“Yeah, I know,” I say sadly.

“Hey, come here,” she says softly. I quickly oblige and sigh when I feel her wrap her arms around me. “Don’t listen to your mother, your perfect, absolutely perfect.” She says so seriously that I can’t help, but believe her. I look at her and kiss her with everything in me. A kiss of thanks and she kisses me back with the same amount of passion, a kiss of promise. I understood everything that kiss entitled and exactly what she promised, a promise to always be there, a promise that I hope she can keep.

The sound of crying breaks me out of our kiss. I go into Clay’s room and see him crying loudly. I pick him up and go to the kitchen to get his formula ready. As soon as the formula is ready, I start to feed Clay. Ashley come down stairs and finds me feeding him.

“Hey, I thought you had run off or something,” she says nervously.

“Of course not, I just had to feed Clay,” I say blowing her a kiss.

Ashley is just looking at me while I’m feeding Clay with a small smile that I can’t decipher.

“Ok, burping time.” I pick Clay up and put him on my shoulder as I pat him on the back. Buuurrrppp! “Whoa! Now that was a burp,” I laugh as I give him the rest of his formula. Ashley continues to watch with that same smile on her face. I burp Clay one last time before I take him to his room. “Does Clay need a diaper change,” I ask as I hold him in my arms. Clay makes a readable noises. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I change his diaper which he so needed. I go to the rocking chair in his room and rock him to sleep. All through this Ashley doesn’t say a word, she just watches me. Clay finally goes to sleep after awhile and I gently put him in his crib. I make sure he is all tucked in, give him a kiss on his forehead, and leave his door slightly open as I close it. “Thanks for waiting, I hope you weren’t bored.”

“No I wasn’t bored at all, I like this side of you, have you always been good with kids.”