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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Chapter 8.13: Dear Diary, Dad Duty

Author’s Note: Click on pictures to enlarge.

Yes, you have read this right! Noble Doubt has returned!

In the last chapter, Kai and Jade were married and expecting their baby. Previously to that, they moved to a new house, Kai promised to quit smoking, Jade started work at a large firm, and her father moved in with them. The biggest thing that happened, though, was Kai’s best friend Vincent having his conviction overturned.

Uh, dear diary, it’s been a minute since my last update. If you knew all the stuff that’s happened since Jade and I got married, you’d know there’s never a spare minute to take a deep breath, let alone write something for you.

Jade had a baby girl, and we call her Sophie. The name was Jade’s idea, which turned out to be a good thing because I was rooting for “Roxy.” Jade said she might name a future dog that, but not her daughter unless we thought she would grow up to be a stripper. No offense to all the Roxys out there. Anyway, she’s all about the whole self-fulfilling prophecy thing. I can’t remember now what she even told me that was.

She also thinks I never listen. Honestly, her brain works at a much higher frequency or something, so most of what she says sounds like another language to me.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, this is our daughter Sophie. Isn’t she a cutie?

When my wife went into labor, I was calm and collected. I stayed by her side, reminding her to breathe, but suddenly, she acted like she hated my guts. She yelled at me to stop touching her and told me this whole predicament was my fault. The nurse reassured me this wasn’t unusual and to just play it cool.

I tried.

Oh man, then she was pushing and cursing my name, and this thing… this kid slid out.

I can’t think about that anymore because when I saw all that, well, I don’t know how Jade made it. I’m pretty sure I would have died. I can definitely say now I have a new appreciation for her strength.

After Sophie came along, it became clear I would have to stay home with the kids and work on cars on the side with Vincent as my partner. When I really got into things, I realized I didn’t have time to work on cars, and that would have to wait.

Jade started working with a huge firm where she hopes to move up in the ranks. She’s doing great, working on some smaller cases that come their way. As far as finances, we’re not struggling as hard as I thought we might with me not working outside the home.

As you can see, Sophie is my velcro-baby. Jade thinks I coddle her, but I can’t stand to hear her cry, so I carry her everywhere. I do the dishes, vacuum, mop floors, etc. with my velcro-baby in tow.

This is the look I often get from Jade when she’s rushing around in the morning to leave for work. You know the one… it’s the, “put that baby down” look. I only smile and wave as I hand her a travel cup with her coffee in it, served black.

“Have a great day, Honey,” I schmooze as she gives me a peck, and hurries to her car.

Velcro-baby and I clean up the kitchen (she likes to drop her Cheerios on the floor one by one even though I tell her to stop), read a few stories to her, straighten up the living room, make the beds, and throw in a load of laundry.

By lunchtime, velcro-baby is worn out. Thank the good heavens above.

Down she goes for a nap.

It’s only then I finally get my shower and shave. Sophie won’t be down for long as she’s a light sleeper, so believe me when I say I look forward to sneaking outside to take a moment for myself.

I know what you’re thinking. I know, I know. I promised the wife and kids I’d quit smoking. I’ve tried prescriptions, holistic vitamins, and even hypnosis. I can’t seem to kick it.

I’m disappointed in myself. I know I need to be healthy to do my part for the family. Jade would be in a real mess if anything happened to me.

“Daddy, what are you doing hiding back here?”

Oh, sheesh. I forgot it was time for Gigi to be home from school. As soon as I heard her voice, I dropped my cigarette, then stepped on it to conceal it from sight.

“Hiding?” I smiled a little too wide. “Don’t be silly.”

“Daddy,” she said, “I saw smoke.”

Have you ever faced your child’s judgment before? Especially when you know they caught you red-handed. Gah.

Her eyes narrowed as she awaited an explanation. She did everything but put her hands on her hips.

“You know what? You look like your mother right now.”

She smiled. “My work here is done.”

An exaggerated sigh escaped my lips. “All right, all right. I’m gonna grill tonight. Are you up for that?”

Of course she was up for that. This kid could eat twice her body weight in hamburgers and hotdogs.

I got the food prepped, then turned on the grill, doing my famous stretch beforehand so she’d know just how hard I was working on this miracle meal.

She never fell for it, though. Instead, I got the judgment again because she knew how easy this meal actually was.

“I smell burgers,” Jade’s dad, George said as he joined us on the deck. “Uh, you’re not going to burn them this time, are you? I swear last time it was like eating a charcoal briquette.”

I wasn’t easily rankled as George enjoyed trying to rile me whenever he could. “If you remember correctly, last time they burned because Gigi fell off her bike.”

“Excuses, excuses,” he said, holding back a grin. “All I know is, I’m lucky I didn’t break a tooth.”

I can assure you this time, the burgers were spot on. Well, except for a couple that I ignored to get velcro-baby from her crib. I’m not a Master Chef, after all.

Jade had some work to do from her laptop, and was on the phone a lot with her assistant, so I got the girls bathed and into their pajamas. They were allowed Starvision, a popular children’s TV show, for a half hour, then it would be to bed with them.

Tomorrow, it would be the whole thing all over again. With maybe less smoking.

Maybe.

Yep, this is dad duty.

And I love it.

Thank you so much for reading, liking, lurking, and commenting! I hope you enjoyed today’s chapter! Thank you, Bee, for your lovely Sibling Care poses which were from her site Poses by Bee.

