Just Carry On Ch. 1

It's 7:30.. Where is he? Is he working overtime again?

"Momma?" I hear a sweet and familiar voice call to me as my train of thought comes to a startled halt.

"Yes, sweetheart?" I answer my son as we sit on the floor together and playing with Legos with his hand on my stomach, sticking out a little as I near the fourth month of my second pregnancy. I can tell that something's wrong.

"Where's Daddy? Is he at work still? I miss him," my little boy, Jaden Alexander, whines with a brave face. He's the spitting image of his father. The only difference between them is that he has my dark brown hair. Everything else belongs to Devlin: his blue eyes, sparkling like the ocean in the middle of a sunny day, his button nose, and his sweet yet mischievous smile.

I run my fingers through his hair as I kiss his forehead. "He'll be home soon, hunny. I'm sure of it," I try to smile for him as I stand up and walk toward the kitchen, "Do you want some pudding?"

"Yes, please!" Jaden answers me, bouncing as he sits with a smile that just brightens my heart. As soon as I open the refrigerator, I hear the front door be unlocked and open and my son gasp, "Daddy! You're home!" I can picture him running and jumping into his father's arms. I walk back into the living room with two pudding cups for me and Jaden.

"H-hey kiddo," my husband says as he puts his work things down and our son up, holding him tightly and chuckling. I can tell he's exhausted as I go to take Jaden from his arms and gives him a soft "welcome home" kiss. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" He asks our little boy, who's smiling sheepishly.

"Momma was letting me stay up until you got home," he answers as he starts to eat his pudding, knowing his father wouldn't let him stay up much longer. I feel his eyes staring at me with a slight glare. Jayden hands me his pudding cup and spoon as he hops off of the couch to go to bed.

Devlin stand up as well and takes the empty plastic containers and silverware from me with a small smile, "You go ahead and take him to bed. I'll take this for you," he says as he gives me a kiss. I pick up Jayden and take him to bed while he waves at his father.

I lay my son in his small bed with dark green sheets and kiss his forehead. As I bend down to turn on his nightlight, he calls to me again. "Mommy? I think there's something wrong with Dad.."

I sit next to him and ruffle his hair and a concerned smile and a slightly raised eyebrow, "What do you mean, baby?"

"I mean that he has something on his mind. I think that something's wrong at work. But I saw that he had a couple cuts and bruises.."

Now THAT got me thinking. I wasn't able to see that, but wait.. How did Jayden know in the first place? He's not even four!

"Momma, his face. He was really sad. Also I could tell he was having some problems."

Wow. My little boy is not only intelligent for his age; he has the same emotion sensing ability I have. I wonder how my second will turn out. I kiss Jay goodnight and silently close his door as I head downstairs with a smile to find that my husband was no longer in the living room.