“What’s my name?” I asked.
Nothing.
Molly laughed. “Nice try.”
“Can’t fault a man for trying,” I joked.
I rubbed Rebel’s back as she sat quietly in my lap. She felt good there, her little body completely relaxed against mine. Her hair was curly and matted in the back where she’d rubbed it against her sheets, and she was still wearing Molly’s socks pulled up past her knees. She barely weighed anything.
Molly grabbed her pillow and comforter and carried them into her bedroom. Between the nap and Rebel’s first word, she was practically dancing.
“Are you hungry?” she asked as she came back in the room.
“How about I take you out?”
“Out?”
“A restaurant? You know, where they cook your food and clean up after you,” I replied as Rebel sat up and started climbing off my lap.
“I have to get dressed,” Molly hedged.
“You should probably at least put a bra on.”
“I didn’t think you noticed.”
“Sugar, I always notice your tits.”
“You’re going to have to be more careful,” Molly admonished, her eyes widening. “She’s saying words now.”#p#分页标题#e#
The look on her face was pure happiness. I don’t think she would have cared if tits was the next word Reb picked up, as long as she was talking.
“I’ll watch my mouth.”
“No, you won’t,” Molly replied dryly.
“No,” I agreed. “I won’t.”
Reb chose that moment to smack the coffee table hard with a plastic boat she’d found on the floor.
“I’ll get her dressed,” I said nonchalantly, getting to my feet.
I was testing the waters. Molly didn’t seem to have any issue with me being around Rebel—holding her and helping her eat sometimes. But we were new—we weren’t yet in a place where I helped out. I wanted to be.
Fuck, after the last few minutes, I wanted all of it.
“Are you sure?” Molly asked nervously, glancing down at Rebel.
“Sure.” I leaned down and kissed her softly. “Go get dressed.”
“It’s cold outside, so make sure she’s in pants and a sweater,” she said quickly. “And her socks are in the top drawer. The long socks—all the short ones are cute, but they fall down her heel and it drives her crazy.”
“No problem,” I replied with a nod.
“And the far right side of her closet has all of the clothes that are too big still, so don’t use those.”
“Okay.”
“And she needs a t-shirt under the sweater—one of the ones that snap shut at the bottom. That way her little belly doesn’t get cold. And—”
“Moll,” I cut in, physically turning her toward her bedroom. “I got it. I fuck up and you can change her, yeah?”
“Okay.” She nodded then raced for her room, probably so she could try and finish getting ready before I was done getting Rebel ready.
“You want to go get some lunch?” I asked Rebel, picking her up off the floor.
She signed eat, nodding like a little bobble-head.
“Okay, lets get you some pants, then.” I carried her into her bedroom and set her down on the floor. “You can’t go out when you don’t have clothes on,” I told her as I grabbed some long socks out of her dresser. “Remember that when you get older. Not only would you be cold, but I’m never letting you out of the house without pants—so don’t even try it.”
Reb watched me with a smile as I grabbed some little purple pants and a sweater that matched out of her dresser.
“Some day, your feet are going to fit in these socks,” I informed her as I sat her down and pulled Molly’s socks off her legs. “Then we’ll have to find you some super long ones so you can pull them way up your legs. Bet you could use mine when the time comes, I’ve got pretty big feet.”
I took off her glasses and set them aside before pulling off the little shirt she was wearing and putting a little white one right back on, snapping it in place. I didn’t want her to get cold. Shit, maybe I needed to talk to Molly about turning her furnace up.
“You need a Harley shirt,” I informed Rebel as I pulled her little pants up and over her diaper. “Or a sweatshirt, since it’s getting cold out. You want me to get you one?”
She smiled, her eyes unfocused without her glasses.
“Okay, sweater on,” I said as I pulled the little penguin sweater over her head. “There, now we can put your specs back on. How’s that? Should we go show Mama how good we did?”