A Navy SEAL's Surprise Baby by Laura Marie Altom Page A

Calder’s parenting? Or lack thereof?
    They walked the last two blocks in silence. The temperature was already cooling off with a hint of approaching autumn in the air. Even from their distance, the sounds of kids playing—laughing—rang clearly through the air. He couldn’t remember ever having been that kid—fully carefree. Sure, after his mom had remarried, things settled down, but he’d been past the playground age.
    Upon reaching the park, it struck Calder as surprisingly full. “There always this many people here?”
    “It’s a park. Most times, there’s even more.” Her sideways look, not to mention her pinched expression, didn’t sit well with him. Yet again, he felt inept. He’d lived a few blocks from what was apparently a family mecca, yet it’d never even occurred to him it was anywhere he and Quinn might want to be.
    “Sorry. I didn’t know.”
    “It’s not a big deal, Calder.” She parked the stroller in front of the lone empty bench in a row of five. “Now that you’re here, want to put Quinn in a swing?”
    Visions of Quinn screaming whenever Calder tried cramming him into his car seat ran through his head. “No, thanks.”
    Pandora effortlessly plucked Quinn from his stroller to plop him into the rubber swing seat and strapped him in. As if the kid knew what came next, he giggled and kicked. The size of his drool-filled grin tugged at Calder’s heart.
    From Pandora’s first small push, Quinn howled with laughter. He clapped his little hands and bounced and kicked. His eyes shone with what Calder could only describe as pure glee. Burning heat forced his eyes to close for a moment while at the same time he swallowed the knot at the back of his throat.
    He’d never seen Quinn like this—truly happy. But now that he had, something in him clicked. Was this at least partially what parenting was about? Not just keeping your child fed and clean, but figuring out what produced adorable grins? Then earning them over and over again?
    “You want to push?” Pandora stepped aside, urging Calder to give it a try.
    “What if I push him too high? Is he going to fall out?”
    Hands on her hips, she cocked her head. “Really?”
    “Well...” He forced a deep breath. “Stranger things could happen.”
    Approaching the swing, Calder couldn’t have said why, but his pulse raced and his palms began to sweat. He crouched to reach the little guy, then pushed just enough for Quinn to shriek all over again. “He’s doing it!”
    “You thought he wouldn’t?” Pandora asked. “See? You’re doing great. Now whenever I’m not around, you can bring him here on your own. Once he starts walking, he’s going to love the rope bridge and slide.”
    Calder took one glance at the wood-planked bridge hanging between two roofed forts. “No way. Too dangerous.”
    Now Pandora was the one laughing. “If you think that’s scary, wait till he gets his first bike.”
    *
    A FTER YET ANOTHER delicious dinner, helping with Quinn’s bath and tucking him in, Calder fired off a few emails, then tracked down Pandora in the laundry room, folding pint-size T-shirts. A few larger ones he recognized as his own were already stacked neatly beside his son’s.
    “Need help?”
    “No, thank you. Almost done.” The faint smile she cast over her shoulder made him almost as confused as he’d been that afternoon when he saw his son in the swing. Pandora was constantly doing things for him, but Calder never reciprocated. It was her job to care for Quinn, but she spoiled them both.
    “You know I don’t expect you to do my laundry.”
    “I don’t mind. Besides, Quinn’s whites barely took up half a load.”
    “Okay, well...” Suddenly tongue-tied in the cramped space, he crammed his hands in the pockets of his fatigues. “Thanks. You’re a nice lady.” A nice lady? Calder mentally smacked his forehead. What the hell kind of line was that?
    Forehead furrowed, she half laughed. “Thanks. I think.”
    He covered his