Sounds of Stevie's cooing and Gracie's shuffling filled my ears.

A moment later, I heard Gracie mumble, "I'm decent. You can turn back around now."

I coughed, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

I shuffled around, awkwardly, thanking God that I had decided on wearing jeans today. The stiff denim was probably hiding my semi-boner better than, say, a pair of workout shorts or something.

I saw that her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be," I muttered, feeling a bit warm myself.

"Can we just, um... forget... that this ever happened?

"Yes," I lied.

Narrowing her eyes, Gracie seemed to see right through me. "Wipe it from your memory."

Impossible.

Her tits were too perfect to forget.

But I lied again to keep things from getting awkward, "Done."

"So, uh," Gracie cleared her throat while balancing Stevie on her hip, "was there something you wanted to talk to me about earlier?"

I blinked in confusion for a moment.

Oh, yeah.

That's right.

It almost slipped my mind because, you know, Gracie just flashed me her boobs, but I'd been meaning to ask her for the longest time, "I know you said you wanted to keep some... boundaries... in place, but, um..."

"Yes?"

I glanced at her with some apprehension. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable with my request.

"After we set up a real schedule for Stevie, do you think... we could still... hang out... once in a while?"

"Hang out, as in, all three of us?"

"Yeah," I answered as casually as possible, "like... every now and then... maybe... we could take Stevie to the zoo together? Or something."

God, I wanted to cringe at myself. I sounded like a desperate, lovesick teen asking his crush out to prom.

Hesitation clouded Gracie's pretty brown eyes. "You wanna hang out like a family?"

"Kinda, yeah. I think it would be good for Stevie."

"I mean," she replied, frowning thoughtfully, "I guess... that would be fine... if we're doing it for Stevie."

"Right, of course," I affirmed, "it's all for Stevie."

I wasn't lying here.

I wanted to give Stevie the best of both worlds from Gracie and me.

Yet, if I was being completely honest, I also hoped to score some extra time with Gracie. I possessed no expectations for our future, she already made her wishes very clear, but I couldn't help craving her company in whatever capacity she was willing to give it to me.

"I started interviewing for some jobs," I went on to inform her.

Her expression brightened. "Oh, yeah?"

"The Corps wants to hire me back as a defense contractor, and I have an interview next week at Chase," I shared, "but I was thinking about going back to construction. I reached out to some of my old managers from Dalton Builders..."

When I turned sixteen, I started spending my summers working on Dalton construction sites, building houses all over the valley. Despite the blazing Arizona heat, I actually enjoyed welding and carpentry, and I preferred working outdoors as opposed to being cooped up in a depressing cubicle.

Gracie clicked her tongue in approval. "Dalton, huh? I remember you've always been really good with your hands."

My eyebrows rose.

I couldn't resist teasing her, "You think... I'm good with my hands?"

As Gracie caught onto the innuendo, her cheeks pinkened once more.

She grumbled in an adorably flustered manner, "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

I sighed under my breath, "Shame."

Her head snapped up. "What?"

I smiled. "Nothing."

Gracie and I chatted some more about my job prospects as I cleaned up the rest of the mess from earlier and remade Stevie's bottle.

Once the second bottle was ready to go, I eyed the bubbles that were still dripping from Gracie's wet hair and offered a bit sheepishly, "You, um... wanna go finish your shower?"

She gave me a wink. "Lemme check with the boss first..."

Then, in softer, sweeter tones, Gracie glanced down and cooed at Stevie, "Tita mommy needs to finish washing up, okay, Vie? Promise me you'll be a good girl for your daddy?"

Stevie babbled and smiled in response.

I asked, "Did we get the boss' approval?"

"Yep," Gracie responded.

She gave me Stevie, and I enfolded her into my arms carefully.

"Hey, princess," I whispered to my baby girl. "Ready to eat?"

From the corner of my eye, I sensed Gracie was watching us closely. An unreadable gleam flickered in her brown eyes.

I glanced over to her expectantly. "Yes?"

"Nothing," she said with a slight cough.

Then, Gracie shuffled back to the bathroom in nothing but her towel, and, on my own, this time, I managed to feed Stevie. Thank God there were no more mishaps. After Gracie rejoined us, the rest of our day flew by in a blur of more diaper changes and bottle feedings and stroller walks and meal prep.

In the evening, Gracie showed me their bedtime routine: Bath, story, cuddles. Around eight o' clock, we tucked Stevie into her crib and snuck out of the bedroom after she fell asleep with the baby monitor in hand. As we stepped into the living room, I felt a shift in the air. The day's frantic but fluid energy that had revolved around Stevie now simmered with a different kind of tension.

Stevie was down for the night. She was no longer here to act as our buffer. I was completely alone with Gracie. I wanted to play it cool. To remain unaffected. Keep this co-parenting shit between us as platonic as possible.

My heart didn't seem to get the memo, though. Neither did my cock.

Anticipation spiked in me.

This shit was going to be hard.