Taking It Easy: Boys of the Big Easy book two

by Erin Nicholas

  “I think you need to try things out. It’s the perfect way for you both to figure out how he’ll do as a dad,” Corey said.

  Corey was a widower who was raising his four kids on his own and doing a fantastic job, Dana had to admit. She often hired his oldest daughter, Kylie, as a sitter. He also had a lovely girlfriend, Melissa, who had started coming to the support group family get-togethers. Lindsey thought Corey would propose within the next year. Dana gave it six months.

  “I didn’t know Chad would be a good dad for sure,” Dana pointed out. “I had two kids with him anyway.”

  “Because you were young and dumb and in love—like most of us,” Roxanne said. With her signature eye roll whenever she talked about love. And being young.

  She was one of the single parents through divorce in the group. She’d long maintained that her divorce had nothing to do with her ex as a father. He’d been good at that part and they co-parented successfully now. She was one of the people Dana knew she could depend on to help her navigate co-parenting with someone she wasn’t married to.

  “No reason not to try him out as a dad before you commit to anything. I fully intend to completely test my next husband out prior to any commitment,” Roxanne said. Then she grinned. “He’s going to have to be able to build a deck, fix my car, shop for tampons and sex toys without blushing, and make the best chili I’ve ever had.”

  “Chili?” Caleb asked. “That’s a prerequisite?”

  Roxanne nodded and sighed. “My ex made amazing chili. I miss it.”

  “But he is the baby’s dad,” Austin said, bringing the conversation back to Logan. “Even if he doesn’t do a great job, she has to let him be a dad to their baby.” Austin was also a single parent because of divorce.

  “But this is her chance to see what he’s not good at,” Lindsey, Dana’s best friend and fellow military wife, piped up. “And what he is good at,” she added, clearly trying to be fair.

  “And she can train him in the stuff he’s not good at,” Bea said with a chuckle.

  Bea was the oldest member of the group and was raising her grandsons while their mom was in jail. She was no-nonsense and practical. Dana loved that about her.

  And if Bea thought that hadn’t occurred to Dana, she didn’t know Dana very well. She was absolutely aware that this could be a chance to mold Logan into the perfect co-parent. He didn’t have his own ideas about parenting. Not from experience anyway. He was the fun uncle, of that she had no doubt. But being a dad was something else. And she could handle three kids on her own. If she had to. So if he wanted to be a big part of this—this meaning her whole life and not just the baby one day a week and every other weekend—then he was going to have to do things her way.

  “Exactly,” Lindsey said to Bea. “These are her girls. She can tell him exactly what she needs help with and how to do it. Then he’ll be well practiced for doing it Dana’s way once the baby comes.”

  Dana gave her friend a grin. Lindsey totally got her. Dana was so grateful for Lindsey. Not that she wasn’t grateful for all of her friends in the support group, but Lindsey understood what it was like to have a husband who wasn’t really around.

  Chad had been excited to have kids, but it had been completely different for him—for them—because he was on another continent for a lot of the girls’ lives. He hadn’t even been there for Grace’s birth. Thanks to Skype, he’d been able to give Dana encouragement and had seen his daughter’s first breath, but he hadn’t been there. He hadn’t been there for a lot of things. They’d talked through big decisions, and she’d kept him up-to-date on the girls, of course. He saw videos of Chloe’s first steps and her first day of school. He’d been on Skype when Grace had first pushed herself up to crawl. But the girls hadn’t taken their steps to him. He hadn’t been there during Chloe’s first meltdown over a dance recital costume. And he hadn’t dealt with Grace’s ghost fascination. Because that hadn’t started until after he’d died.

