Prompt: Kory's mom had to baby sit her friend's baby(almost a year old) and it turns out that Lory is really good with him/her and it makes Trace think about their future.
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The doorbell rang and I pushed myself off of the couch. I went to the front door and pulled it open.
Some woman I didn’t know with a baby in her arms smiled at me. There was a bag of stuff at her feet.
“Hi! Are you Janine’s son?” the woman asked.
“Stepson,” I said, letting the woman in the house. I turned towards the stairs. “Janine!” I called.
Janine came downstairs and smiled widely. “Hi Renee! Sorry about that, I was helping my son in his room. Oh, right! This is my stepson, Trace,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling.
“This is baby Eli,” Renee said, smiling and handing the baby to Janine.
“I’m sure my sons can help me keep an eye on him,” Janine said, and sometimes it surprised me how easily she could refer to me as her son instead of her stepson.
Renee thanked her and left the house. Janine rocked the baby easily, smiling at him. I watched her, wishing my mom had been that loving. This kid wasn’t even hers, but Janine was bouncing with him and he was giggling.
“How old is he?” I asked as Kory started coming down the stairs.
“He’s almost a year old,” Janine said.
“Baby!” Kory said, pointing at it.
“Very good, Kory. Next we’ll test you on your farm animals,” I said sarcastically.
“Oh, Kory, you used to love it when you were a baby. I would bounce you and you would either giggle and squeal or else just fall right to sleep,” Janine said. She held Eli out to Kory. “Go ahead.”
Kory carefully took the baby from her, and I was surprised at how easily Kory held the baby and bounced with it. Eli giggled and played with the necklace Kory was wearing, tugging on it.
“Whoa, macho man!” Kory said.
I watched Kory curiously. The only time I had held anything remotely close to a baby was when I had been 5 years old. Tommy, barely 3 at the time, had been wandering away towards the pool.
I had picked him up to stop him, he had screamed because he hated when anyone other than his parents picked him up, it had scared me, and I had dropped him and made him cry.
Yea, I wasn’t thrilled about holding small children thanks to Tommy.
Kory carried Eli into the living room and sat down with him. He set him in his lap and the baby reached at his face, grabbing a fistful of Kory’s hair.
“Ah, my hair!” Kory said. “I would pull yours, but you barely have any.”
Eli giggled and released Kory’s hair. He crawled around the living room and Kory stood up, moving with him.
“Kory, can you keep an eye on him until I eat? I’m starving,” Janine said.
“Sure! Trace can help me,” Kory said cheerfully. His mom turned and went into the kitchen.
Eli tried to stand up and Kory caught him so he didn’t fall. He held the baby’s hands and helped him walk towards the toys Janine had left on the floor.
Kory picked up a stuffed lion out of the bag Renee had brought. He moved it towards Eli.
“Grrr!” he said. The baby clapped happily and Kory handed him the toy. He cuddled with it and crawled into Kory’s lap, looking content.
I went over and sat down across from them. Kory smiled at me and picked up Eli, holding him out to me.
“Here, Trace! You play with him now!” he said.
“But…Kory I’m bad with babies,” I said helplessly as Kory passed the little boy into my hands.
I tried to rock him, but he squirmed against my arms. I tried to sit him the way Kory had had him, but he struggled and tears came to his eyes.
“No,” I said in horror. “Kory, take him back!”
Eli burst into tears and began to cry. Kory laughed and reached over, lifting the baby back into his arms and rocking him.
“Hey now Mr. Grumpypants!” Kory said, poking his nose playfully.
The baby stopped his crying and smiled up at Kory. Kory returned the smile and poked Eli’s nose again. Eli squealed.
“You’re so good with kids,” I said.
And then I realized that adults had kids, and Kory and I were almost adults. We were going through our senior year of high school, and then it was off to college.
Would we get married? Adopt a little baby?
God, I had to stop that. I was thinking way too far ahead. But…
The thought of marrying Kory didn’t scare me. I always thought marriage would scare me after seeing my mom leave. But I could picture myself with Kory for the rest of my life. I could picture us with a little baby. I could imagine him showing me how to calm the baby.
I moved over to Kory and wrapped an arm around his waist, kissing him. “Show me how to make him not to cry,” I said.
“Aw! Trace wants to play with the baby!” Kory said joyfully and handed the baby to me, showing me how to hold him.
I smiled at Kory and kissed him again. Who knew what would happen in the future. As long as I had Kory, I didn’t care about anything else.
