The Teddy Bear Club Read online

  “Thank you for coming over, Dev. You rescued a shitty day.”

  “And you saved me from a shitty evening, so you’re welcome and thank you back.” Dev met his gaze and smiled, looking right into him for a moment.

  They grinned at each other, then Bee blew a raspberry and U cracked up.

  “Did you hear that?” Dev asked, getting that “oh look at the cute thing my baby did” face.

  “I did. Goofy babies.”

  “Amazing babies,” Dev countered, eyes shining happily. “They’re going to be best friends, those two.”

  “I bet they are.” He could see that—Bee and U growing up with friendly dads.

  “It would be nice for them to have friends right from when they were babies. I had a friend like that until I was fifteen and his folks moved to Calgary.”

  “Are you in touch with him now?”

  Dev shook his head. “No, we totally lost touch. Like entirely.”

  “You tried social media?”

  “I figured we lost touch and that was it, really.” Dev shrugged. “Better not to find out he’s homophobic too, you know?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

  “No, you’re all right.” Dev settled into his gamer pose, low on the couch, legs spread. “You ready to get trounced?”

  “Right. We’ll see how that works.”

  Dev laughed and hit Start and they were off, the babies next to them, wriggling away. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a fun, relaxing evening. Aside from last night, that was.

  Chapter Four

  DEV shot up from bed, the piercing scream no doubt waking everyone for a mile. He stumbled over the diaper bag as he went to U’s crib, which wasn’t there. U was in a bassinet, and he was fast asleep despite the wailing.

  Oh. Right. He was at Aiden’s. And one of Aiden’s girls was not at all happy. Dev did a one-eighty and went out into the hall to see what was wrong and if he could help.

  “Easy. Easy, Bee. Daddy’s right here. Right here.”

  “She cutting another tooth already?” Dev asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her.

  “I think she’s got a gas bubble.”

  “Anything I can do?” He figured not, but he had to at least ask.

  “I don—” The belch was loud and long and followed by prodigious spit-up.

  “Oh man. Good diagnosis, Dad. I’ll get you a wet cloth.” It was funny how your own kid’s spit-up wasn’t nearly as bad as other kids.

  “Thank you.” By the time he got back, Aiden was stripped down to the waist, the little one already back to sleep.

  He found himself watching for a moment, admiring the lean lines, the sweet belly. Swallowing, he went in and offered over the wet cloth. “It seems a little redundant now, but here you go.”

  “Still, I’ll take it. Sorry to wake you.”

  “You didn’t.” He grinned. “I doubt you can scream that loud.”

  “That takes a hurting baby, that’s for sure.”

  That sobered him again. “Yeah. That burp and spit-up seem to have done the trick, though.”

  “She was so tickled to not be hurting that she swallowed down her bottle.”

  “Cool.” He got distracted by Aiden’s belly button. The man was an outie. It was cute as hell.

  Aiden wiped himself down, and that made the smooth skin shine.

  Dev knew he probably shouldn’t be watching so closely, but he couldn’t stop himself. As it was he nearly reached out to touch the lovely skin.

  “You want a glass of milk or something?”

  “Coffee or tea?” he asked. If he was up, he might as well sit and wake up properly.

  “Sure. Come on.” Aiden closed the door carefully.

  He went back and did the same so they wouldn’t wake U either, then followed Aiden out into the kitchen. “If you want to go back to bed, I can help myself.”

  “That’s okay. I’m awake now.”

  “Yeah, me too.” He found himself admiring Aiden’s bare torso again. Aiden really was rather sexy. Not a gym rat or anything, but well built, firm, broad at the shoulders and tiny in the waist.

  His cock perked up, but he ignored it. It wasn’t like they had time to do anything, and Aiden was turning into a great friend. He needed those more than he needed a roll in the hay. Still, it didn’t hurt to look, right?

  “I have a bunch of different flavors. What’s your pleasure?”

  You. He cleared his throat. “You got any hazelnut? I’ve had a yen for it ever since having it at the Roasty Bean yesterday.”