  They’d talked through discipline decisions, but he was never the one to carry them out. When he was home, he hated being the bad guy. Probably in part because he had to be a hard-ass at his job. When he was home, it was a break. And he didn’t want to spend it being a hard-ass with his daughters. So things had gone off the rails when he was home. Routines were scattered, rules were fudged…or totally forgotten…schedules didn’t matter. He’d taken the girls to the zoo one day instead of dropping them off at school, and Dana hadn’t known about it until after he was back in the Middle East. And even then, he’d been unapologetic. He wanted the time with the girls to be fun and free and he wanted to make memories and make them laugh.

  And Dana got it. She really did. But it took her weeks to get the girls back on schedule and following the rules again after he left. And it broke her heart every time one of them said that it was a lot more fun when dad was around.

  Lindsey understood all of that. She lived it too. Dana felt a lot less guilty ranting about it to Lindsey than she did other friends or the group.

  Lindsey wasn’t technically a single mom. Her husband Matt was currently serving in Afghanistan. He and Chad had been with the same unit. Matt was full-time, active Army and that meant Lindsey was here raising their sons without his physical help. She had his emotional support, his help with decision-making, his financial assistance, but she still benefited from time with a group of other parents who understood her challenges.

  Lindsey definitely got where Dana was coming from when she said that Logan was tempting because of his two hands, his driver’s license, and his credit card. Lindsey had said, “You deserve to have all of those things. Take him up on it. For sure. If you don’t, I might.”

  Dana really wanted to. It would be so nice to have another person there to pick the girls up, take Chloe to dance, run to the store for more milk…seemingly little things that some days exhausted her beyond words. She and Lindsey helped each other out with that stuff. They also had all the members of the support group to lean on. She knew that. But the idea of having someone who didn’t have his own kids and their activities, or a job where he had set hours or a strict boss, was all just as tempting as Logan’s brown eyes and slow drawl. And that was saying something.

  “He doesn’t get to have a say?” Austin said, still championing Dana’s baby daddy.

  “Why should he get a say?” Lexi, one of the youngest members of the group, asked. “I agree with Lindsey and Bea. They’re Dana’s girls. And she’s an amazing mom. He should just go right along with whatever she says.”

  Dana gave her a smile. She’d enjoyed being a bit of a mentor to the younger woman. But Lexi’s mom was a single mom too—and had also gotten pregnant young—so Lexi had seen the single-mom-doing-it-all up close and personal. Lexi was more mature than other girls her age, including Ashley, the other young mom in the group, and Dana chalked that up to Lexi having to take care of herself a little growing up. But the girl also had Caleb to lean on. Lexi was a nurse and Caleb was a firefighter, so they both worked crazy hours and needed that extra pair of hands and driver’s license that Dana was coveting a bit. They’d teamed up shortly after Lexi had started with the group to help each other out.

  “But what about the baby? That’s his,” Austin argued.

  They all knew this was coming from the fact that he and his ex did not see eye-to-eye on a lot of the things having to do with their girls.

  “He might want to do things differently,” Austin continued. “That doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

  “I think it could be really good for him to practice doing any of it,” Gabe said. “His way or Dana’s way or a combination—it all sounds like it will be something new for him.”

  Dana swallowed hard. It was weird to have input from Gabe, considering he had no idea she was talking about testing his brother out as a parent. She hadn’t told the group much about the father, and definitely not his name. She was going to let Logan tell Gabe and the rest of his family about the baby. Including Addison, another member of
the support group. Gabe and Addison were married now with a baby on the way, but the group had decided that once part of the support group, always part of the support group, so they still came to meetings and the family get-togethers. And honestly, they’d both been single parents for five years. That wasn’t something you forgot, and seeing their perspective from both sides—single and married—had been interesting and insightful at times.

  “Babies are different than older kids who already have routines and opinions, though,” Addison said from across the circle. She and Gabe had always sat across from one another at the meetings and they’d continued that even after they’d married. They were an amazing couple, definitely a team, but they also disagreed at times and they were transparent about that in group meetings. “Getting used to kids Grace and Chloe’s ages isn’t going to help prepare him much for the baby.”

