Love, Maybe
Chapter 14's
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Felix had just arrived back at the apartment when the clock was already showing at seven in the evening. For a moment the tall twenty-six-year-old man stood quietly beside the shoe rack near the entrance. He slightly frowned finding the living room and also the kitchen empty. Neither Aiden nor Jane could be seen on the first floor. Most likely his wife and son were on the second floor, or may have fallen asleep in the room.
It may be true that Aiden is asleep, but given that time is still not too late, Felix is not too sure that Jane is asleep. Felix's footsteps moved up the stairs cautiously, as who knew the possibility that both of them were asleep was indeed true.
But when he arrived on the second floor of the apartment, Felix saw the silhouette of a woman reflected in the beige curtains that were attached to cover the balcony door. There was someone standing on the balcony and it was Jane, considering the only female occupant in the house was the girl.
Felix knit a step closer to the glass door that leads to the balcony, then flicked the curtains slowly until he found the figure of Jane who was on her back, looking towards the sky that was very bright and filled with stars tonight.
The roar of the night breeze plays Jane's brown hair loosely stroked, leaving Felix's sight instantly locked on Jane. Especially when the girl slowly turned around so that her beautiful face which was only hit by the moonlight was more clearly visible to Felix's eyes.
“Oh, Felix. You've come home apparently,” Jane tucked her hair behind her ears as her eyes caught the figure of Felix in the doorway.
Kontan Felix gulped, somewhat misbehaved because he felt he had just been caught staring at Jane. “Uhm, Jane, you are....” Felix's eyes go down to Jane's feet, “..... what?”
Felix thought Jane was enjoying the view at night from the balcony of their apartment. But now he is not so sure anymore when he found the two skinny legs and smooth girl was submerged in a tub. A few seconds later Jane's answer answered Felix's astonishment.
“Oh, I'm washing Aiden.” bed sheets
“Washing sheets?” felix asked confusedly with a slightly wrinkled forehead.
“Iya,” Jane tidied her hair back in the night wind. “This sheet should be hand washed. And you know, I used to see how to wash trampled like this in some Korean drama I watched, so I imitated it. It turns out that it is in this way to wash it so it is not too heavy,” explained Jane who then made Felix mangosteen.
“Can I help?” ask Felix slowly. However, without waiting for Jane's approval, Felix stepped closer to Jane while rolling the long leash of his shirt.
“T-No need, Felix. You just came home, you just rest there.”
“It's okay, I'm not tired and I'm not sleepy yet,” added Felix who is now folding the bottom of his trousers with one hand that is no longer bandaged.
“But your hand is still injured,” Jane again said, pointing to the hand of Felix who was still wrapped around with a bandage.
“I just need to use my legs, right? Besides, this is all I can do to help you.”
Jane could no longer dodge when Felix put both of her legs in the tub. Unfortunately, the size of the tub that Jane uses is not too big so now the distance between herself and Felix becomes very close. Even Jane could faintly smell the masculine scent emanating from Felix's body. Although both Felix's legs had already gone into the tub, the two of them had only been pecking for quite a while, being struck by awkwardness so that only silence and the breezy night wind filled in.
“I'll mun–”
“Be careful!”
Jane was just about to take some distance when her leg almost slipped. Fortunately Felix immediately pulled both of Jane's arms, but the action actually made Jane attracted closer to Felix's body. A pair of their eyes widened in shock from the mixture as they were about to fall and because of their distance that was now too close.
“What do you do?” reprimand Felix at last. “This wash is slippery, be careful – aahk!” Jane was surprised when Felix suddenly grimaced, and finally he realized that Felix's hand wrapped around the bandage was still holding his arm tightly.
“Aduh, sorry, are you okay?” Jane was again about to step away and almost slipped back. This time Felix clasped his waist closer.
“Don't back down, I told you the laundry was slippery. Just put your hand on my shoulder,” said Felix, sounding a little awkward. According to her unwillingness to linger in the position of being held by Felix's waist, Jane quickly clasped her hands on the young man's shoulders.
Instantly both of them were silent. There was only the sound of water tugging against the feet. Occasionally Felix wagged the shirt he was wearing, feeling sultry despite the previous night wind felt quite cold piercing. While Jane is only able to look down, trying to focus only on the laundry that is underneath.
“What Aiden is sleeping for?” felix finally broke the silence. Jane who was still bowing her face nodded lightly. “S-Have.”
“A long time?”
“Since six o'clock earlier.”
