Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3)(46)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“Of course not. Emily did.”

“Probably during one of the times you called to ask her one hundred and one baby questions.”

“I do not do that! I just call to talk.” Molly looked flustered.

I figured Emily would kill me if I got Molly mad at her. It was good they got along. “Emily likes that you ask her for advice. She likes to feel useful. None of her friends have kids yet.”

“Okay, that’s what I thought.” Molly visibly relaxed.

“So what are you two up to this afternoon? Plotting a takeover?”

“Very funny. We’re going Christmas shopping. Emily and Noah are coming.”

“Wait, she didn’t tell me that.”

“That’s because we just set it up an hour ago.”

“Are you meeting her in Wilmington?” They were coming up in a few days, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to see them sooner. I remembered Emily telling me she’d switched shifts and had the afternoon off.

“You’re not coming shopping with us. Don’t even ask.” Molly crossed her arms.

“Fine. I’ll watch Noah so Emily can actually enjoy herself.”

“Wow. That’s incredibly thoughtful of you. I’m impressed.” Becca grinned.

“It’s called being a good boyfriend. Maybe yours should try it.”

She laughed. “He’s my fiancé now, you know.”

“Whatever. What time are you leaving?”

“At two thirty. Can you get out?”

“Yeah, if Ben ever shows up.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “He’ll be here. We’ll pick you up.”

“See ya then.” I waved as they walked away.

I finished up the work that had to get done and was getting ready to head into the office when Ben showed up. “I’m your ride to Wilmington now.”

“Do I want to know why?”

“Molly wants me to babysit Noah with you.”

“She does realize I watch him by myself a lot, right?”

“This isn’t about you. She thinks I need more experience with kids.”

I laughed. “You do know your baby isn’t going to be a walking, talking toddler, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “All I know is Molly told me to do it. I figured it couldn’t hurt.”

“This might be interesting.”

“Go get your stuff. We can stop by your place so you can get cleaned up.”

“I don’t know, maybe Emily would like the grease.”

“Shut up and go.” He walked back toward the parking lot.

“Nice, long day of work you’re putting in,” I called after him.

He turned and gave me the finger. “I got here at five for a fishing tour.”

“Likely story.”

***

“Thanks for watching Noah.” Emily kissed me on the cheek after I took five huge shopping bags from her hands. Since Becca and Molly’s hands were empty, I assumed they left their bags in the car.

I put her bags down on the counter, the one spot Noah couldn’t reach. “Not a problem, we had a good time. Noah’s still out cold. We should probably wake him up soon.”

“How’d he do?” Molly pointed to Ben.

“He did all right.” I snickered.

“What happened?” Molly looked between us.

“Ben needed some lessons in diapers.”

“Shut up, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Dude, you tried to put the thing on backwards.”

The girls all busted out laughing. “This is one of those conversations that needs to be recorded.” Becca grinned.

Ben looked flustered. “Both sides have Elmo on it, how can you tell?”

Emily put a hand on my arm. “Be nice, Jake. Or do you want me to tell them about the first bath you were here for?”

“No. I think that can stay between us.”

“What happened?” Ben asked.

“Nothing except that I left the room for two minutes and Jake was just as wet as Noah.”

Molly laughed. “Now that would have been worth seeing.”

“That incident aside, Jake’s got it down. I can’t promise he’ll know how to handle a baby, but your son or daughter will have a good babysitter for an uncle.”

Molly leaned over to whisper something to Ben.

“Fine, we can tell them.”

“We were going to wait to tell your parents the news at the same time, but we had another ultrasound today. Remember how they couldn’t tell us the gender back in September and we decided we didn’t need to know? Well, it was pretty obvious this time.”

“What are you having?” Becca and Emily asked simultaneously.

“A boy.”

“Nice. Congrats, man.” I patted Ben on the back.

Becca hugged Molly, and then Emily took a turn. “Is that offer of giving us Noah’s old clothes still on the table?”

“Of course. We can go through them when you’re ready.”

Ben and I found a game on TV while the girls talked babies. An hour later, Becca and Molly walked over. They both had conspiratorial looks on their faces. Emily was trying to get Noah to clean up some of his toys.

“What are you up to?” I asked.

Becca sat down on the arm of the couch next to me. “How would you like to go out with Emily tonight?”

“Is that a real question?”

She rolled her eyes. “We were thinking that this would be a perfect night for Molly and Ben to watch Noah.”

Ben was suddenly interested in the conversation. “Is there a reason you’re volunteering us for babysitting?”

Molly sat down on the couch. She maneuvered awkwardly to get comfortable. Women really had it rough with the whole pregnancy thing. “You can’t change a diaper, Ben. We need practice.”

“Great. Jake gets to go out with his girlfriend while we babysit.”

Molly swatted at his arm. “Get used to it.”

I laughed. “You do realize the person to ask for permission is Emily.”

“We already asked. She was more than happy to lend Noah to us for the night.” Molly grinned.

“You really want to babysit?” Ben asked her.

“Yes, but Jake needs to do something really special.”

“I do?”

“Uh huh. She’s had a hard week at work, treat her to something.”

I knew exactly what we should do. “Would you mind watching Noah back in town? I want to take Emily out there.”