"Mom?"
"Yeah baby?"
"I'm glad you are getting married to Kip. Are you gonna have more kids?"
Mandy laughed. "I don't know. Do you mind?"
"Well, I dunno. Babies cry a lot. That girl Alison, she had a new baby in her house and he wakes her up at night crying. At least he used to." Colton shrugged.
"You have your bedroom downstairs at Kip's. Then if we have a baby, we'll keep it upstairs and it won't wake you up."
"All right. Then it's okay. I guess. Will I have to baby-sit?"
"Not yet. Good night Colton."
"Good night Mom."
Mandy turned the light off and returned to the living room. Kip was watching sports news, not surprisingly. "Do you have interests outside of sports?"
"I'm interested in you." He pulled her down beside him and wrapped his arm around her.
Mandy laughed. "That's good, because I was wondering what engagement sex was like."
Kip gave a little growl. "That sounds like something to check out all right. Can I ask what Colton asked? Or is that intruding?"
"Well, soon to be step-dad," she nudged him in the ribs, "he wanted to know if your his dad?"
"Geez, that's a lot to spring on a guy on the night of his engagement."
"You're not. His dad is his dad. You're like this cool guy, who is now going to be mean sometimes and bring down the discipline."
"Right." He rubbed his chin. "There'll be a learning curve here."
"There will be. He also asked why he never sees his dad."
"Why doesn't he?"
"Eric never asks. Well, he did last week. That night Cole called you, okay that was like last night. Eric called earlier that night, threatened me that he'd sue for visitation if I thought we were going to take his son away. In six years since I left him, and four since he's been sober, he's been visit Colton five times. He calls every week, he sends money, but he never visits. And Colton was so small, there was no way that he'd go to where Eric lives on his own."
"I sense a but in there?"
"But, Colton is old enough. We're going to have to arrange something Kip." She leaned against his solid chest, enjoying the sturdiness of not only his body but also his character. "I don't trust Eric."