Toby rolled his eyes at the jab, but happily accepted the sleeping baby nonetheless. Once the baby was settled, snuggled, into his left side he used his right to muse his hair back from Hanna’s messing with it. He was a guy, but he wasn’t a caveman - he did care about his looks.
“I’m more than fine with bottle duty.” He messed with the top of the blanket, revealing the baby’s face. She may be young, but he could already see distinct features of both her mom and dad in her. A beautiful mix of the two. He didn’t know what their relationship was exactly right now; he did know they broke up after Ember was born, but they were still together all the time. The intimate details weren’t really his business, so he left it at they were both great parents and that’s all that mattered.
“I’m not much in the know-how either. I’m just living my life - my single bachelor life - and keeping to myself.” He took a sip from his beer. After which Ember started to fuss. “Well I guess it’s time for that bottle.” Toby carefully got up from his stool. “Is it still in the same place?” Not waiting for an answer he made his way behind the bar and grabbed a bottle from the mini fridge under the bar. “You mind if I go in the back?” He asked more so out of respect as he did what he asked for permission to do. He set a pot of water on the stove and left it there to boil.
“So, now that I filled you in on my amazingly full of nothing life - I expect nothing less from you. How’s being a new mom? And Sweet Pea?” He gave her a pointed look telling there was more weight to that question than he verbalized. He situated Ember now to a more upright position on his right hip, shushing her and replacing her dummy in her mouth to sooth her. “Oh! And Emily. How’s she doing? I haven’t heard much from her. Have you?”
“We need to get out more, Tobes. This is clearly a sign for both of us to have a fun night out.” she commented as he explained his rather lacking life. It wasn’t right that he had nothing to report.
There were also few people Hanna willingly let go where they liked in her bar. Toby was one of the few, who knew it back to front almost as much as her and she simply smiled warmly and nodded at Toby’s request to help himself. He really was an angel at times. “You really asking that?” she questioned, with a groan as she picked up the dishtowel and began wiping down glasses. She kept looking over as Toby did what he did with Ember, having absolute trust in his actions. He was a natural.
Truth was, she didn’t even know herself. It was like an unspoken thing, where she and Sweet Pea went about their lives and shared the parental duties of their daughter. They easily parented in tandem, fitting around each others schedules and work and when they were doing that, it was easy to pretend nothing was between them. But then, there were those moments when Ember was down, and the distraction of their baby was missing. Hell, they shared a bed still like a couple, looked after their home as a couple, sometimes she woke up with his arm around her and the looks they shared, lying in bed, contemplative and curious.
“I don’t even know what to tell you, Toby. Honestly, it’s weird. Not the being a mom thing, I absolutely love it- Ember gave my life meaning and I’m sure when things are more settled I’d love to have more. I’m tired a lot still but I think I signed up for that falling pregnant in the first place.” a mistake turned the most precious thing in her life, but still a mistake she considered deep down. Neither of them had been ready. “But Emily-” the smile grew wider just mentioning her name. “Emily is a godsend and I’m just happy she’s back for good. Well, until her training ramps up and she disappears for the Olympics- which by the way, we need to make sure we’re completely prepped for a massive support party when she’s competing. And you should ask her yourself, she’s here most evenings after work. Stop being such a hermit and join us for dinner one night, you know you’re always welcome!”
