𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐊𝐇𝐈

38. | S H E ' S M I N E P T . 2

C H A P T E R | THIRTY-EIGHT
SHE'S MINE PART 2

𝙲 𝙰 𝚁 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁 𝙼 𝙴 𝙺 𝙷 𝙸

"LEMME see your hands," Carter said, smiling as he sat on the edge of the closed toilet seat, sleeves of his Versace oxford rolled up so that they wouldn't get wet while he was giving Zyair a bath, "Show daddy your hands Zy," Zyair lifted up her hands, "Oooooh you so smart," he said laughing, "Look at you pruney," he grabbed a baby towel and wrapped it around her, "I think it's time to get out before you turn into a little prune." Carter put the hood of the baby towel on her head and kissed her forehead, "All clean."

"Carter make sure you dry her hair really good," Stoni said from the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner, "Her hair holds water and it's cold out - - I don't want her getting sick," she looked up, seeing Carter coming down the hall with Zyair in his arms about to go into Zyair's room.

"Tell mommy to relax, Zy," Carter said kissing all over Zyair's face, "Daddy knows what to do with babies, don't he?" He smiled, gently rubbing the terry cloth on Zyair's hair and going into her nursery. Stoni rolled her eyes from the kitchen when Carter was out of ear shot as she washed the dishes, hearing Carter talking to Zyair and Zyair babbling broken words.

Carter dried Zyair, put her in her pajamas and walked around, holding her hoping to lull her to sleep quickly, "Somebody looks sleepyyy," he whispered into her ear, "Want daddy to read you a story?" He walked over to her bookshelf, "Which one is your favorite," Carter said, browsing through the stories but already knowing which story always put Zyair to sleep, "Show me which one," he turned her in the direction of the shelf and watched as she pointed to one book in particular, "I thought you liked that one," he smiled and grabbed it and then went and sat with her in the rocking chair.

Carter opened the cover of the book and smiled because this book was a special one. A little after she was born he used his artistic skills to come up with a children's book he'd made just for Zyair, drawings and all and got it bound, the whole nine for her to keep forever. Stoni read Zyair that book every night before bed - - it was Zyair's favorite bedtime story. Zyair laid her head on his shoulder, sucking her thumb as Carter read the story to her and using her other hand to cling to his shirt, never wanting to let her daddy go - - she, just like Stoni, missed Carter too.

After Carter put Zyair down for bed and kissed her goodnight he made his way into the kitchen looking for Stoni but he saw that everything was cleaned up and that the kitchen light was off. Sighing from the long flight he made himself a glass of water and then walked back down the hall to the master bedroom where he found Stoni slipping out of her panties and bra and into her sleeping gear.

"She sleep?" Stoni said, slipping the shirt over her head and looking over her shoulder as it fell over her body.

"Yeah," he leaned on the door watching her, "Out like a light."

"That's a personal best," she laughed slightly and turned around, pulling her hair out of her shirt, "She never goes to sleep that fast with me - - I have to fuss with her for at least half an hour."

"I guess daddy got the magic touch," he said and saw Stoni rolling her eyes and then took a sip of his water, "How have you been?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Fine, I guess. School's going fine and Zyair's fine - - so fine," she said indifferently.