And for the next hour, between laughing so hard and then laughing some more, they set Mena up in different scenarios. Mena was eating it up, having a blast, all smiles as they went all over the house doing things that Lacey wouldn’t even think to do. At one point they were in the car, Mena holding on to the steering wheel with a huge toothless grin on her face, while Jordie and Kacey acted as if they were screaming out in horror of her crashing the car. The caption read, “Who let the baby drive?” Then they had her with bras on her head, lace in her mouth, and the caption on the picture was, “Following in her mom’s footsteps.” After stuffing her in a helmet, they sent a picture to Karson that said, “Or maybe daddy’s footsteps?” When they handed her Kacey’s gold medal, she looked at it like it was the Holy Grail—which to Kacey it was—and Jordie quickly snapped the picture since Kacey had started twitching from the medal being out of the box. Sending it to Lacey, he said, “Or maybe her auntie’s?”
It went on like this for quite a while…that was, until Lacey called just as he was stuffing Mena in the fridge.
“Okay, it was all cute until you stuffed her in a pot and said, ‘Baby. It’s what’s for dinner,’” she complained and Jordie laughed as Kacey snickered, holding Mena close, kissing her head.
“It’s supposed to make you laugh,” he said. “No baby was hurt in the process of making Mommy laugh.”
She did laugh then and Jordie’s grin grew. “There’s what we wanted. You okay?”
She let out a long breath. “No, I fired her and we aren’t speaking. My dad came up to the shop, but I called the cops on him. I’m now in the process of hiring a new manager. So we probably won’t be home till Monday since Karson won’t leave me,” she said, saying the last bit louder for him.
“I don’t trust these people. I’d say close the shop, but I know you won’t,” Karson yelled and Jordie grimaced. They both sounded stressed. “Not that I think you should.”
“Yeah, I’m not, and it will be fine, no worries,” she said, but she sounded very worried. “Please don’t stuff my baby anywhere else.”
“Will do, boss lady. She’s actually about to get a bottle and go to bed.”
“Oh good,” she said, sounding relieved.
“Hey, you’re taking your meds, right?”
“Yeah, I am,” she said, and he could tell she was telling the truth.
“You sound frazzled,” he commented and she scoffed.
“I am, but no worries. Promise. Let me let you go though. I need to get some paperwork done. Give Mena kisses for me, and don’t roll your eyes and make fun of me when I text every thirty minutes.”
Jordie smiled as Kacey laughed. “We will try not to.”
They said bye and Jordie laid his phone down, grinning at Mena. “Well, my little rock star model, we are done for today.”
“Yup, bedtime,” Kacey sang, bouncing her around, which had Mena giggling before they headed out of the kitchen. “Bring the bottle, I’m gonna go change her.”
“Be there in a second,” he called to her before turning to make the bottle. As he filled the bottle with water, he couldn’t help but think how easy this was for them. They were going to be good parents. They fed off each other while laughing and having a good time. He still thought of the child they had lost though. Would it have been a boy, born with pads and a stick? Or a little girl, also born with pads and a stick? He didn’t know, but he wanted to have another chance. Soon.
Shaking the bottle, he went down the hall into Mena’s room, just as Kacey lifted her off the changing table and settled into the rocking chair. “Mm, nighttime snack is here,” she cooed before taking it from Jordie and putting it in Mena’s mouth. She sucked happily, her eyes trained on Kacey, and he couldn’t blame her. Kacey was beautiful.
She was only wearing sweats and a tank, her hair in a short little ponytail, but Jordie was completely taken by her. To him, she was wearing the red dress from the team party, her heels teasing him—she was always that gorgeous. Emotion choked him as he watched her, wishing like hell that it was their baby instead of Karson and Lacey’s.
“You look good, baby,” he said, clearing his throat. “Holding a baby.”
She smiled up at him. “Yeah, one day.”
“Soon?” he asked and she shrugged, looking back down at Mena. Smiling, she glanced back up at him.
“Maybe after we get married?”
“So tomorrow we get married and, boom, baby time?” he asked and she laughed.
“Or, maybe after your first year of sobriety, we get married, and then we enjoy time just the two us, and then we try?” she asked slowly.
“That sounds like a much smarter plan instead of just doing it tomorrow, huh?”
She winked. “Just a bit smarter.”
“You aren’t hesitant, are you?”