  “This isn’t as good as theirs, but it’s passable for home.”

  “Hey, my coffee generally tastes like sludge, so I’m willing to bet that anything you serve me is going to be an improvement. Is there anything you need me to do?” He was totally willing to help.

  “Grab a couple of mugs?” Aiden motioned over across the kitchen. “This new machine didn’t fit where the other one went and I haven’t managed to reorganize the kitchen yet.”

  “You reorganize the kitchen when you get a new appliance?” Aiden was way more organized than he was. Way more. He supposed Aiden had had more practice at it.

  “Well, it’s silly to have the coffee cups where the machine isn’t, right?”

  “I guess?” He hadn’t really ever thought about it. Like he’d thought—way more organized than him. He gave Aiden a grin. “Mine are usually in the dish rack, drying.”

  “Ah. Well, I’m a place for everything, everything in its place type, I guess. My folks taught us to be like that—we lived in this tiny little house, and it could get crazy so fast.”

  “Do you only have the one sister?”

  “I do. She’s younger than me. When our parents died, I got custody while she finished high school.”

  “So you’ve been doing the parenting thing for quite a while.” Hell, even if you only counted actual kids, Aiden had been doing it way longer than him.

  “Not really. She was mostly grown.”

  “Did you want kids? I mean was it on your radar as something you’d like to do before you wound up with your girls?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, but my ex? No way, and I thought I’d just not have them.”

  “Did you break up over you taking the girls?” Dev thought that would suck, to suddenly leave a man who’d inherited kids. Leaving him in the lurch.

  “Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.” Aiden handed him his coffee. “I mean, he was clear, you know? He didn’t lie to me.”

  “No, but he might have at least tried, given you some support. A good guy would have.” In his opinion anyway.

  “Yeah.” Aiden chose himself a latte as well. “I tell myself that it was good that Linds didn’t have a chance to get to know him.”

  “I suppose. I still think it was a douche-canoe move.” He lifted his latte and put his nose over the cup, breathing in deep. Coffee, hazelnut, and the steamed milk. Yum.

  Aiden chuckled softly and finished making his coffee, the soft humming filling the air.

  “You have a balcony we can sit on?” Dev asked, suddenly wanting to watch the sun come up.

  “I do. It’s off the master. Come on.”

  He followed Aiden, eyes on the pert little ass until they got to Aiden’s bedroom, and then he was all curiosity about what the room might say about Aiden. It was dark and quiet, no TV, only a huge bed piled with blankets and pillows.

  It smelled like Aiden in here, rather than the kids, and Dev breathed in deeply. This was Aiden’s space. A place for him to have some peace. It was cool.

  “The balcony’s right through here.” Aiden opened a set of french doors that were locked top, middle, and bottom.

  Safety first. Aiden clearly had thought of everything when it came to his girls.

  Dev went out, the morning air fresh, the sky barely beginning to lighten. It was going to be a beautiful sunrise. He sat in the blue chair, putting his coffee on the little table as he did.

  “H
ome sweet home,” Aiden murmured.

  “It’s really nice. You live in a great neighborhood.” And a house was so much nicer for kids than a condo. Plus his balcony was too high. He was going to have to get a bunch of locks for the door before U started getting around. Or get a new place. That probably needed to wait until U was officially his. God knew how much money that was going to cost. Lawyers were not cheap.

  God, what was he going to do? What was he going to tell U when he grew up: “Your mom dropped you on my doorstep when you were a baby and then gave up her parental rights”? He was sure there was a much better way to put it and he sure as hell hoped that by the time U was old enough to understand, he’d have found it.

  “It’s okay, man.” Aiden’s voice was soothing, soft.

  And it broke him out of the hamster wheel his thoughts were on. He shook himself, eyes focusing back on the beautiful morning sky instead of inward. “Yeah? You think so? Because sometimes it’s… well, it’s huge, you know? Just what… just everything. Everything.”