  “It will for parenting, though,” Gabe said. “If he can solve bad dreams and torn tutus and deal with Grace’s…quirks…he can handle diapers and colic.”

  The group laughed and Dana found herself nodding. He had a point.

  The whole group knew her girls, of course, and they knew about Chloe’s love for dance and all about how important—and dramatic—the costuming and hair could be. They also knew about Grace’s obsession with death and ghosts and the supernatural. It obviously came from her father’s death and her being too young to really comprehend or fully deal with it. The psychologist had confirmed it, though Dana had figured that out all on her own. But a six-year-old who was into ghosts and zombies could be a little creepy if you didn’t know the whole story, Dana couldn’t deny.

  “You’re not worried about bringing a guy into their lives who might not stick around?” Ashley asked.

  Dana shook her head. “He’ll be the baby’s dad no matter what. I think maybe spending some time with him before the baby comes would be good for them?” Yes, she’d ended up making that sound like a question. “That way they’re not getting two new people in their lives at the same time. And…they won’t be jealous of the baby getting a dad and not them.” She hadn’t really thought of that last thing until she said it, but it seemed like a legit concern suddenly.

  She looked at Bea, the grandmother in the group and the older, wiser member who everyone saw as the voice of reason. Or at least experience.

  Bea nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “Oh, God,” Dana said, slumping in her chair. “Do you think they might be jealous of that?”

  Bea shrugged. “Sure, maybe.”

  The thing about Bea’s words of wisdom was that they were completely honest and usually a little blunt. She was a tough lady with short-cropped gray hair and a voice that clearly indicated that she’d smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for decades. Her husband had been an over-the-road trucker for years and she’d ridden along with him for about three of those. Up until their daughter stole a car and ended up in prison and Bea had to take her grandkids in. She loved her grandkids, but she was pissed at their mom for interrupting her plan to travel the country and get a T-shirt from every state in the continental US. As it was, she wore her collection of eighteen shirts proudly.

  Dana blew out a breath. She really needed Logan to be awesome with her girls. Dammit.

  “How are you going to tell them about why this guy is suddenly hanging around all the time? What if they want you to get married?” Ashley wanted to know.

  Dana frowned. Would Chloe and Grace want her to marry Logan? She couldn’t imagine that. They were both completely enamored with their father. Chloe remembered him. Grace did too, vaguely. Maybe. She’d only been four when he died, and he’d been deployed for a lot of those four years, so Dana wasn’t always sure if Grace truly remembered him, or if she just thought she did because of the stories she’d heard. Chloe though—she’d been eight when he’d died. He’d been deployed for long periods during her life too, but there had been more visits home overall than there had been for Grace. She could actually imagine Chloe not wanting Dana to be close to Logan.

  What was Logan going to do with a ten-year-old who was into sparkles and dancing and who thought her dad was right up there with Captain America? Or a six-year-old who loved cemeteries and wanted to meet ghosts?

  She had no idea. But it might be kind of fun to see.

  “I’m going to tell them the truth,” Dana answered Ashley. “I’m going to tell them that we’re having a baby and that I need them to help him learn to be a great dad.”

  Bea gave her a big grin and Gabe and Caleb chuckled.

  Lindsey nodded. “That’s perfect.”

  Yeah, these people knew her girls. Chloe and Grace loved the other kids in the group, and she knew they’d be excited about the baby. And they loved projects. They were very responsible—thank you very much—and if she told them that a grown-up needed their help with something, especially something that had to do with a baby—their baby brother or sister—they’d be all over it.

  “Okay,” Dana said, focusing on Austin specifically. “So what if I let him totally take over some things that I think he’d be good at? He can do those things his way. Any way he wants.”

  Yes, she’d given this a lot of thought. In fact, she’d been thinking of nothing but Logan and the baby all day. She’d completely blown off the fact that she was supposed to bring the new dance shoes when she picked Chloe up at school today, and she’d taken Grace all the way home before remembering she was supposed to pick Kylie up to stay with the girls tonight because of this very meeting.

