Leave a Trace: Book Two

Chapter Twenty Eight: Dad Goals

Chapter Twenty Eight: Dad Goals

Alexander

After she left, the twins cried for about an hour, but I broke up a piece of a chocolate chip cookie and they shut right up.

I know they shouldn't have gotten a cookie but it's just one.

I've realized over the last few hours that being a Dad is awesome. When they're as little as they were when I last saw them, there's not much you can do, but now they're some hyper babies.

After I realized they both had full diapers, I took them upstairs and attempted to let one crawl around the bedroom as I changed his brother, but the one on the floor would pull at something or pull himself up with something that could fall on him and I would have to pick up the naked dirty baby to stop the other, so I eventually put the roaming baby in the crib and let them stand against the railing and coo until I let them free.

If I have to do something in the kitchen, I take two ladders from the garage and duct taped them to the counter, that way they can't escape the kitchen.

I caught Liam eating something off the floor and it crunched so I convinced myself it was a cheerio.

I'm sure my wife would demand to know what it was and put it under a damn microscope, but who cares, right? Every kid is going to eat a pound of dirt in their life.

If they don't, their childhood sucks.

I'm willing to bet money that Rose doesn't let them play outside because my wife isn't a fan of bugs, so I laid a white sheet out in the grass . I chopped up some fruit in the kitchen and put a bowl of it on the blanket for their lunch. I couldn't find any breast milk so I gave them water. I used a shovel to loosen up some dirt and now I'm watching as both boys sit in the yard with giant grins on their faces, dragging the hot wheels I played with as a child through the dirt. Obviously I'm trying to stop them from eating grass or dirt or bugs, but letting them sit in the dirt and get coated in a good layer won't hurt them. It's good to let them experience nature. Now that I'm here, I'm going to make sure they get time outside. No child should be cooped up in the house. As they grow, I'm not going to sit them in front of a TV or a tablet like all the kids are nowadays. I'm going to send them out onto the property and let them get caked in mud and dirt. I want them to climb trees  and run around barefoot.

It's part of being a kid.

Damn, parenting is so much better when they're old enough to get around by themselves.

I want ten babies. Twenty. Thirty, if it was possible.

Unfortunately, that's not possible.

But Rosie promised me back when I couldn't remember that she'd give me all eight.

I wonder if she meant it.

She's going to be so proud of me when she comes home and sees me invention of the baby gate in the kitchen. I can't wait to tell her how much I love being a Dad.

She's going to be proud when she hears that I put sunscreen on them so they won't get burnt.

I brought the house phone outside just in case somebody called.

It starts ringing next to me and I peer at the tiny screen.

The number seems familiar so I answer it.

"Hello?"

"Alex?"

"Finn?"

He's quiet for a moment, and I reach out and grab a bug out of Liam's grasp before he can put it in his mouth.