Pretty Boy (manxboy)

Chapter Seven

Sam

I took a deep breath, preparing myself before I opened the door and walked into the Juarez house.

Serena greeted me with a smile and pushed Jack at me. I could barely say goodbye because she rushed out the door, saying she needed to run an errand before work.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the closed door. She had been in quite the hurry.

Jack made a gurgling noise and I looked down at him with a smile.

My feelings for the other Juarezes may have been confusing—not knowing what I felt for Gabe and wondering whether I liked Serena as much as I originally did—but at least there was Jack.

He was one of the best babies I had ever taken care of and he meant a lot to me.

I kissed his forehead and then looked at the door to the den.

Just as I was about to snap myself out of it and find something to keep me busy, Gabe peeked his head out and looked around...even though I was straight head of him.

When he finally noticed me, he looked sheepish and grinned, waving and then running his hand through his hair.

I smiled and rolled my eyes slightly, thinking he looked like an idiot.

What was all that about?

"Good morning, Pretty Boy," he said with a very wide, confident grin.

"Morning," I said, trying desperately not to blush but was aware that I had failed miserably.

We stared at each other for a moment before Gabe cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. I coughed, looking away.

There was another moment where we said absolutely nothing. I was still standing near the door where Serena had shoved Jack into my arms and he was standing in the doorway of the den.

The silence was incredibly awkward and I felt like even Jack could sense it because he looked at me with wide blue eyes.

"What are your plans for the day?" Gabe asked, finally and thankfully breaking the silence.

I replied, "Well, I thought I would take Jack to the park." He stood there, nodding without saying anything else. So I asked, "Would you like to come with us?"

He raised his eyebrows like he hadn't been expecting the invitation, but then he smirked. "Sure. Sounds...fun."

I laughed. "Oh yeah, it'll be a blast."

He laughed at that and I thought it was one of the happiest sounds I had ever heard from him.

My heart did a flip then I just watched him and smiled.

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When we arrived at the park, I got Jack out of the carseat and into the stroller.

Gabe stood there like a helpless idiot, but I couldn't fault him too much.

He hadn't been around Jack for the first sixth months of his life. He had probably missed out on some crucial bonding moments with his newborn baby.

I didn't want to him give a hard time about the clear lack of affection he felt for the baby, but it was also pretty sad.

But I reminded myself that he had been away overseas for a long time and it was obvious he didn't completely know how to act in some everyday situations.

He had only been back for a little over a month, it was probably normal for him to act that way.

I hadn't heard him have any nightmares since the last one that had happened three days ago, but that didn't mean he wasn't having them when I wasn't around.