I was distracted at practice and got yelled at a lot. On the way home, I stopped at Panera and picked up soup and sandwiches, so we didn’t have to cook tonight. We could simply spend time together. I even got a sandwich for Milan and dropped it off at her apartment, letting her know I would be busy and unavailable for the rest of the evening. She wasn’t dramatic at all, telling me sweetly to have a good evening.

Maybe she isn’t so bad after all.

I had the food all spread out on the table when Blaire and Carrie walked through the door. “You got dinner for us?” Blaire asked, seemingly impressed.

“Yep, I got everyone’s favorites, including a BLT for my baby girl,” I said, picking up Carrie and eating her tummy until she giggled. I put her down and told her to go wash her hands while we got our drinks. I dragged Blaire into the kitchen, pressing her back against the counter and kissing her long and slow until we were both breathless. “You’ve got me hard and thinking very dirty thoughts, Bear,” I murmured as I kissed down the side of her neck.

“Dirty thoughts, huh? Like what?” she asked, running her fingers through my hair. I whispered a few particularly naughty suggestions in her ear that made her hands tighten in my hair. “Mmmm, I can’t wait,” she groaned just before we heard Carrie returning from the bathroom, and I backed up to put some space between us.

She walked into the kitchen and said, “Daddy, what’s wrong with your hair? It’s all messy.”

“Oh, um, your mom was trying to fix it for me. Does it look okay?” I preened a little.

She scrunched her little nose and said honestly, “No, it looks awful,” making us both laugh.

“That’s why Mommy is a doctor and not a hairdresser,” I said, dragging my hand across Blaire’s butt as we followed Carrie to the dining room. She brought the drinks in, and we all sat down and ate like a family, laughing and talking about what we had done today. Carrie chattered on about the aquarium, giving us especially detailed information about the sharks and dolphins.

“Oh, Carrie. I forgot to tell you,” Blaire said, “BaBa called today and wants to take you to a special event at the Children’s Museum. It’s tomorrow night, and you get to wear a fancy dress and everything. Would you like that?”

Our daughter’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Yes! Can I wear that purple dress with the skinny straps?”

“Sure, but you’ll need a jacket because it’s cold in the evenings now.”

“Cool! Am I spending the night with BaBa?”

“He said you could if you wanted to, or he could drop you off here.”