Since Devon came into my life, I barely had a moment of silence and calmness. However, this day is full of it. If by any chance, there is a sound, it's the kid's laughter or Annabelle's monologue when she tries to talk to Devon.

As much as I'd like to follow what they're doing, I need to focus on my work.

I search for the file in my computer and open it to see where I left off. I'm not that far from completing it but I'm still on the part that will take the most of my time. It's all about the finishing touches, important details that could sabotage it all if just slightly overlooked. 

I start working with the help of the password to the storage info of Wells & Hether and I'm surprised when I see we have certain materials in store. This is where the tricky part comes in. Even though we have what my idea would need if built and prepared for testing, I need to work on figuring out how the absorption will work and why would this solar cell prove to be so much better than the already existent ones. 

I'm surprised with myself how focused I am on finding the solution to this current problems and even more when I'm nearing it. 

This night's sleep has done wonders to me. Perhaps having Annabelle be around, ready to tend to Devon's every need has calmed me down. She surely took a huge weight off my shoulders. 

The closer that it gets to the afternoon, the more completed my design looks. Or will look once we'll put it together. I don't need a completed design, built and prepared to start selling it. All I need is a promising idea, a promising project. 

I'm in the middle of figuring out how to make this thing look more like a technology of 21st century and less like something from Tesla's and Edison's time, when I hear an unexpected knock on the door. 

I lift my head from the papers and avert the eyes away from the beaming computer's screen. 

It's Annabelle. 

Of course it's her. Who else would it be? And why did I find it so unexpected and surprising?

She's got Devon dressed like he's the new James Bond. Seriously, all he needs is a bowtie and a martini in his hands. 

"Hi? Going somewhere?" I thought he has already been outside on a stroll. Maybe Annabelle just needs to get away from me. It's not that we conversed that much today or anything and she hasn't been giving me any hateful signs like my secretary but who knows what's up with women. 

She nods and lifts Devon's hand "Say bye-bye to Daddy!"

Please, no. Not that kind of Daddy. 

Devon looks as interested as me. He's learning fast. 

"I thought I would take him out and give you some space. This apartment is pretty cool but I think baby's sounds still got to you," she smiles and I'm somehow moved. She's so empathetic and this isn't meant in any kind of sarcasm. 

I snort and put the papers together just because I've got nothing better to do and I need to keep my hands busy "Trust me, I'd choose his laughter over screams anytime. Even if it means it's a mischevious one."

Annabelle smiles widely. When I say widely, I mean that mega-watt smile I give to women and I get close to feeling what it does to others. Huh, just another confirmation I really am irresistible. 

"Well, you won't have to deal with any of those for about half an hour. I put some suncream on his cheeks and hands just in case and I'll most probably be in one of the parks," she informs me of their whereabouts like it's something I strictly demand. I'm not gonna lie, I like it. I still have everything in control more or less. 

"Not dealing with babies is always appreciated," I smirk and the moment I say it I expect Annabelle to give me a nasty look. She just smiles which means she must've gotten used to my sense of humour. That's a nice thing too. 

She fixates Devon in her arms by raising him a little bit higher and smiles "Well, we'll be on our way then." She turns and is ready to walk from the office when she stops and looks at my over her shoulder "By the way, I cooked something to eat. I figured you needed lunch." 

I am, not startled but very... swept off my feet by that. I don't know why, cooking a lunch is not as special as buying 24-karat necklace or something. 

"Thank you." I am as brief as possible otherwise I might say something I could regret in the future. It would be similar to this 'Wow, really? My Mum rarely did that...' 

You see what I mean?

Annabelle puts Devon in the stroller. I see that much from the office but my eyesight isn't what it used to be and I can't see through walls when she takes the baby out of the apartment and closes the front door. 

Since then I've had this inner battle, should I continue working or go and take a look what she made? What if it smells good? I might get hungry and waste half an hour for the lunch. Could I afford that? 

One side of me is saying I am an idiot to believe Lenart and Jed would fire me for simply being a human being and eating every now and then but the other part is especially cruel - what if that would prove where my priorities? Work has always been first, if that changes... 

It's unreasonable why I am going through this weird phase. Could I finish the whole project in that half an hour? Definitely not. Could I make a significant difference to getting closer to completing it? Possibly. But... There's always a but. And hopefully butt too - somewhere. 

My curiosity takes the best of me but I tell myself I'll only take a quick look. 

