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Okay. So I guess I’m getting a new roommate. Juno blows a few spit bubbles before kicking her feet, squirming enough that Evie flips her around and lifts the baby to her shoulder. Make that two new roommates. My heart speeds the slightest bit, and I realize I’m excited. Weirdly excited. And not just because I know it’s what Megan would expect.
I had no idea I was going to need a hero today, but since I very clearly did, I’m really glad it was you.”
Theo chuckles. “Way to make a move, Captain. Giving her your jersey. Classic.”
I haven’t felt a stronger sense of victory since we took the Calder Cup last season. Juno is asleep—in my arms. I did this. And it feels amazing.
Halfway down the stairs, I add, “So just putting this out there. I’ll happily put Juno to sleep any time you need it.” She looks at me over her shoulder and grins. “Already so smitten.” Completely, I think, as I follow her into the living room. And not just with Juno.
But Victoria’s restoration work—that’s the piece that excites me the most. The idea of taking something everyone else thinks is too old or too broken and bringing it back to its full potential? That’s magic I want to be a part of.
Not your Grape Nuts, though. Your cereal choices are very boring, Alec. Alec Don’t knock them until you try them.
On the one hand, the image of a shirtless Alec cradling my baby girl against his chest while he sings to her is a level of sexy I could not have dreamed up myself. But it’s more than that. Seeing Alec hold Juno brings into stark clarity just how much she’s missing by not having her dad around. Not that I can imagine Devon ever being this gentle, this patient with Juno.
Feeling that baby fall asleep in my arms tapped into something in my brain that I’ve never experienced before. Something primal. I don’t just want to date Evie, I want to protect her, take care of her. I’m talking fight her battles, kill the bad guys, rid the world of anything and anyone who might ever hurt her. And I want to do the same for Juno, which is the most foreign part of all.
Captain’s got it bad…
Before Juno, whenever I dreamed of my future, it mostly just involved my music. But I’m starting to wonder if my dream was missing something—missing this. Community.
Maybe fatherhood is just a matter of paying attention, of noticing what your family needs, then stepping up to take care of that need. It’s being present. Invested. Willing.
I realize it’s early to want all that. I can imagine Nathan lowering a hand on my shoulder and telling me I’m running when I really need to walk, and it would probably be very good advice. But I’m not sure I can make myself stop. Not when it feels like I’ve finally found something real.
“I like you in my house when I wake up.” They might be the sexiest words anyone has said to me in a very long time, mostly because the huskiness in his voice has me thinking about what it would be like to wake up in his bed, not just his house.
“Shut up,” I say. “Is that how you ended up getting together?” “What can I say?” Summer says, pulling her dark hair over her shoulder. “We’re a walking romance trope.”
I’d never even really thought about babies having milestones before Juno. Now, I have a chart of them saved on my phone.
I look down the row when I hear the clink of glass. Camden is passing out bottles of my favorite Dark Horse Brewery IPA. When everyone has a beer, he lifts his and points it toward me. “To Captain.”
