not really,” I confessed. “Not that I wouldn’t, they just don’t really ask me. Between my mom and aunt they usually have it covered.”
“Lucky,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, yeah. They’re all about the babysitting. I offered to keep Arie tonight, though, so her parents could get some sleep.”
“Grandmas aren’t willing to do the overnights, huh?” Morgan joked.
“Actually they are,” I replied, not wanting to give her the wrong impression. I got more comfortable on the couch and got Arielle situated against my chest before continuing. “I think Ani and Bram have been refusing their help because they didn’t want the oldies to have to stay up all night.”
“All night?”
“That’s what I hear,” I said, glancing down at Arielle, who was still watching the documentary, even though there was no way she understood anything they were saying. “She’s getting about two hours, give or take a few minutes.”
“Oh, that sucks,” Morgan said. “How old is she?”
“Eight months.” I wasn’t sure of that, but I acted like I was. I knew my guess was pretty close.
“I had to deal with that shit with Etta for only about a week when she was teething, and I honestly thought I might die from sleep deprivation.”
“Shit, huh?” I asked, surprised at her language.
“Ugh,” she sighed. “My dad’s a bad influence.”
“How’s that going?” I asked curiously. She’d seemed really reluctant to move back in with her dad, but she seemed happy to be there. I wondered what he was like. She seemed to put the guy on a pedestal.
“It’s actually kind of great,” she said ruefully. “There’s always a pot of coffee waiting for me in the morning, and it’s been really nice to spend some time with the old man.”
“Damn,” I said, taking a deep breath. “The coffee thing sounds nice.”
“I know, right?” she said, sighing happily. “His coffee is way better than mine, too.”
“I know what you mean. Coffee always tastes better at my parents’ house, too. Sometimes I go over on the weekends, just for that.”
“Do you spend a lot of time at your parents’ house?” she asked. I laughed a little at the question. What constituted “a lot” in her mind? I spent a lot more time with my parents than my brothers did, but I’d always lived close. I wasn’t sure what would be considered a normal amount.
“I live really close to them,” I finally said. “I built a house on our family property.”
“Oh.”
“But it’s not next door or anything,” I rushed to clarify. I really didn’t want her to think I was living with my parents. I wasn’t that guy. “We have a lot of property, so when it was time to build or buy a house I decided to do it here. Eventually they’ll get to the point where they’ll need my help getting around and I didn’t want to be too far away.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“Plus, it cut way down on my mortgage,” I confessed.
“Yeah, I can understand that logic,” she said jokingly. “My dad won’t let me pay anything until I get a job, so I’ve been leaving money around the house in the hopes that he would find it and assume it’s his.”
I laughed loudly and startled Arielle, making her entire body tense.