***

I need to be slapped. But not slapped like a guy who touched the girl accidentally. No, I need that lowest bitch slap with the back of the hand which will throw me on the carpet and knock me out. 

That little sneak peek into the pot Annabelle used to cook pasta with tuna... Well, it's only good to be in a dishwasher now.

Yes! Yes, I ate all of it. It's almost as if that omelette this morning did nothing for me. The funny part is, Annabelle and Devon haven't even returned yet, which means I swallowed down whole lunch for two, maybe three people, in less than half an hour. 

I feel guilty. I'm not gonna lie. I can hear those abs screaming as the fat is stretching over and covering them. God, one more bite and I'll look like a typical married man with that beer stomach. All I need more is a disgusting undershirt, lose all my hair except at the sides and walk around with my jeans button and belt open and right there in the display. 

But it tasted damn good. 

The front door open and Annabelle pushes in the stroller. Devon is awake, looking at... something. Who cares, I'm fucking fat. 

Annabelle notices me right away and a playful smirk appears on her face. She sees right through me. Well, not really hard if there's a Mount Everest climbing out of my stomach. This is how eating disorders must develop and right now, I am more than tempted to force myself to throw up. But I don't, that would make me look kind of like a bitch. 

"You want me to draw you like one of the French girls?" She asks, unstraps Devon and carries him to me. 

I am lying on the couch, right there on the full display. Now, I just need an audience to gaze at me and wonder what kind of creature could eat so much and still want more. I am disgusted with myself. 

I don't dare to look at her so I just mumble "I'd be a damn hot French chick." 

Annabelle giggles and when I am almost sure she's facing the other way, I look at her. She's shaking her head like she can't believe what I've just said. "I didn't really know what I expected from you." 

I want to yell at her: 'You probably didn't expect me to eat everything and maybe swallow that pot too!' but my pride stops me at it. 

"Aw, you must've been hungry!" She exclaims and she sounds too happy about it. How can someone be happy about the other one eating like a pig? It's just rude. 

I stab a look at her and it's a novelty that she doesn't back down but she stabs her look back at me. This feels like a weird contest. 

"Yeah, I ate some. Hope you don't mind." I don't think it would be worth it if I tried to explain to her my curiosity and my ability to smell were what doomed me. I wasn't really hungry, I was perfectly content but holy fuck, that smell... 

She laughs and after I hear what she has to say, my first assumption is she's trying to mock me. You know, the type of mocking 'Haha, you eat all that and you think you're a stud? Such a hypocrite, god damn!' "Some? You ate everything."

"No need to remind me." 

She gives me a sideway glance, closes the empty pot, which she does for some reason, and walks to me and Devon. He's holding his feet and stretching them up. 

Annabelle is standing right above me with a secretive smile "Where did you put all that?"

The answer I give her comes off suspiciously as a crying sound, which was not my intention. But apparently I'm really not good at controlling myself anyway. "Uh, I don't want to know. Probably in my butt or does that only qualify for women?"

I don't know what's so funny about me or about today's day or my apartment or whatever the fuck but she keeps on smiling and giggling and chuckling. It's annoying. I'm miserable and she is laughing. 

"The last time I checked, your butt seemed fine," she says and gets my intention immediately. If I wasn't all full and tuna and macaroni looking out of me from all sides, I'd sit up. 

I just continue lying. It's easier to live that way. "Yeah, well, that was before." I look at her and shift a little to make myself more comfortable. I know, simple solution would be if I didn't eat everything Annabelle cooked but... "You're a really good cook, though. I think that's what's pestering me right now."

Is that another blush that creeps on Annabelle's face or am I seeing red with specks of green and white like the Italian flag due to the pasta? 

"Thanks," she seems genuienly happy about the compliment "My ex didn't really like it. He thought I-" She stops talking immediately and I can see this is where her problem lies. With her ex. Looks like I'm not the only one with a problematic past lover. 

Annabelle eyes me warily. It's a usual reaction women have when they accidentally start talking about their other boyfriends they've been with. 

I sit up, with great struggle might I add, and tell her "You don't need to be embarrassed about mentioning him, you know? He was a part of your life." 

"It looks like he still is," she mumbles and shrugs. Oh god, is she going to cry? 

"Relationships are complicated and so are people. It rarely happens everything is easy when it comes to either of these two." I can't believe I sound like a shrink or a guy who's been constantly in and out of relationships, like someone who doesn't know how to be single. Frankly, I'm very impressed with myself. 