  “I know.” Aiden put his coffee down and walked over to him, then wrapped him in a long, easy hug.

  Dev stiffened for a quarter of a second, then he dropped his head to Aiden’s shoulder and sucked up the comfort, the support. The dark moments had been so much harder at home, on his own, with little U either screaming or having only just stopped. This was…. God, he could get used to this, was what it was.

  Aiden didn’t say anything else, didn’t do anything else, simply held him.

  They stayed like that for a long while, and Dev simply enjoyed it. Found the peace Aiden was offering.

  Finally, he backed off and smiled. “Thanks, man. I needed that.” He felt so much better. So much. He drank his coffee. “If you could bottle that for me, that would be awesome.”

  “The coffee?”

  He laughed. “It’s good coffee, but it’s not that good.”

  “It is pretty good coffee, but I’m glad to help. It’s great to have a friend. Someone to share this with.”

  Dev nodded vigorously. “It is.”

  They sat and sipped their coffee, enjoying the quiet, the peace before life started again. It was like a moment out of time.

  “Daddy? Daddy, are you in here?”

  Aiden smiled wide. “I am. I’m on the balcony.”

  Look at that smile. Aiden loved those girls; it was as plain as the smile on his face. It made Dev happy to know that.

  She toddled in, waving to him. “Hi! I went potty, Daddy.”

  “Good deal. You want to come sit with me?”

  Linds nodded and held her arms up, and Aiden pulled her up into his lap.

  “Good morning,” Dev said with a grin.

  “Good morning. You’re Dylan’s daddy, right?”

  He opened his mouth to say no, he was Unicorn’s father, but then he remembered their conversation of yesterday, so he nodded. “That’s right.”

  “My daddy says you are friends. Are you staying for breakfast?”

  “We are, and I am. Do you know what we’re having for breakfast?”

  “Cancakes.”

  “Pancakes sound very good.” He could totally eat a couple dozen.

  “’Kay. Daddy. You heared him. Make all the cancakes.”

  “All the cancakes?” It was hard not to laugh.

  “Uh-huh. All the cancakes!” She bounced on Aiden’s knee.

  “How many are all?” Dev asked her.

  “’Nana ones and ones with sprinkles and ones with syrup!”

  God, she was cute.

  “How about ones with bananas and sprinkles and syrup?” he asked.

  “No.” She pursed her little lips and shook her head.

  “Are you sure? It seems to me that all the good things together would be even better than all the good things separately.” He wondered if Aiden had ever made chocolate chip or blueberry ones for her. The blueberry were his favorite.

  “Daddy?” She looked worried, unsure.

  “Let’s make blueberry and some banana.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Dev told her, trying to ease her. He hadn’t realized that suggesting mixing everything together would upset her in any way. He mouthed “sorry” at Aiden.

  Aiden snorted and grinned. “I think we should try one at the end with everything. We’ll share it.”

  “That works for me. It’ll be so full of stuff there might not even be any pancake left.” Was that too far back in the scary direction for Linds? He didn’t actually hold his breath, but he was waiting for her reaction.

  “Oh…. Now, Daddy. Let’s cook now.”

  “Before I come up with any more outrageous ideas, eh?” He gave Linds a wink and stood, stretched. He couldn’t believe how long U was sleeping in. He’d played hard for a couple of hours, then fed just past 1:00 a.m., and now it was… not quite seven. He was going to have to check on his boy, make sure U was still breathing.

  “Daddy!” She stood and tugged at Aiden’s hand.

  “No more rest for the wicked,” Dev noted, laughing slightly. “I’m gonna go check on my boy. I’ll see you guys in the kitchen.”

  He headed back through Aiden’s bedroom, finding U awake but happily staring up at the ceiling and kicking his feet, the odd gurgle coming from him. Smiling, Dev picked U up. “Hey, sweetie. You really like it here, don’t you? So much good mood.”

  U crowed, little hands reaching for him. He put U over his shoulder and gave him a gentle baby hug. “Daddy needs to eat, and I bet you’re hungry too.” He was going to change U’s diaper first, though, because after six hours there had to be at the very least a lot of wet in there.