“He's been drinking milk?”
“Already.”
Felix cleared his throat afterwards. Perhaps silence would have come back to dominate if Jane had not turned her face and spoken. “Felix, I have something to talk to you about.”
Jane's speech just then replied with the straight gaze of Felix's eyes that fell right on his iris. Felix waited for the girl to continue.
Felix frowned deeply. Jane seemed to understand very well with the expression printed on her husband's face. Felix doesn't understand.
“Uhm, I mean, I don't want to use a baby sitter. I want to take care of Aiden with my own hands. Today I am aware of Aiden's small developments and they will happen only once. I want to see it for myself when Aiden can finally talk later, when Aiden starts crawling, and when Aiden can eat his own food. Those precious times won't be repeated and I don't want to miss them.” Jane took a deep breath after explaining everything in one breath.
Felix looked at Jane for a moment, then he nodded his head in understanding. “If you want that, fine. We don't need to use baby sitter anymore.”
Felix's words suddenly make the look of Jane's eyes turned radiant and he smiled widely. Deleted were all the turmoil that had erupted in his mind.
“You don't mind?” ask Jane.
“Of course not. Actually I also prefer to take care of my own child, rather than using a baby sitter. We can take care of Aiden together,” Felix replied while displaying a thin smile.
“Thank God that you think the same as me,” Jane smiled happily, but the next second she looked back at Felix with a slightly wrinkled forehead. “But what about your work? We will both be busy working.”
Felix closed his lips, looking like he was thinking. “It looks like we have to make an agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?” jane asked while looking at Felix in curiosity.
“It is better now that we finish this laundry first. It seems like the wind is also blowing increasingly strong, you can catch a cold if you soak your feet in the water too long. Only after that we talk in the dining room,” said Felix. Jane nodded in agreement, and they were again busy with their washing activities that had stopped for a while.
After the laundry was finished and dried, Felix and Jane immediately went downstairs. Felix puts down the cup of warm capuccino he just made in front of Jane, and a latte for himself. They also started talking about the deal. After some time of negotiation, they agreed to split the time to keep Aiden together.
Starting from the next day, early in the morning Jane had washed Aiden and marked it neatly. Felix, who had just woken up half an hour later, was in charge of making breakfast. At half-seven they gathered in the dining room for breakfast together before then Jane rushed off to the office at seven in the morning.
As per their agreement, Jane will be home at three in the afternoon, taking turns to look after Aiden because at four o'clock Felix will leave for the cafe to work as a barista there.
Every day they live like that and it does not feel like three months have passed. Now Aiden is no longer awake in the middle of the night, and they have let Aiden sleep alone in his room, with a camera that is always faithfully watching. Felix and Jane no longer sleep apart. They are used to sleeping on the same mattress because both are too tired so they fall asleep quickly enough.
...***...
Aiden is now six months old and needs a milk companion that he drinks. Jane left for work two hours ago, and this morning Felix decided to go shopping with Aiden. There's a lot to buy. Starting from diaper reserves, formula milk, wet wipes, toiletries and some fresh food ingredients. Felix intends to make his own food Aiden because he thinks it will be healthier than relying on instant baby porridge.
Felix was walking down a milk rack while pushing a shopping trolley and holding Aiden in front using a baby sling. Felix was really excited to go shopping this time so he didn't feel sore despite holding Aiden for almost an hour. Aiden now weighs 7 pounds, almost twice as much as he was born.
“Aiden, what else should we buy?” ask Felix slowly.
“Ooh!”
Felix could not hide his smile as he heard Aiden respond to his question. At first glance Felix touched Aiden's chubby cheeks and redness, making the puffy baby laugh.
“See, the man is handsome once..”
“The style is so cool..”
“Is that his son?”
“Maybe he's a young papa.”.
“The child is also very funny..”.
Without Felix realizing it, he and Aiden became the center of attention of some super market visitors around them. Felix turned his head and looked at some young girls and young mothers who were looking towards him and Aiden. One polite smile that Felix flashed was enough to make those people blush in shame.
After feeling that he had bought everything he needed, Felix immediately paid for all his groceries and pushed the trolley containing his bags of groceries towards the exit. While walking to his car, a cake shop next to the supermarket stole Felix's attention.
“Do I buy cake?” ask Felix to himself. Felix took the phone out of his pants pocket. She asked if Jane wanted to eat cake and what time she would be home. But when he noticed the date written on his lock screen, Felix remembered something.
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