She peers at me and drops on the couch next to me "I know and you're right. That doesn't really help me." 

If I'm good at anything, besides eating apparently, I'm good at reading signs. You don't want to know what I was like before then, one time a girl bled because I thought that scratching was because the sex was good and not terrible. Yes, even I was a rookie once. 

And as good as I am at reading signs, I can see it very clearly Annabelle is not interested in talking more about this topic. In a way, this reminds me of me. Why do I need to bask about my problems? I can just stay silent, deal with them on my own, without any other things necessary. 

"And he'll find his life quite complicated when he gets a new girl and she won't know how to cook." That's what brings a smile on her face. She looks up at me and smile a genuine smile, the one you usually do when you've stopped crying or were just feeling really sad moments before. "Even I'd keep you for your cooking skills."

"Keep me? What is this slave ownership you got going?" She immediately knows she screwed it up. She shouldn't have said it, for my devilish grin comes on and she is more than aware this will lead to nothing good. 

"I could, though. If that's your kind of thing!" I suggest, hoping she'd spill the beans of the nasty stories she has denied from me earlier today. 

Annabelle chuckles and rolls her eyes like I'm absolutely dreadful and hopeless "Not my thing. My stories aren't freaky at all, just surprising."

I shrug and lift both brows "I can do with surprising."

One of her brows follows the movement of the both of mine, only that hers ends up looking questionable "I bet. Did you run out of porn to watch or something? Or is there another reason why you're so curious about finding out?"

"I don't need porn. I have women to satisfy me." I'm gonna get bitch slapped. 

Annabelle's smile kind of fades away and she looks away from me and strictly gawks at the television in front of us. My usual go would be to assume she's just jealous 'cause she got none of this while in fact it was me who ended up with blue balls that night. But I'm more than sure that's not the case. This is the way I talk with Austin and not with any other women. Ever. 

"Uh, that's not how I meant it-" I start and hope that a playful approach will help. 

I scoot closer like a child begging his parents to take him to an ice cream in town, just that it's a bit more awkward 'cause I'm taller than her. 

Annabelle, determined to respond to my half-said apology, turns to me and is quite surprised when it turns out we're suspiciously close to each other's faces. 

She beams up, then her face falls "Is that how you apologise to all your women?"

This isn't helping.

"Trust me, it was not my intention to come that close. And it's not like I have anything to apologise for." I sometimes really hate myself, my mouth and my well-deserved ego. 

She snorts and her hand travels up to my shoulder and pushes me away "Get out of here."

I laugh along with her and mentally wipe the sweat off my forehead. I pulled this off smoother than I imagined. I still think I should apologise to her, so I do "No, look, I didn't mean it that way earlier about porn and all that."

She nods in a nonchalant way, basically making it seem like nothing ever happened. I'm triggered by it. I don't just apologise! "Meh, you have all the reasons to talk like that."

Well... 

Is there a good way how to respond to that? It really doesn't seem so. What this looks like is I fall off the cliff one way or another. "It's how men talk, Annabelle."

"Just confess you're into some weird shit like women with candles up their butts and so you pretend you don't watch porn at all." She gets up from the couch to pick up Devon. 

I'm ready to fight her. I don't watch porn! Usually, I don't need to... Then she turns to me and gives me a wink. She gives her little joke a silent giggle and I really try not to look amused. Though, I gotta give it to her, that was a pretty cool joke and a nice switch of topic. 

My eyes follow her and the kid to the bathroom so my guess is they're gonna have some nasty time. I want nothing to do with that so I scatter with the speed of light back to the office. 

I need to retrace my steps from before I ate everything in the kitchen in order to remember where did I left off. When I do, I throw myself back to work. I doubt Annabelle will be needing my help. 

***

When does the sun goes down? I don't know. I haven't looked at the clock for a while out of two reasons. I didn't want to see in what I rush I am and I just didn't care. I was too into the engineering stuff I completely lost track of time or my interest in it.

It's when I need to take a piss that I'm reminded a day still only has 24 hours and that eventually night would fall on the city I live in. 

What's usually the thing that tells you day has turned into night? It would be light or darkness, depends how you perceive it, then maybe a sound of music blarring from the nightclub close by, or the sudden drop of the traffic sounds. 

For me, it's none of those things, even though they're the most obvious things that exist in this world. 

