Passion's Instinct

Twenty Three

Hayden

"Sawyer, you have to--"

"But, Daddy! I have to finish drawing!"

"What did I say? It's time to go to sleep. Put your pencil crayons down and we can go get you ready for bed," I said sternly, lifting Sawyer from under his arms from the chair he was standing in.

"No!" Sawyer screamed, kicking his feet. And that was when he kicked me in the groin and I almost dropped him.

I groaned and set him down on the floor, stifling a yell. Gripping the edge of the table before I fell, I gritted my teeth and breathed slowly. I would not have him kicking me there again.

I met eyes with my son, and he had a sincere look of concern in his eyes. "Awe you okay, Daddy?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm perfectly fine," I breathed.

"Can I finish coloring?" he asked timidly.

"Sure, whatever."

Sawyer climbed back up in the chair at the table and picked up his marker, starting to scribble on the paper.

I shook my head as I endured the pain of Sawyer's kick. Before I knew it, Natalie burst through the front door and ran in, kissing Sawyer and collapsing in my arms.

"Mommy!" Sawyer said, smiling.

"Hey," she said softly, smiling. Her cheek was pressed against my chest, and when she looked up at me, I melted. I was distracted by her beauty to care about anything else.

I took the side of her face in my hand, and she stood up straight, her body still against mine. "You're beautiful," I said, pressing my forehead against hers. She smiled widely, and before I could kiss her lips, she laid her head on my chest again.

I sighed in frustration, because all I wanted to do was kiss her. At least once, because I hadn't seen her all day and I needed to feel that sensation. Didn't she too?

I'm guessing Natalie sensed my frustration, because she whispered, "Not in front Sawyer."

"Why not? It's just--"

"Because, Hayden. I don't want Sawyer to be able to grow up and tell his friends that his parents were always distracted with each other and... you know, didn't pay all of their attention to him."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Who says that's gonna happen?"

She lifted her head and have me a look, a warning look. Natalie obviously didn't want me to say anything else. She wanted me to just go with what she was saying.

"Fine," I said finally. "Not in front of Sawyer."

"Speaking of Sawyer, we need to get you to bed, buddy," Natalie said. "Come on, you can color in the morning."

"Okay," he said slowly, getting out of his chair.

"I see you're already in your pajamas. Did Daddy get you all ready while I was gone?"

"Yes."

"Good! Let's get you in bed and Daddy can tell you a story."

"Okay!" he said, doing his best to crawl up the stairs as quickly as he could.

Natalie and I laughed as we followed our son up the stairs. She laced her fingers around mine and squeezed my hand.

"Oh, so it's okay to hold hands in front of him?"

Natalie smiled at me and laughed a little. "He's not looking."

"Okay then," I said as we reached the top of the steps and Sawyer ran in the bathroom. "Does that mean we can do this?" I pulled her around to the front of me and trapped her between me and the wall outside of our bedroom. "You know, since he's not looking."

Sawyer ran out of the bathroom just as I leaned into Natalie. "Daddy, can you help me bwush my teeth?" he asked, showing his white teeth off to me.

"Sure. I'll be there."

He ran back into the bathroom.

"Hayden," Natalie scolded.

"What? How was I supposed to know he would come out? He wasn't looking."

"Shut up, you big handsome stud," she said, throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me toward her. She kissed me slowly, and when she pulled away, she smiled. "Is that okay?"

"Uh... yeah. That's great."

"Daddy!" Sawyer yelled.

"Gotta go!" I said, running into the bathroom. I did get what I wanted, didn't I?