  Sure enough, U’s diaper was heavy, but it didn’t take any time to change him, put on a new onesie and head out to the kitchen with U still happy and cooing.

  Aiden was in the kitchen—Linds singing, Bee in her seat burbling away. It was… joyous. He joined them, dancing U around to Linds’s music. He hadn’t enjoyed a morning so much in a long time.

  “Good morning, Mr. Dev.” Aiden grinned at him, winked.

  “Good morning.” He kept dancing around. “Can I set the table or do something else one-handed?”

  “That would be great, thank you.” Aiden came over, tickled U’s belly. “Hello, Unicorn-baby.”

  “Dylan, Daddy.”

  Dev shrugged. “I haven’t come up with anything better, and it might stick. Although Unicorn-baby is cute.”

  “He’s gorgeous.” Aiden smiled at him and those eyes were so pretty, so warm.

  “I think so. I could be biased, though, so it’s always nice to have someone agree with my assessment.”

  “Daddy! Daddy, the bubbles!”

  “I’m coming!” Aiden hurried over to flip.

  Oh God, that was adorable.

  Little Bee kicked and flailed, obviously begging for attention. Dev was happy to give it to her, bouncing his way over and cooing at her. “Hey, beautiful girl. How’re you doing?”

  She smiled widely, blowing bubbles. He worked up some spit and blew them right back.

  U blinked at him, and then his boy tried. It was mostly spittle but he cheered anyway.

  He did believe these two were going to be fast friends. He wanted U to grow up with friends, family, people that loved him.

  He looked over at Aiden and smiled. They both needed friends.

  Maybe Aiden needed more friends too. Maybe they could be friends together. He shook himself. He was being weird. Of course they were friends.

  “How many pancakes for you, Dev?”

  “Will you look at me like I’m a pig if I ask for eight? Unless you mean the bigger ones, because I don’t need eight of the big ones.” He liked to eat. Especially in the morning.

  “Not at all. Eight pancakes for you, three for Linds.”

  “Excellent. I’m at least twice as big as Linds, so that sounds fair.” He gave her a grin.

  “One, two, three, five, nine, eight!”

  “I think you missed a couple of numbers t
here, honey.” He wasn’t sure how Aiden usually corrected her.

  “Show me,” she demanded.

  He counted slowly, using his fingers to count along. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Okay, your turn.”

  “One. Two. Three. Five. Seven. Eight!”

  “That was close but you skipped a few. You wanna use your fingers like I did? That helps you go slower and get them all.” He held up his hands, fingers curled into his palms and waited for her to copy him.

  She watched him carefully, so serious, so worried.

  “Say it with me,” he suggested. “One.” He nodded, waiting for her to repeat it after him.

  “One!”

  God, she was cute.

  “Two.”

  “Two!”

  “Three.” He held up three fingers.

  “Three!”

  “Four.” That was the one she’d missed both of her previous tries.

  “Four!” She began to giggle happily, the sound pure joy.

  He grinned at her and popped his thumb up. “Five.” God, she was truly adorable.

  “Five! Five alive!”

  “That’s right. You know what comes after five?” He held up one of the fingers of his other hand. “Six!”

  “SIX!” Her cry was loud, happy, and U began to kick and wiggle.

  “Seven! Eight!” He did the last two one after the other and she shouted them back at him. “Well done! You wanna do them all yourself now?”

  “No, with you. With you, Mr. Dylan’s Daddy.”

  “Okay. Together. One.” When she said it with him, he went on at an even, slow pace. “Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.”

  He held up a hand to high-five her. “Well done!”

  “Thank you!” She danced around, her laughter bouncing through the kitchen. The joy was infectious and it made him laugh, left him feeling light. This was what mornings were supposed to be like. U’s gurgles were just as adorable, happy. He could get used to this.

  “Okay, Miss Linds. You ready to eat?” Aiden served her, then handed him a plate.