For me, it's a sudden revelation of the timing when I see Annabelle rocking Devon in her arms when I'm on my way to the bathroom. 

She's sitting on a couch, reading a book which I recognise as my own. I want to leave her to it really badly but I'm a man in the need of attention so I make her aware of my presence. 

"You putting him to sleep?" I speak softly in case Devon hasn't completely dozed off yet. 

Annabelle doesn't expect me, obviously, and at first when she hears my voice, jumps a little. She then smiles and rocks him side to side some more "Yeah. It's been a busy day for him. Usually I put him in the crib sooner than today. I hope you're not angry about it."

"Angry?" I ask and hold back a laugh. If it got out, it would be a loud laugh, a laugh a child couldn't sleep with. You see the problem? "You saved me this weekend, Annabelle. So, he's going to sleep half an hour later, big deal."

"It can be if this continues," she adds and stares at me with smart eyes. 

I just want to say Yeah, yeah, sure, just keep rocking the baby. and go about the rest of the day. 

"Are you finished for today as well?" She whispers over the sound of Devon's soft sighs and puts the book down and marks the page where she's left off all with just one hand. 

I think about it. Am I sure I want to finish just yet? I'm doing pretty good, better than I expected it to go and much better because she jumped in to help me out. I'm still feeling well-rested. I'm not saying if I got in my bed, I wouldn't fall asleep. I'm only saying, I'm not dying to feel the mattress under my weight. 

"I think I'll work for a while more but not for too long. Just some details I should check before I pass out and forget everything that I've done today." It rarely happens that I speak as I go but this is one of the cases. It can also be said I'm almost thinking out loud. 

Annabelle is now holding Devon with both of her arms and a little closer to her chest. 

Bastard. 

She's smiling as she's doing it and I'm not quite sure why. Is pushing a needy baby against your tits really so entertaining and fulfilling? I know it'd be fulfilling for me if I were the baby...

"I just, uh... Gonna take that... hm, piss," I mutter, feeling strange and like an intruder. I don't like it. 

After my bladder is doing better and I'm done squeezing the shit out of my muscles in the lower abdomen, I head back towards my office and see her come out of Devon's room. She probably just put him in the crib and covered him with a warm blanket. 

"He okay?" It's a stupid thing to ask, I know but I feel like I need to ask something. I still want to feel like I'm a part of this 'community' we got going on here. 

When she smiles, it's pretty obvious she's tired and could use some sleep. Even when she speaks, she sounds like half of her brain is already on the pillow. "He's an angel, really."

"That's debatable."

"No, really," She tucks her hands in the backpockets on her jeans and shrugs "I got some pretty horrible kids to babysit one day. They would eat you alive or... would look up to you. I'm not sure which one is worse but y'know."

I know it's a joke but how does the saying go? There's a bit of a truth in every joke? "Like I turned out to be such a bad guy. Look at me!"

Her eye lids are closing slowly which only makes her look even sexier when she smiles "No, you're not so bad. You could be worse." Then she yawns widely and stretches her arms a little "I think I'll be going to bed, I'm totally drained."

"Yeah, you should," I smile and take her to the guest room. 

Right before my eyes, she takes off her jeans and then without taking off her shirt, removes her bra. It's not something I expected and definitely something I'd love to see again. Without that shirt in a way, of course. 

She stretches once again, then climbs on the bed and slides under the covers. She doesn't look embarrassed or shy about it at all and I am left suspecting she probably doesn't even know I'm here by her side still. 

"Good night, Nathan," she wishes me and my suspicions are abandoned. Her eyes are already closed and her voice sounds dizzy. She must've said that with her last powers. 

Before I leave the room, I  say "Good night, Annabelle."

I gently close the door and let her sleep. Whole apartment is suddenly quiet and it reminds me of the good old times when there was no baby and there was no woman in the guest room because she was in my room. 

As much as I want to daydream about all the tits and asses I've seen in this apartment, I know there's a lot of work still waiting for me. I don't intend to stay up late, though. Just a few finishing touches, as I've promised. 

A/N: It came a little bit too late for the proper celebration but a few days ago, Nathan's story was ranked #2 in Romance! It was so unreal for me, I kept checking on my friends' phones if that was true and voila, it was! 

Anyway, I give you another sweet chapter of Nate being his oldself goof. I usually always have questions for you but this time I don't think anything more needs to be said here. I just hope you enjoy these kind of chapters as much as I like writing them.

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~Blackie