Forever Mine by Natalie Ann
Bright and Big
Trey was pushing the grocery cart through the aisles and trying to remember what he needed. He should have made a list like he’d told himself to do weekly. Yet he never did.
Ben was holding onto the handle by Trey’s hands. Even if he turned to get an item, he never took his hand off the cart.
He was in the baby aisle now, reaching for diapers that he went through too fast. His eyes gazed past the formula that he no longer needed. Thanks to Gillian, Ben ate and drank well and the pediatrician said there was no reason to not transition to whole milk a few weeks ago. One less expense to have.
He was tossing jars of baby food and cereal in the cart. Though Ben ate table food, it wasn’t enough. When Trey’s eyes landed on the prunes, he shivered and passed over them.
“I’d do that too based on our last conversation.”
He turned to see Whitney standing there. “Excuse me?”
“You looked like you shivered over the prunes.”
He laughed. “I did. He’s all cleaned out and no issues. I don’t want them in my house again.”
“Aren’t you such a cutie,” Whitney said to his son who was smiling bright and big like he always did.
“I’d introduce you, but he wouldn’t know what I was saying.”
“I think he understands well enough,” she said, running a fingertip across Ben’s hand on the cart. Ben let go and grabbed Whitney’s finger and went to bring it to his mouth. “Oh no. That’s probably dirty and not good for you.”
“He wants to put everything in his mouth lately,” he said, pulling out the pacifier that was in the bag and clipping it to Ben’s shirt so it didn’t end up on the floor.
“Maybe he’s teething,” she said.
“Could be. That’s what Gillian thinks too. I’m expecting some teeth soon. He’s gumming everything to death so we are mashing food up. Mashing chicken isn’t easy, but Gillian manages.”
“Sounds like your sister has it covered.”
“She does.” He looked at her cart and saw there wasn’t much in it other than some produce. Of course they were only in the third aisle. She’d said she had no kids so no use asking what she was doing walking this way.
There was an awkward silence between them now. “I guess I should get a move on. I saw you turn this way with the baby and wanted to get a better look at the cutie than the picture.”
He could see her eyes never leaving Ben’s face. He knew a woman that wanted to get her hands on a baby a mile away. “Do you want to hold him?”
She grinned. “I’d love to. Though I think we might be blocking traffic soon.”
He looked around and saw someone coming down the aisle. There weren’t many in the store this time of day. He tried to get groceries on the weekends when he wasn’t working because he didn’t want to take advantage of Gillian always having Ben. He had to figure it out on his own.
“Most likely,” he said.
“But if you don’t mind me stalking you through the store, maybe I can hold him in the parking lot after checking out?”
“Sure,” he said.
The two of them started to move. They weren’t walking side by side or even in the same aisle, but they did make it to the checkout the same time, different lanes but leaving the store together.
“Look at that,” she said when they stopped at his truck. “My car is only three down from yours.”
“Why don’t you put your groceries away and I’ll do the same. Normally I put him in the car seat while I do this, but it’s fine.”
“Thanks,” she said, moving fast and all but tossing her bags in the trunk and coming back with her empty cart.
He finished with his bags in the back of the four-door truck, then took Ben out of the cart and handed him over. “I’ll bring the carts to the bin if you’re okay?”
“More than okay,” Whitney said, not looking at him and bouncing Ben on her hip.
When he came back Ben was all smiles and drooling. “Let me get his burp cloth. You’re going to be wearing that spit soon.”
If he was self-conscious about being Mr. Mom, he’d learned to push it aside. If men or women judged him they could go screw themselves. This was the life he chose and it was the one he was going to make for his son.
It’s not like he was going to sing a lullaby in the parking lot. But if he had to, he would. Sure, he’d be embarrassed, but you did what you had to to calm a screaming kid down.
Ben wasn’t doing any screaming but lots of wiggling when Trey brought the burp cloth out and wiped his son’s face.
“Let me try,” Whitney said when Ben turned his head to avoid the cloth.
He handed it over and watched as Whitney tried to play peekaboo with the cloth and managed to catch the drool before it drenched Ben’s shirt any further.
“Just another trick I should learn,” he said.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty of them,” she said.
“More than I thought I would.”
More silence between them but not awkward this time. Ben was loving the attention and Whitney was all but ignoring Trey. “I should give him back to you. Your ice cream is going to melt if we stand out here any longer.”
“My ice cream,” he said. “I saw a few different kinds in your cart.”
“Well, a girl has needs,” she said.
There was a double meaning there if he’d ever heard one. He was torn between making a sexist comment like he would have with her years ago, or realizing he’d matured and asking her for her number.
He went with the number. “If you want to play with Ben another time, you can. Maybe when it’s not in the parking lot?”
“I’d love to,” she said. “If you trust me, I can be a backup sitter for you if you’re working. It’s not like I’ve got much going on other than work.”
Again. Hinting toward her being single. It seemed they were both beating around the bush. “Why don’t you give me your number,” he said. He pulled his phone out and added her number to his cell, then put it back in his pocket as he reached for Ben.
His son decided he didn’t want to leave Whitney’s arms and he couldn’t blame him. He remembered those hands on him too and was shocked at the memories flooding his brain.
“Sorry. I hope he doesn’t cry too long,” she said when he buckled Ben in to the sound of a mild temper tantrum.
“He’ll be fine. I’ll give him one of his toys or something. We aren’t far and it’s almost naptime anyway. It was good to see you again.”
“Same here,” she said, then moved away to her car.
* * *
When Whitney was home puttingher ice cream away she burst into laughter. She didn’t think he’d notice the five different pints of Ben and Jerry’s she put in there thinking of the fact she was going to go home alone and wish for the family she never got.
The minute the last item from her bags was put away, she pulled out one of the pints and a spoon. Might as well start now and forget about dinner.
She’d seen Trey walking in the store when she parked and knew she’d have to get a look at him again.
He was definitely flirting with her at the fire station. Kind of what she hoped for when she dropped off the pizza and then wondered how they could see each other again.
Finding out he was a single father of a baby had been like a punch in the gut to the dreams she’d had with him, but knowing he didn’t have a woman in his life helped soothe that ache.
Then she had to ask herself what she wanted. Him or the child?
It was him. Totally him. She didn’t even know about the baby until after she brought the pizza over, but she did wonder if Trey would think she was more interested in his son.
She couldn’t worry about that though because chances were he might not even reach out to her.
She took her ice cream out to her sunroom and sat down to start eating when her phone went off. She picked it up off the counter, but there was no name, just a number with the text.
When she opened it up it read, Just Trey checking to see if I got your number right.
Wow. Guess she was wrong. She set the spoon down with the forgotten ice cream and typed back, You always were pretty smart. Did Ben stop crying?
The bubbles were flashing and she felt the grin on her face. Sound asleep by the time I got home. He wore himself out.
She cringed. That doesn’t sound good.
A picture of Ben in a playpen on his back with his arms out to his sides and a pacifier in his mouth popped up on the screen next with a comment that read, Does that look bad?
She laughed and typed back, Wish I could sleep that relaxed or deeply.
Me too.
Crap. Now what should she say? She wasn’t used to texting with men. She hadn’t dated in almost a year and never felt comfortable in these situations.
She didn’t want to call him because maybe talking would wake Ben up. Besides, she didn’t even know what to say.
In the end she settled on sending a smiley face and knowing that she probably looked like a fool in his eyes.
But he liked her text so maybe that was good enough, making her feel like that teen again.