Tied in Knots: A Tied Together Novella Read Online Free

floor and spilling over the toilet.
    I groaned. “Your privacy status has been revoked until further notice.”
    I had missed Brandon’s call and started to clean up the mess Ethan had created. I knew our lives would be changed when we decided to have children. But I missed the spontaneous sex in the kitchen, or the bathroom, or the office. I also missed going out at midnight to get some ice cream just because we had a craving.
    Somehow being on the floor cleaning up toilet water just didn’t carry the same thrill as a surprise blow job.

3
Brandon
    I clicked the key fob to my car and heard the lock disengage. I slid my heavy work bag over my shoulder, which was just a reminder of the mountain of paperwork I needed to get through. I vowed to myself I would try to work on it at home instead of in the office because I was tired of looking at my office walls. My heart ached because I had to leave Ryan and Ethan this morning. The forecast called for a beautiful spring day, and my intentions were to take my husband and son to the zoo so we could spend some quality time together. But time didn’t seem to be on my side as I was either constantly at the hospital, or I was constantly on call.
    Ryan and I discussed the different options regarding who would care for Ethan after he was born if both of us returned to work. We agreed that we didn’t like the idea of daycare, so we interviewed several nannies. I thought we had three great applicants. However, Ryan had an issue with all of them. He claimed one smelled of raw hamburger meat, with another one he was worried her teeth would fall out into the formula, and he was positive the third one practiced voodoo and would offer up our child as a sacrifice because she couldn’t find a goat.
    It became clear Ryan felt no one was good enough to be with Ethan except one of us. The choice of who would stay home didn’t come easily. I didn’t want Ryan to feel his work meant any less than mine just because I was a doctor and made more money. He laughed at that, saying he loved the idea of me becoming his sugar daddy. After my paternity leave from the hospital was up and Ryan had his first few days home along with Ethan, I thought I was going to have to admit him into the mental ward. Sleepless nights, days of not showering, and listening to endless nursery rhymes CDs led to an unrecognizable Ryan.
    Ryan had finally gotten into a routine with Ethan. It was fascinating to watch my husband execute his day down to the very last detail. One day when I was standing by the breakfast bar and Ethan was in his highchair wanting to be fed, I had warmed up his oatmeal and was about to give it to him when Ryan came running up to me and stole the bowl from my hands.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    “Did you give him the heavily processed, sugary death oatmeal?” he asked, looking down at the bowl and mushing the contents around with the spoon.
    “Umm, it was the stuff in the panty.” I pointed my thumb behind me.
    Ryan let out a groan. “I need to replace the Gerber Baby stuff. Annie said there’s been a recall, and I didn’t get to check the date of what we had yet.”
    Ethan’s tiny hands reached outward, knowing there was something inside the bowl Ryan was holding. The baby was like Pavlov’s dog. Seeing bowl equaled getting food. Since he thought we were ignoring him, Ethan added a little whine to his gestures. Ryan went around the breakfast bar and threw the bowl into the sink. Ethan’s little whimpers turned into a full-blown wail.
    “Who’s Annie?” I asked as I released the tray to the highchair and picked up a very annoyed child in my arms.
    “Annie is one of the other moms in our playgroup. She does the all-natural shit: cloth diapers, makes her own food from the vegetables they plant in their backyard, co-sleeps, breastfeeds, only dresses her kids in organic hemp clothes.”
    “Wow, that’s dedication,” I said, bouncing Ethan on my hip. He seemed appeased until Ryan pulled