Midnight Sun

Chapter 8

[April 11, 2018; Huntington Beach]

The next day, Tanner got a call from Zech, his business partner in Dibs Clothing.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah, we're not really doing anything."

"Good. I have some things I need to take care of, and my babysitter just canceled. Can you and Dylan watch Saxon for me? It should only be a couple hours or so."

"Sure, we can do that."

"I'll be right over."

Tanner gave Dylan the news. "Hey Dylan, we're gonna be babysitting."

"Oh joy."

"It's Saxon. Time for 'Life of a Teenage Dad' - or should it be 'Dads' now?"

"I guess so." Dylan was glad he couldn't get pregnant. He never understood Tanner's hurry to have kids when they could have more time to be kids themselves instead. "Zech knows I'm not that responsible, right?"

"I think he's desperate. We'll be fine. It'll be fun."

"I'm sure it will."

Soon Zech arrived and dropped Saxon off.

As the afternoon progressed, Tanner was impressed with how good Dylan was with kids. Having so many siblings must have helped.

Naturally they decided to teach Saxon how to flip. They practiced tossing him over on the air mattress in Quentin's room and decided they would show Zech when he got back. Mike filmed it and beckoned for Tanner to take a look at the clip.

"That's so cute. If we don't use that in one of the next videos, let's put it on my Instagram while I'm in Portland. Look, Dylan. You're really cute in this. Such a hot dad."

Dylan watched the clip. "Aww, you too."

"Seeing this side of you really turns me on. You know, we could leave Saxon with Mike and sneak off to our room."

"Tempting as that is, Zech asked us to watch him. He barely knows Mike."

"But Mike is more responsible than us. You said so yourself."

"True, but he's still our responsibility. Besides, you're the one who's in a hurry to have kids. It's only been an hour. You can't just drop your kid somewhere every time you want to do something else. I don't think that's what being a parent is like."

"It is when you can afford a nanny."

Dylan was unimpressed. "Is that the kind of parent you want to be? I want better. Look, if it's that urgent, I can watch Saxon while you go take care of it." He put his arms around Saxon.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I want better for our kids too." Tanner was again struck by Dylan's example. "Dylan, do you realize what just happened? That was the first time you stood up to me, and it was to protect our future kids. You're gonna be such a great dad."

Dylan smiled. "Huh, I guess it was."

"I'm so glad they're going to have you. I can't imagine having them with anyone else. There's just one problem."

"What's that?"

"I want you even more now. But I can definitely wait. We've got a job to do." Tanner picked up Saxon and gave him a spin. "And we're gonna have a great time doing it!"

*

Later, after Zech picked up Saxon and Tristan had arrived for a surprise visit, Tanner realized he should film a video for Friday. They hadn't played hide and seek in the California house yet, and it would take a long time for Mike to edit that with as many cameras as they would use, so it would be best to give him a whole day.