Page 121 of For Your Consideration

“There is nothing I would rather do.” I pinned my eyes on her so she could see how serious I was until she nodded and a small smile appeared on her face. Her shoulders dropped with relief. Like I’d ever fucking say no to taking care of Soph. If Sutton allowed it, she would be mine.

“Okay, well, I can pick her up from Iris and then drive her to your place,” she offered, at least looking at me now.

“Are you offering because you don’t want me driving in the car with her or because you don’t want me to be inconvenienced?”

Her eyes widened at my question. “I think you’re a better driver than me. I know she’d be safe in your car.” Which was what I thought she was going to say.

“Nothing about you or Sophie is ever an inconvenience to me. Got it?”

“Got it.”

I could see there were tears in her eyes but I really didn’t want to see her cry, especially when I couldn’t hold her.

“Why don’t I meet you at your apartment and I can grab her from Iris and take her to my place? You can come there after you’re done at the doctor’s.”

“Is this your way of getting us to stay at your place tomorrow night?”

I smirked at her. “Just a nice side effect of a good plan.”

She shook her head at me with an eye roll that held no real annoyance. “She’s busy with all her crawling.”

“Sweetheart, I’ve been spending a lot of time with her over the last month. I can handle her.” I was trying to hide how excited I was, not only that she was trusting me with this, but that I would get some uninterrupted time with Sophie. I loved getting to be with her; time apart from her made me surlier than normal and that was a high bar.

“I know you can.” She let out a sigh. I could tell she was tired.

“Thanks for asking me.”

“I trust you with her, Ash. I know she’s safe with you.”

“Always,” I replied seriously. We shared an intense look before her eyes darted to the door and then back to me.

“I should go. Iris made me dinner.”

“I’m jealous,” I grumbled. I didn’t bother clarifying that it wasn’t the food, it was the time spent with them. Making dinner beside her, eating together, cleaning up Sophie’s mess, helping with bathtime, and making sure Sutton had everything she needed. They’d become my favorite part of every day.

“You’ll survive,” she laughed as she started to stand up from the bed.

Glad she was so confident. I didn’t exactly believe it.

“I miss you both,” I told her before she could hang up.

She paused for a moment before smiling brightly at me. “We both miss you too.”

With that she blew me a kiss and hung up the call. I was so fucking excited for tomorrow.

Sophie and I were sitting on the floor playing with blocks. She and I stacked them up and then she would decide it was time to start over and knock them all down. She laughed manically when she did it.

I was obsessed with the sound. I would play this game with her forever if she wanted.

Earlier I had worked on tiring her out. She’d crawl as fast as she could around the living room, and eventually I would catch up to her and scoop her off the ground until she screamed in delight. I’d also encouraged her as she kept pulling herself up by the couch, bouncing up and down and squealing.

I was having the best day I’d had in a long time. It would only have been better if her mum was with us.

Sutton had texted that everything was fine but the doctors were running behind so she would be later than she thought. I was able to feed Sophie some soft foods that Sutton usually fed her. I had a few bags of milk in my freezer just in case but I’d only need them if Sutton wasn’t home by her bedtime. I hadn’t eaten though; I was waiting on Sutton.

Another stack of blocks and another laugh from Sophie as she pushed them over, her wide hazel eyes full of excitement. They looked just like her mum’s. When I made a face at her she started clapping and it was the most joyous sound.

“When are you going to say your first word, sunshine?” I asked as the blocks continued. “According to the doctor I called, it’s normally around twelve months, so any day would work, baby girl. As long as your mama is around to hear it.”