  Austin gave her a look. He knew she was thinking something sneaky. “Like what?” But the corner of his mouth was curling.

  “Like…parties at school. Cupcakes that are supposed to look like hippos for bake sales. Birthday party planning. Slumber parties with the dance team.”

  Austin’s grin was wide now. “I sense a theme. You think he’d be good with parties.”

  She laughed. She was pretty sure parties were Logan’s specialty second only to orgasms. “Oh, yes. And,” she added, “just so we throw some responsibility in there too, I’d be happy to share school carpool with him. And he can do dinner two nights a week.”

  Austin flat-out laughed now. As did most of the rest of the group. Everyone knew that kid parties, specifically school parties, and carpool were Dana’s least favorite parenting things to do.

  But in her defense, she basically kept Miller Brothers Marketing running single-handedly. The two men, Kevin and Dave Miller, were multimillionaire marketing specialists. And they were two of the most scatterbrained people she’d ever met. They could charm a sultan into buying sand, but they couldn’t keep track of a lunch meeting. Or a stapler, for that matter. She was their executive assistant and she ran that place like the drill sergeant Chad had hated to his very core. So, routine and schedules and organization were just a natural thing for her and yes, it extended to home too. Kids’ parties, hippo cupcakes, and carpool were chaotic and loud and messy and anything but organized. No matter how hard she tried.

  “Oh my God, you might never have to turn Nutter Butters into butterflies again!” Lindsey said with a laugh.

  Lindsey thought Dana’s aversion to making food look like animals was hilarious. Mostly because Lindsey was very artsy. And patient.

  Never making Nutter Butter butterflies again sounded awesome to Dana. “I do think he’d be good at that,” Dana said. “And enjoy it, actually,” she added, lest they think she was just trying to pawn off the stuff she didn’t like.

  She didn’t mind the baking activities and craft activities, exactly. She just wasn’t good at it. Well, she could bake. It was the decorating that she struggled with. And, okay, hated. Deep down she realized that the cupcakes didn’t have to look exactly like hippos, but she hated that they’d really looked like gray blobs with pink something-that-could-maybe-be snouts. If you turned them sideways. And squinted. Not that she’d redone them. Who had time for that? But she’d hated sending those to school with Chloe. And now that Grace was in ki
ndergarten, there were even more events and parties.

  The more she thought about it, the more having a party guy who loved to entertain kids—if his actions at the family get-togethers were any indication—who could get off in the middle of the day to attend the parties, sounded pretty damned good. And it would be downright progressive to have a Room Dad instead of a Room Mom, wouldn’t it? What a great example that would be to the young men and women in the class. Dana was feeling better and better about this.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you telling him what you and the girls need help with and letting him handle it,” Bea said decisively. “We could all use a break now and then. As long as the girls have what they need, it’s absolutely okay for this guy to be the one doing some of it.”

  Austin nodded. “Yeah. I mean, you’re letting him be a part of things and if you think that’s something he’d like to take the lead on, then great. Just remember, that if you’re co-parenting, that means together.”

  Yeah, well, they were going to be practicing the co-parenting thing with the girls first. Which meant Dana still had final say in how things went. Then they’d see how Logan managed and decide on which baby duties he got.

  But Logan did have a car, a credit card, a job that was flexible, no kids of his own—yet—and two capable hands.

  Two very capable, very knowing, very big hands…

  She cleared her throat and smiled at the group. “Thanks, you guys. I feel a lot better about all of it.”

  “So are you bringing him to the next family get-together?” Roxanne asked.

  Oh boy. Dana glanced at Gabe. Everyone in the group already knew Logan. He’d been to every family get-together since Gabe had joined the group. Logan loved the events. He loved the potluck food, the games, playing with the kids. Because they were, after all, parties.

  She sighed. Yeah, he really might be fantastic at the party stuff and the carpool stuff, and the art projects. “I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be there,” she said honestly.