For those of you who were sent tons of emails from my site, I apologize. I know it was frustrating and annoying. I worked with Blue Host to solve the problem, and it should not reoccur. Thank you for understanding. xo

See you next Saturday!

── ⋆⋅ Never Miss a Chapter! ⋅⋆ ──

Kymber Hawke
Kymber Hawkehttps://booomcha.com/
I am a simmer, Rennie garb wearer, author, and dog petter. Judy Garland is my queen, horror movies & classic movies are my jam. INFJ with "Unity Hayes" as a pseudonym. A little bit eccentric, owned by two cats, Cesare & Josie-Pye. 🐱🐱

41 COMMENTS

  1. Well, now! Look at Kai being Mr. Mom. 😀 😀 😀 Who’d have thunk it? Sophie is adorable for sure. Such a cutie pie, and that red hair – that was a surprise.

    Ohhh, Gigi. LOLOLOLOL! That girl ought to be a PI or something. Kai was SO busted. Hahaha! I love it.

    Velcro-baby! I love it. I always called Caleb my velcro-dog or velcro-Golden. He didn’t like to be far away from me at all and was such a Mama’s boy. Ah, how I miss that guy.

    • Kai is surprisingly having so much fun! In game, he really took to fatherhood wholeheartedly. 😀 I was surprised by the red hair, too.

      Gigi will always bust Kai. hahaha There is no escaping that girl.

      LOL @ velcro-dog. I love it! I miss him, too, because of the wonderful stories you tell of him.

  2. I love how the roles are reversed here and Jade is the one working while Kai looks after the girls. Knowing Kai as an angsty rebellious teen, I never would have thought he’d be happy being a stay-at-home dad. Velcro-baby is cute. I think you mentioned when you introduced us to Georgia that her middle name was Sophie as well. That’s lovely.

    • Yikes, I’d forgotten that detail about Sophie being Gigi’s middle name. See, I need, you. LOL Kai is definitely enjoying dad duty, and he is just as surprised at you are. lol

      • I was going to say you need to put it on the chapter list, but I see you’re not doing that anymore. But I do think at one point you had everyone with their middle names.

        • You’re right, I did. I stopped doing the chapter lists because I was editing Gen 1’s and I lost all the links. Rather than being dutiful and putting them all back in, I got lazy. LOL 😱

  3. I’m kind of new to the adventure… finding time to read is a challenge sometimes and I SOOO appreciate all your comments on my blog… but I’m looking forward to learning more about the family. The girls are adorable!

    • Thank you, Nya. I truly enjoy your story. 🙂 No worries about being new to the adventure. I have readers pop in all over the place. lol 😀

  4. Wooooop, love the return episode, Kymber!

    Aww congratulations to the happy couple on the vecro-baby – Sophie is a lovely name, though I actually like Roxy too! I also like Zena (do you know the Zena Warrior Princess TV show over there? It’s realllllly old, but I used to love it as a kid).

    “…and this thing… this kid slid out” 😂😂😂

    I wonder if he’ll manage the no smoking? As a smoker, I wouldn’t like to say either way but I reckon he can do it if he wants to now he’s a proud dadda. xx

    • Thank you so much, Caz xo. I’m so glad you love this episode.

      Yes, to Zena Warrior Princess! Perhaps that name needs to be included in the future of ND. 😀

      As for the no smoking, I agree with you totally. xo

  5. Lol Gigi is such a bright girl! I kinda read it as Kai was trying to bribe/distract Gigi with hamburgers and grill but she didn’t fall for it. That’s adorable. 😆

  6. This is wonderfully written, Kymber. Just the right notes of humor and maybe a touch of nostalgia for easier days? I love the memes you’ve done for it, as well- so creative!

  7. I miss reading your wonderful stories and must set aside time, Lord willing, this weekend to catch up. Have a wonderful day/night and remain safe.

  8. Welcome back! It was great catching up with the family again, they (and you) have been missed. Both girls are cute and Kai will have his hands full if Sophie is anything like Gigi, lol Hoping he continues enjoying being a stay-at-home and doesn’t grow resentful for the lack of freedom since it seems like Jade’s job will often be brought home with her.

    • Thank you, Addy! I’ve missed being here. I agree that Kai will have his hands full. lol That’s a good point you brought up about resentments that can build. Hopefully, that won’t happen.

  9. Aaw, this is so lovely to see! 🙂 They’re a lovely little family, but oh Kai – you really do need to stop the smoking. Maybe eventually Gigi’s judgement will get to him, lol. 😉 Lovely chaptet, Kymber. <3

  10. Welcome back! So great to catch up with this family. I was happy to see the email notifications because it meant you were working on stuff for us!

  11. Roxy?! Come on, Kai LOL.

    Velcro-baby lol. That is adorable. Daddying looks good on Kai! I hope Jade appreciates it. The website looks wondeful!

  12. Awwww. Kai is a stay at home Dad and it’s so cute how he’s bonded with his girls. I bet Gigi tells on him. Maybe not unless she ‘catches’ him again. Sophie aka Velcro baby is adorable. I love that he carries her around all the time. So dang sweet. Things seem to be going well for them.

  13. *blows the noise maker and pops a confetti canon* YAY!!! This chapter was so cute! And Sophie is stinking adorable! Daddy is now Mr. Mom. LOL!

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