“Like Noah?” My heart stopped and I paused as I waited for her to continue. Please God, don’t let her ask me the difficult questions. I do not want to mess this up.
“I know he’s not my real dad, but sometimes people start to look like their loved ones. I saw it on TV.”
“You did?” I knew I sounded like an idiot, but I had no idea what to say.
“Yeah, it was on Disney.” She nodded eagerly. “There were a bunch of dogs that looked like their owners.”
“Oh, you mean dogs.” I nodded, suddenly understanding. “I heard that as well. That dogs start to look like their owners.” I thought for a moment, and then continued. “I’m not sure that means you will end up looking like Noah, though, no matter how much you love each other. But there’s nothing wrong with that. It won’t affect how much you love each other. And trust me, you’re lucky that you’re not going to end up looking like Noah.” I laughed, and Skylar giggled before taking my hand in hers.
“You’re funny, Uncle Zane.”
“Please tell me again when Lucky is up.” I joked, but I wasn’t sure that she understood.
“You’re going to be a good dad.”
“Do you think so?” I asked, touched by her words. She nodded at me with big, wide, happy eyes and squeezed my hand.
“If Noah wasn’t my new daddy, I would have chosen you.” Her words were simple and short, but her honesty and trust melted every last worry and concern I had about being a father. I could do this. I could be a good dad. I didn’t have to worry. It was weird how the fear had crept in so slowly. I hadn’t even told Lucky about the deep worries I had about having to love and look after two babies. I was scared she would judge me or think I was a bad person. And it wasn’t as if I didn’t want the babies, it was more that I was worried that my heart couldn’t fit in two more people. I was worried that I couldn’t love them as much as I loved Lucky. I was scared that I would f**k them up and ruin their lives, and that I would have no clue what I was doing. But Skylar had erased all of those fears with eleven words.
“You know I’m always here for you, Skylar.” I reached down and hugged her close to me.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Noah sauntered into the room and his eyes widened as he surveyed the mess around us. “Did a bomb go off in here?”
“No, Noah,” Skylar giggled and ran over to him. “We’re making cookies for Lucky for when she wakes up.”
“What about me?” Noah joked. “Don’t I get any cookies as well?”
“You don’t need cookies.” She shook her head.
“Who’ve you been talking to?” He grinned and rubbed the top of her head. “I was going to offer to help you both tidy up if I was going to get some of the cookies, but I guess not.”
“You can have some, you can have some.” She squealed and I laughed as Noah picked her up and swung her around. “Put me down,” she giggled. “I’m going to get dizzy.”
“Are you going to let me have some cookies?”
“Yes, Noah,” she laughed as he finally set her back down on the floor.
“You can start with the dishes if you want.” I motioned to the sink, and Noah laughed and shook his head.
“I think not, bro. How’s about I finish the cookies, but on a baking sheet. You do know that cookies and cupcakes aren’t the same thing, right?” He nodded towards the muffin trays and I shrugged as I chuckled.
“Fine, fine. I’ll start the dishes.”
“Where’s Lucky?” he questioned as I turned on the faucets and started filling up the sink.
“She’s resting. She was a bit tired after our trip today.”
“Lots of shopping?”
“No, actually. No shopping.” I rolled my eyes. “And no sex.”
“Zane.” Noah’s eyes flashed at me as he nodded at Skylar, who was pulling out chocolate chips from the batter and eating them.
“Oops, sorry.” I made a face. “But yeah, anyways. We didn’t get much accomplished today.”
“Did you guys pick a date for the wedding?” He looked at me curiously and I shook my head.
“Nah.” I sighed. “I think it’s stressing her out.”
“That’s not good.”
“Yeah. I still think we should just got to Vegas and elope.”
“I doubt she thinks that’s romantic.” Noah rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I really wonder about you, bro.”
“What’s wrong with Vegas?”
“I’m not even going to go down this road with you.” Noah added some more flour to the mixture in the bowl. “Did you add any baking soda to this?”
“Baking soda?”
“I guess that’s a no.” He laughed and went over to the cupboard.
“When did you become the culinary king?”
“When I went into hiding,” he laughed. “I can whip up all sorts of things now.”
“Then please do. I’m getting fed up of your pizza delivery surprises,” I joked, and started washing up the dishes. “Hey, do you think I should tell Lucky that we should wait to get married until after the babies come?” I asked seriously.
“Is that what she wants?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” I bit my lower lip and thought. “I think she wanted us to be legally married when the babies were born, but I know planning the wedding is stressing her out.”
“So why don’t you plan it?”
“Plan it?” I looked at him, aghast. “You’re joking, right?”
“No. No, I’m not. Why can’t you plan it? Maybe even make it a romantic surprise.”
“How am I supposed to plan a wedding?” I shook my head and scrubbed the plates. “I have no idea what to do.”
“I’m sure you know as much as she does. Just think how sweet and romantic that would be.” Noah nodded to himself. “I think that Lucky would really appreciate you surprising her like that.”
“Do you really think so?” I looked at him thoughtfully. “It may help to take a lot of pressure off of her mind.”
“Yes, do it.” He laughed. “Trust me, you will win the fiancé of the year award.”
“I need to win something like that. Or at least be entered into the contest.” I gave him a wry grin. “Anyways, enough about me. How’s it going with Robin?”